Charango Luthier Sabino Huaman
On our recent adventure to Peru we were on a quest to explore Machu Picchu. We managed to do that and we discovered so much more in Peru. The charango was tops on our list and we had the good fortune to visit the shop of Cusco luthier Sabino Huaman. He builds a variety of quality instruments and was gracious enough to play an assortment and to take us past his showroom into his shop.
Visit him on Facebook
According to Wikipedia …
“The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with different types of wood. It typically has 10 strings in five courses of 2 strings each, but other variations exist. A charango player is called a charanguista.
The instrument was invented in the early 18th century in the Royal Audiencia of Charcas in what is now the Plurinational State of Bolivia (Historically part of the Viceroyalty of Peru).”
See an excerpt on a documentary on the charango
Of course, we had to come home with one of his beautiful instruments. I’ve included images of it in this photo gallery.
Custom Guitars and more …back in NC
- Step into the luthier shop at Lichty Guitars
- Learn more about custom guitars and custom ukuleles
- See what luthier Jay Lichty currently has on his luthier bench