Dear Friends,

I would like to introduce you to 27 year old ,  Dubai-based entrepreneur Syrian-Canadian Basil Aziz-oghly who makes bizarre stringed instruments from salvaged wood and recycled boxes.

He has struck a different chord with the city's music lovers by handcrafting guitars and other instruments from salvaged wood and recycled boxes.

He built the first guitar with a cigar box and some hardwood in 2013 when he came to Dubai. He saw the opportunity to convert the hobby into a business as lots of scrap wood was available at his family's fibre-glass factory  . It?s been 2 years that he set up this business called Howlin' Rooster Guitars. It has become a highly talked-about pop-up shop, surfacing at various community markets, the last appearance being at the Ripe market at Times Square Mall on June 27. 

Howlin' notes

From oil can and paint can to metal body and jewellery box guitars, Azizoghly sells at least 15 versions of his innovations. And it?s not just guitars. There are banjos, ukuleles and percussion - all handcrafted from recycled wood and other material. He has sold about 80 guitars so far.

He even provides a do it yourself kit for those who want to assemble the instruments themselves.

Vouching for the sound quality of his creations, he said the guitars are electric versions and can be plugged into an amplifier. It takes him about a week or two to make one batch of instruments. The process starts by sourcing a box and a small piece of wood (1 inch by 1 inch by 1 metre) from a recycled palette. Besides the basic cuts, drills and shapes, customised requests for inlays, engraving and wood burning are also accommodated.

According to him , the real challenge lies in getting the correct measurements as it must be musically right . He is currently working on eight orders.

The cost depends on the material used, the intricacy of the design and the time taken to build the guitar.According to him , the DIY kits come for Dh150( USD 40)  while the cost of an assembled instrument could go up to Dh1,500(USD 400) depending on these factors.