Monday, August 27, 2007 South sound Guitars By Luis A. Quibranza III USJ-R Masscom Intern
CEBU’s music scene has never gained so much attention from critics and fans alike.
Today, locally based bands come out of the mold and shine brighter than their northern counterparts with their dazzling display of creativity and artistic expression. With every song composed, a melody starts. Every melody made starts with a chord. And every chord strummed starts with your very own guitar. And what better way for us to express the southern sound (and your very own personal style) than with custom-made guitars from the Queen City herself. We are, after all, in a turning point of a local musical revolution just waiting to be heard.
And to accompany this revolution is EDZ Guitar Workshop. A little stopover along A.S Fortuna St. that caters to every musician, particularly the sucker for guitars.
For an average price of P7,000 (excluding parts and paint), the shop can craft any design you’d want to have for an electric guitar. Heart-shaped or Flying V? It doesn’t matter. If you can spend a little bit more (and I suggest you do if you want to own a guitar that plays well and not merely for display), then you can go ahead planning the outcome of your dream guitar with options like:
The Wood
Most beginners take this part for granted. I mean, come on! The wood of your guitar’s body makes up about 70-80 % of your guitar’s “trademark sound.” For non-guitar players out there, it’s like comparing a plastic chair with a wooden one for its sturdiness. (That comparison just feels so wrong.)
Bottom line: A great sounding guitar starts with the wood. So with custom-made guitars, you have the opportunity to take your pick from local hardwood like Mahogany, Ebony, or Kalantas, or ask the shop to import classic favorites like Ash or Maple.
The Fretboard
(Hang in there non-playing reader). The concept is pretty simple. The fretboard is where you press the strings. No fretboard, no strings. No strings, no sound. No sound? Then you just shelled out cash for a pretty expensive piece of maple firewood. Custom-designed fretboards give you the chance to expand your guitar’s note range to your liking.
The Pick-ups
Engines to a car. Pick-ups to a guitar. Simple. It’s those black little boxes with silver circles on it. Good brands are on the Internet. Look it up if you want to learn more about these screaming magnets. These play a major role in sound, as they add to your guitar’s tonal range. Next. . .
The Paint
I hear you non-player! Moving on with general aspects that appeal to the general-reading audience. With custom-made guitars, no one is going to stop you from having your own pink, polka-dotted, glossy-finished electric guitar. Black will do just fine, though.
Personalized Touches
The primary reason why custom-made guitars exist. Find your style, and express.
More on the shop
This is a business born out of passion. A skilled lead-guitarist in a local metal band during the ‘80s, Edgar Anciano can only confess that the reason he started the business is that he loved music and guitars all too much.
Does he have any regret starting a business that caters only to a minority of Cebu? “No. If you don’t love your job, in a few months you’ll end up losing it. If you love it, you can stay forever.” Kudos Edgar!
Lessons learned?
There are two lessons to be learned for all of us young people regardless if you’re a passionate music lover, a faithful TV sitcom follower or a reader stuck in some boring place who just happened to pick up this paper, and stumbled on this article:
Plan pretty well before purchasing stuff because nobody wants to regret. And second, use your passions for the right things and reasons, this way, we avoid living life regretting every passion left inappropriately used.
