A sitar asks for a little attention every few weeks and a proper going-over once a year. None of it is difficult, and doing it yourself will teach you more about the instrument than any amount of reading. This page collects the jobs we are asked about most, with videos filmed on real instruments.
Changing a sympathetic string
The thirteen sympathetic strings, the taraf, are the ones that break most often, because they are the thinnest and they are retuned constantly. Each one ends in a small hand-made loop that hooks onto the tailpiece, so the first thing to learn is how to make that loop cleanly.
Take your time over the loop. A loop that is too large will let the string shift on the tailpiece, and one that is twisted will snap at the twist within days.
Feed the new string through its side hole, seat it in the correct groove on the bridge, and bring it up to pitch slowly. Fresh strings stretch, so expect to retune two or three times over the first day of playing.
Looking after the pegs
Every time you change a string, take the chance to chalk the peg. A little peg compound gives a friction peg the smooth, positive grip it needs; without it a peg will either slip under tension or jump in steps, which makes fine tuning impossible.
If a peg has worn unevenly, it can be lightly sanded or filed true. If it slips no matter what you do, the taper no longer matches the hole and the peg needs reshaping. Our page on shaping a new peg covers that job in full.
The rest of the yearly routine
Main strings
Replace the playing strings when they go dull, discolour or start to sound false against the frets. Most players change them every three to six months depending on how much they play and how much their hands perspire.
Frets and thread
Check that no fret can be rocked with a fingertip. Retie any that have loosened, following our fret tying guide, and reposition the frets against a tuner afterwards.
Jawari
When the instrument starts to sound dull and thin no matter what you do with the strings, the curve on the bridge has worn flat and the jawari needs recutting. This is specialist work with a file and a strip of wire, and it is the single thing that most transforms a tired sitar. We do jawari work in Mumbai; see our sitar setup.
Where the instrument lives
Keep the sitar out of direct sun, away from air conditioning vents and out of the boot of a car. The gourd and the long neck move with humidity, and hard, fast changes are what crack them. In a very dry winter, keeping the instrument in its case with a small humidifier is worth the trouble.
If something is beyond a home fix
Send us a photograph or a short video. We repair and set up stringed instruments in our Mumbai workshop, and for customers abroad we diagnose over video call and send the parts you need, because shipping an instrument back and forth across the world rarely makes sense. Browse strings and accessories or read our sitar FAQs.