One of the strings on my Richter ronroco recently broke, so I ordered two sets of strings (online).

One set is Aquilla Nylgut, the other is Medina Artigas. I'm interesting in trying out the Nylgut strings on the instrument.

Both these sets of strings are WHITE in color. I'm not so sure I will like the visual appearance of the instrument with white strings. Here are some ronrocos on YouTube with white strings (not very many of them). Most stringa seem to be black.
- Jose Escobedo on Charangon -
- The Promise on Ronroco -
- Marcelo Verde on Ronroco -

I want to change the strings, but I would like to create a demonstration video, revealing the sound with the old strings and the sound with the new strings.

I'm not totally satisfied with the Richter ronroco I own. So, I'm interested in obtaining a new instrument. I'm looking for one with the Visual appearance I want, and also the sound/tone I want. I don't like the Kjarkas style bodies. There are not too many ronroco body style I do like. I think I like the "box" style (con caja) best (guitar body style).

SO, I'm looking for something that is a ronroco, but is different from the current trend of visual styles.

I also need to research the difference between a Charangon and a Ronroco. As far as I can tell, the only difference is in the body style. The tuning, length, and sound seem to be the same. The body styles seem to differ. The Charangon has an enlarged Charango body, whereas most Ronrocos seem to have either the Kjarkas style body, or remnants of it. Most Ronrocos also seem to have very strange (ugly) sound holes.

So - My Aesthetics, so far:
- Guitar Body (con caja)
- Classical styling - Standard soundhole, no ridiculous or contrived styling
- No half cover

Here are several interesting looking instruments - I like the upper one, except for the ....... The lower one is good, except for the one ugly soundhole and half cover.

This one (above) The above image is found at - http://www.elvirutero.com.ar/images/charango_ronroco.jpg. But, trying to track this down is difficult. It seems to emanate from El Virutero. This is a school for luthiers. I'll have to spend some time trying to figure out who built it.

And here (below) is one by luthier Claudio Fichera in Argentina.

Mercado Libre - $573 - luthier Claudio Fichera - Ronroco Con Caja (with box).
Mercado Libre - $509
Claudio Fichera - claudiofichera@gmail.com
Fichera's Blog -

The Ronroco at this site - (below).

It has an interesting look (although not con caja) and sound. How to track it down (above). - www.oceanaukuleles.com - Zac says, "I picked up this Ronroco on a recent trip to Ecuador. It was built by a Luthier that I use to work with in the mid '90s. He is a skilled and quality luthier. Look for it on my website www.oceanaukuleles.com. Okay. "Oceana Ukuleles is owned and operated by Zacchaeus Steimle. In 1995, Zac traveled from his home in the Pacific North West to Ecuador to study Spanish and check out some South American waves (he learned to surf before learning to ride a bike!) While there he worked part time with a luthier in Quito, thus beginning his fantastical journey into musical instrument building." So, I guess I could contact Zac at the site - zac@oceanaukuleles.com

In terms of aesthetics, I'm interested in eliminating the half cover
the half cover
- Clark Orosco
- Humberto Cerrado

An article about the Ideal Ronroco - Talk about sound as well as visual design. I've already done this somewhere, but where?
- Torrez -
- Ronroco -
So, talk about the visual design of the Charangon, compared with the Ronroco. It seems that the two instruments are identical, except for the visual look.
- Charangon -
- Charangon -
- Gamboa Charangon -
- Charangon Player - Luthier - Eduardo Cornejo
- Charangon Player - hmmm. I wonder if the instrument is tuned an octave below a charango here
- Player -
- Sonko - 13 strings
- Jose Escobido - Playing on a train