Ruan Repairs and Restoration
The Ruan (referring to Gaoyinruan, Xiaoruan, Zhongruan and Daruan) is relatively less fragile compared to the Erhu. During your course of time of owning a Ruan, there will be times where part of your instrument needs repairs.
You might be pleased to know that we specially sent our staff to Song Guang Ning factory in rural China to learn about Ruan repairs.
Here are some of the common Ruan repairs you might face:
You drop your Ruan and the head/ neck breaks. Whatever you do, do not stick it back with superglue. Bring it to us and we can attach it back with hardly a trace of its broken past. If the head breaks above the pegs its a relatively straightforward fix as compared to the head breaking below the pegs, which is more tricky.
Estimated cost: $60 - $120
Estimated time: 1 - 2 weeks
Cracked Body
The body of the Ruan might crack if you accidentally drop it or just come apart after some time. When that happens, it is good to fix it up else the tone will be affected.
Estimated cost: $60 - $120
Estimated time: 2 - 3 weeks
Replace Parts
Parts of the Ruan might go missing or be broken. These include the bridge, frets or tailpiece. It is not as straight forward as just putting the missing part back. There is a certain amount of customisation involved.
Estimated cost: $20 onwards (Depending on which part)
Estimated time: 1 weeks
Broken | Faulty Tuner
Most Zhongruan now use mechanical tuners. After sometime the tuners might become faulty due to wear and tear. We can replace the faulty tuners.
Estimated cost: $30 onwards
Estimated time: 1 week
Refretting
Frets undergo wear and tear after prolonged usage. When that happens, the frets will go out of tune and buzzing will occur. It is then time to change all the frets on the fret board. Not an easy task mind you. We have to make sure of the intonation is good and that fret buzzing does not occur.
Estimated cost: $150 onwards (depending on the material of frets)
Estimated time: 2 weeks