Maxurov's electric balalaika

The original creator of this balalaika is unknown, the current owner Maxim Maxurov found it in a dumpster and has after that restored it.

The creator of this cool instrument is unknown, it was found in/near the trash by Maxurov. He did later restore it t a better condition and added two pickups, two switches and an output jack. The balalaika is made out of steel, with a thickness of 1mm, the neck is made of a rectangular profile, which is welded to the body. The frets are welded into the neck, with equal distances - if you have studied music theory you directly realize that this makes the instrument extremely hard to play. To get a good sound out of it he has tuned it E A# G. In total there are 8 frets, still Maxurov have made two good YouTube videos playing it.

This is a real metal balalaika, you can not say other than that it is fantastic in its simpleness. It got a rough character, but this can not be other than perfect if you play metal music.

Sound sample: Metal balalaika

Here are two YouTube videos with the instrument:

The pictures below speak for themselves: