Kumbengo Koras

About Our Koras

Kumbengo Koras are instruments very much in the tradition of the West-African Kora. We have studied the craft and music of the region for many years and we are thrilled that our instruments receive such kind praise from so many griots, most notably among them the great Toumani Diabate, as well as from the many other African and Western musicians.

Toumani Diabate playing his new Kumbengo Kora.

We view Koras as classical instruments in the same way Violins, Cellos etc. are classical instruments in the western tradition. We feel that the size of the instrument, choice of materials, number, layout and tuning of strings are as firmly established as they are with classical western-style instruments and we build our Koras within these parameters.
However, we approached the task of building our Koras from the standpoint of a modern day luthier with all the tools, materials and methods available to us.
Please visit the "How We Build A Kora " page to see the process step by step.

We redesigned the necks of our Koras so we could use mechanical tuners instead of the traditional rawhide-ring method.

Our favorite tuners are vintage-style slotted peghead guitar machines with a smooth 18:1 gear ratio.

We use carbon fiber to strengthen the neck in some cases.

The use of carbon fiber and high tech adhesives also lets us reinforce the perimeter of the gourds which makes for a much improved body and the use of screw fasteners instead of upholstery tacks provides a stronger attachment of the cowskin to the gourd.

We did a lot of research on the various types of strings, string lengths and string gauges and we are pretty happy with the custom strings we were able to develop.

We fabricate custom tailpieces which let us change strings quickly and easily.

Finally, our modified design for the bridge and the bridge plate reduces weight and aids the transfer of energy from the string to the sound-top, thereby increasing volume and sustain.

As an option we offer a built-in pick-up system which we developed with our friends at "Pick up the World", consisting of one or two ribbon pick-ups, volume and panning switch, pre-amp and jack.

All in all, we feel that we created a powerful yet harmonious instrument with the precision and reliability the modern musician demands without sacrificing the soul and spirit of its ancestors.