congaplace.com

Ok, so Ive done this thread before, and after posting my thread 'repair project for a customer', I thought Id revive my old "how to make guiro's thread" but many pics were lost in the transition of the old forum to the new one, so here it is again...

Some of the older members might remember I grow, dry out and carve my own guiro's and some chekere also. Ive kept some for myself cause I just cant seem to part with them even after being offered a couple of hundred dollars for them! Others Ive sold and made for specific musicians and friends who truly appreciate the instrument and craft and dont see them as something that 'would look retro ethnically appealing' on their mantel or shelf... Anyway Here are the pics.

Hope you enjoy and learn something. Comments welcomed.


A long time ago...... Not quite the beggining... I seem to have lost the pics of the seedlings first emerging.



Drying out...



Selected for duty!



It begins..



Getting there, still cleaning..



Ready to get started on carving



Few simple tools...



Off with its head!









The plan....

Continued....

Continued........























Happy to answer any questions you may have.
Hope you enjoyed the pics.

Using one of my guiro I made for TV audio recording session



My girlfriend (Salsa/Timba/RnB/Soul singer) using a guiro I made for her:



Another shot of some of the family...

Once again, great work!

This post is great. I have a gourd that is exactly like the one you used in this project. I'm ready to make a guiro!

thx

That's quite a nifty trick maestro...

sand paper wrapped around a thick marker

Abakua thanks for posting this Ive been wanting to make a guiro but unfortunately i haven't found a large gourd yet. I'm in Florida and not sure if there are even any gourd farms here for me to go pick some out. But as soon as i acquire a nice gourd i am going to definitely make one for myself.

Abakua i have a question about the hole you cut out in the back. Is it off set in any way? I find with mass produced guiros that the holes are always in line with the grooves and that it may be more comfortable to play the guiro if there was some off set between the grooves in the front and the hole that you hold it from. I hope i'm making sense here lol. Let me know what your take is.

So after seeing these pics, I decided to make my own guiro with an old penguin gourd I had laying around.

I must say that Abakua's process is simple and a great guide for those of you thinking about doing this. From start to finish, I think it maybe took a total 1.5-2 hours of actual labor (without counting the time it takes for the stain and varnish to dry). It was very fast.

Here are some pics.

Vinnie if you are looking for a gourd call me, also I will be in Melburene , FL the 28th .

Paz
Olsongo

For some reason I can only see some of the pictures.. any ideas?

Thanks

ABAKUA wrote:Ok, so Ive done this thread before, and after posting my thread 'repair project for a customer', I thought Id revive my old "how to make guiro's thread" but many pics were lost in the transition of the old forum to the new one, so here it is again...

Some of the older members might remember I grow, dry out and carve my own guiro's and some chekere also. Ive kept some for myself cause I just cant seem to part with them even after being offered a couple of hundred dollars for them! Others Ive sold and made for specific musicians and friends who truly appreciate the instrument and craft and dont see them as something that 'would look retro ethnically appealing' on their mantel or shelf... Anyway Here are the pics.

Hope you enjoy and learn something. Comments welcomed.


A long time ago...... Not quite the beggining... I seem to have lost the pics of the seedlings first emerging.



Drying out...



Selected for duty!



It begins..



Getting there, still cleaning..



Ready to get started on carving



Few simple tools...



Off with its head!









The plan....