Cebuanos are known for their love of music. In fact, they have carved a name for themselves as some of the best musicians in the world. If you go on a cruise, don’t be surprised to find a Cebuana singer serenading for you while you sip on your favorite drink in the ship’s bar. If you travel to the Middle East, Malaysia, England, Australia, the United States, and anywhere else in the world, you can be sure that you will find Cebuano bands in bars, singing classic and contemporary songs.
Cebuanos passion for notes, pitches, and rhythm can be found not just in their voices but in the instruments they play. In Cebu, the guitar reigns as the supreme musical instrument. Virtually every household in Cebu has a guitar, and at least one in every family knows how to play it. Travel around Cebu and you can see people playing the guitar anywhere—inside music bars, in front of a sari-sari store with drinking buddies, under the shady canopy of a mango tree, at the graveyard during All-Saints Day, in their rooms during a lonely night, or even on top of a mountain.
If you love playing guitars and are planning to shop for one, head to Alegre Guitars in Abuno, Mactan. Not only will you be able to buy yourself a top-quality guitar at affordable prices, you can also see how these stringed instruments are made in the traditional process. Indeed, you are not just in for a shopping trip when you visit Alegre Guitars. It is actually a cultural excursion.
The place may be quite challenging to locate. The most convenient way is to ask a Cebuano friend who is familiar with the place to take you there via a private vehicle. If this is somehow impractical or impossible, you can hire a taxi to take you to Abuno. The driver should know where the facility is, but if he does not, you can just ask the locals that you pass by along the way.
Alegre Guitar Factory has a very impressive guitar showroom—actually two showrooms. Standard guitars and other stringed instruments such as bandurias and ukuleles are neatly arranged in the one showroom. Do not underestimate the word “standard” because their “standard” guitars can easily top out some of the best guitars made in other countries. You can choose a variety of designs and colors, which are virtually endless.
If you are serious musician/guitarist, head to the second showroom where you can find world-class standard guitars made of top-quality wood such as narra, mahogany, and redwood. These magnificent creations produce sounds so beautiful that you actually get enchanted each time you strum a tune. Many world-renowned guitarists actually use Alegre guitars during their concerts and gigs.
Head out to the back of the factory where you can watch talented guitar craftsmen work on different stages of guitar-making. You will be amazed at the skill, the raw talent, and the passion that they possess in creating these finely tuned instruments. In fact, guitar making constitutes a complex art form that only Cebuanos have perfected. These skills are passed from one generation to the next.
Best of all, you can ask them to make you a customized guitar! You can ask them to create you a special guitar that conforms to your body and hand measurements using the wood and design of your choice.
Friendly family members (the shop is owned by the Alegre family) and staff recommend that you go to the office and purchase the guitar directly from them. They do export to other countries, but they insist that it’s different when you hold and strum your selection yourself. There is a certain feel and magic to a Cebuano guitar if you are actually there to lift it, touch its smooth wood, feel the firmness of its strings, and strum gentle notes from the instrument. That feeling is perhaps the collective spirit of an ancient craft in every Alegre guitar that reminds us of our own humanity and oneness in music.
