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Posted: **Thu Mar 18, 2004 9:40 am**

Hello.
I am thinking of buying Pearl Chekere PSK10.
Any experience? Good or bad?

Thanks.

Posted: **Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:06 pm**

Though I am a Pearl endorser I have yet to have seen there Chekere. The problem is if there mass produced they won't be any good. I have been making Chekeres myself for over 25 years and there is nothing that gives me more pleasure than making my own. If the Pearl chekere is an offshoot of the LP one -fuggedaboutit!....You can make your own in maybe 5 hours if you knew how. Gourds can be gotten. The hard part is just the stringing of the beads and the knots you make. there are sites to go to get Gourds, you just need to find sombody to show you how to string them. That is my 2 cents....JC JOHNNY CONGA...

Posted: **Thu Mar 18, 2004 7:41 pm**

Check out http://www.lawtonpercussion.com. They have a nice selection of gourd shekeres under the name "MARU". I've seen them for sale at various Guitar Centers in NJ and at O. Dibello's in Bergenfield (also NJ), at significantly less than the price listed on the Lawton website. Lawton Percussion also makes really nifty mini-tail shekeres, which can be used in a maraca-like fashion, as a cabasa, or with a snapping action. They come in glass bead and plastic bead styles, each with a charateristic sound. I've purchased these on sale at Guitar Center for as low as $19.99 on sale. They're compact yet loud.

Posted: **Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:34 pm**

JC I take your point about ease of construction, although the fibre-glass chekeres which the big companies make are a lot more durable aren't they?

The Pearl I've been told is the best mass-market chekere available. The LP one is poor in a number of respects.

Simon B

Posted: **Sat Mar 20, 2004 4:09 am**

The body will last on the fiber type gourds but the string is inferior to waxed string and doesn't shred over time. I still have my first Chekere I made in 1980 with it cracked in 3 places and can still be played, without falling apart. My other Chekeres that I have are all over 10 years and not one of them have ever come loose or lost a bead...I still haven't seen th ePearl model to speak on it yet.....JC JOHNNY CONGA...

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