An excellent guitar is a musician’s best weapon. Here is a little cool story on Ib’s newest guitar.
So this week Ib went to Rangoon in Myanmar (Burma) to pick up a guitar he had ordered handmade on his last trip to Myanmar from the Burmese master guitar maker Ko Cho.
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Ko Cho has a workshop in a small village about 20 km north of Rangoon, so Ib went there in a taxi from Rangoon Airport.
The place was very difficult to find in the heavy tropical rain, and Ko Cho had to come to the main road and guide the way. I hope you are not allergic to cats and dogs he said, as he opened the gate to his bamboo hut style workshop. Dogs were barking and cats were scrambling as they were greeted by his wife in the doorway. Both of them were wearing the traditional burmese sarong. Ko Cho’s wife served some kind of freshly made pizza and local fruit while he fetched the guitar Ib had ordered. Ko Cho sat down and pointed to some gaping holes in the roof. We have had some terrible monsoon storms the last couple of weeks he said, so I had to relocate my workshop. But I have guarded your guitar better than my own life, as I knew you soon would come and pick it up.
He then started playing. The guitar produced a magnificent clear and deep sound, like taken straight out of the endless Myanmar rain forrest.
Ko Cho is a very down to earth guy. He used to be a sailor, and has been all over the world on cargo ships. He quit the sea, and started making guitars instead. He does not seem to be much interested in money, but is very happy living a simple life, and taking care of the cats and dogs at his place. One of the dogs he said, came to him as a puppy. It had been hit by a motorbike in the village and had broken both hind legs. Now she depends on me, and I can not just leave her alone.
Thankfully he also has time to make fantastic guitars, and Ib has already ordered a 12 string guitar he will pick up in Rangoon in November.
Ib Ottesen 