by IRENE CASELLI

Montreal-based songwriter JD Sage was in Havana in 2001 recording at EGREM, the decrepit state-run studios that Wim Wenders immortalized in Buena Vista Social Club. As a sign of gratitude towards the local musicians who had helped him, he left behind his used guitar strings, which are regularly thrown out in most countries, but are worth a small fortune in Cuba.

When he went back months later, Sage packed dozens more in his bags. He initially handed them to the musicians he knew, but soon realized there were many more talented artists that were being left empty-handed.

“Cuba is a country full of guitars,” he says. “The main problem is that most of them are in a pathetic state.”

Because of U.S.-imposed trade sanctions, guitar strings and parts of others musical instruments are rare goods on the island. Individual attempts to get around the trade embargo are often frustrated by U.S. authorities. In February 2004, the U.S. Treasury Department barred a New York-based piano tuner, Ben Treuhaft, from carrying through his plan to ship pianos to Cuba via Montreal (a few months later, Treuhaft eventually was given a licence to renew the shipments after consulting lawyers).

But in Canada there is more space for action. Three years ago, Sage got together with Jimi Cossette, the owner of Jimi’s Music Store on Sherbrooke W. in NDG, to start recycling guitar strings in Montreal. Cossette agreed to collect the strings he replaced for his clients. He says that as long as they’re still shiny, and preferably from the same set, they can be recycled.

The recycling program is basic, but effective. The shop-owner collects an average of 20 sets per week and puts them aside in a box for Sage, who sends them to Cuba a couple of times a year. Once there, the strings are boiled to remove dirt and oxidation. But Cossette’s clients are starting to buy new sets exclusively for the box.

“It’s not a big deal for us. But in Cuba it is,” he says.

Here in Canada, a set costs approximately $10 to $15 (Canadian). In Cuba, where the average monthly wage is, depending on the source, between $10 and $18 (U.S.), a set of strings is worth $2 (U.S.).

Many musicians there have no other choice but to make do with shoestrings or rubber bands, which risk damaging the instruments.

Sage, who regularly travels to Cuba to record his music, has recently set up an agreement with the Havana-based Museo Nacional de la Musica, which receives the strings sent from Montreal and distributes them to schools across the country.

The Australian-born artist has plans to petition the state-owned flight company Cubana, which transports cargos of donated bicycles for free, to do the same for the strings.

Sage says he’s not in it because of the politics. “I’m concerned about the musicians and the children in classes that don’t have access to the basic tools. I’m just a little troubadour, but every little bit helps. Each string we collect can go so far.”

If you go to Cuba, you can bring your strings to the Museo Nacional de la Musica, Capdevila 1/e, Habana y Aguiar, La Habana Vieja.