Originally played on the metal scraper called güira , the Tambora , and a stringed instrument like a guitar , the strings were replaced with button accordion when Germans began to travel to the island in the 1880s as part of the tobacco trade .
Originally played on the metal scraper called güira , the Tambora , and a stringed instrument ( usually a guitar or a variant such as the tres ) . 
 Stringed instruments were replaced with two - row diatonic button accordions when Germans began to travel to the island in the 1880s as part of the tobacco trade .