This is a repair and conversion I completed for my friend Kofi.
His kora was made by Dialy Mady Cissoko in Bamako Mali in 2011. Over the course of 12 years in NC, the wooden tuning pegs became difficult to use due to the wood expanding and contracting. It was nearly impossible to precisely tune the instrument, and several of the pegs wouldn't even hold the necessary tension at all. So, the kora didn't get played too much!
In this video, I replace the wooden pegs with bass machine tuners, and also fabricate a new bridge. I chose to use bass tuners rather than the usual guitar tuners because the shape of the neck wouldn't allow clearance for the tuner knobs to be turned when mounted in the same hole location, which was necessary due to the way the neck was originally made.
The new bridge is thinner and smaller in width, which allows more space for fingers to move between the posts and the strings. Also the strings are now a little farther apart making them easier to play.
The kora gained a few pounds, but still sounds absolutely lovely.
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