Post #674632 by Mr. Ho on Tue, Apr 16, 2013 7:47 PM

Tele,

Do you care how it sounds? The best guiros are usually made out of gourds and come in many sizes. Different countries favor different styles and sizes of these...for exotica stuff, i like the small puerto rican ones with the wire rakes vs. the stick style and large gourd/wide mouthed fish you see with latin/salsa bands. Rarely do i like LP's stuff but their combo metal guiro/shaker is great (minus the shaker) for the exotica sound too if you want something more durable than the puerto rican style.

i'd be cautious of "wood" - its a dense material that doesn't resonate well at that size of an instrument and you will mostly get high pitched contact sound and not a lot of body from the hollow area which is what really helps it project on stage. but, if it's a cosmetic thing you are after, then i understand the fun angle.

if you want a real instrument focused on sound, Steveweissmusic.com has the largest and cheapest percussion inventory on the planet - check them. They may not list every style/size so if you order, may want to tell them in the Notes what size you are looking for.

FUn fact: in the DR (Dom Repub), the guiro is feminine (guira) and is a large, cylinder shaped guiro, almost always metal, and hollow all the way through. Merengue!

best,
Mr. Ho