Sitar with tumba, acoustic pickup, and extra strings owned by Pete Cosey

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

.6abcd Sitar with tumba, transducer, and extra strings Sitar (.6a) with detachable lakadi ka tumba (.6b), mid-tone laquered wood with white, red, and black decorative motif in polymer inlay. Wood has decorative leaf motifs carved into body. Tuning pegs (kuntis) and lakadi ka tumba leaf motif are darker, either different wood or lacquer. Headstock of sitar has sticker, blue on silver, that reads [MADE IN INDIA]. Sitar body (kadu ka tumba) has duct tape on it, possibly for attaching acoustic transducer. DeArmond-brand acoustic transducer (.6c) is chromed with brass volume knob. Knob has a black plastic cover. Etched into chrome is [DeArmond / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. / ROWE INDUSTRIES / TOLDEO, OHIO U.S.A.] Beneath the transducer, its bottom surfaces and edges are covered with a removable rubber padding, with a round hole containing a matching round section of cork glued directly to the transducer’s metal body.

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