Fret Silk

Fret silk is available in so-called bundles.

One bundle contains enough material for binding at least all the frets of one sitar.

Great care is recommended when unwinding the bundle, because the thread tends to get tangled easily and is very difficult to disentangle later on.

twirled single strands of our fret silk make very good snare threads for tanpuras, too. .

A video guide to tying frets is available on you tube.

We have been working with artisans overseas since 2007 bringing you unique and fresh products. We work with the principles and standard of fair trade.

If you have any requests for parts or would like to know the status of any that are currently out of stock you can contact us

A diagram of the parts of a sitar and their names can be found here.

We have many spare parts for Indian Sitars amd we sell a variety of interesting musical instruments from all over the world.

Sitar Background

The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau Khan, an 18th-century figure of the Mughal Empire has been identified by modern scholarship as the inventor of the sitar. According to most historians, he developed the sitar from the setar, an Iranian instrument of Abbasid or Safavid origin. Another view supported by a minority of scholars is that Khusrau Khan developed it from Veena.

Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of Ravi Shankar, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The advent of Psychedelic culture during the mid- to late 1960s created a trend for the use of the sitar in Western popular music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as the Beatles, the Doors, the Rolling Stones and others.