The Birth of a Boutique Guitar Workshop
As a long-time luthier and guitar player, I’ve always sought an answer to the question: What makes a good guitar? But I believe a quality instrument offers inspiration to a musician, creates a pleasing and memorable sound, and incites a certain passion within those who play it. A handcrafted guitar generates a pure resonance within the wood that embodies th
e soul of its creator and the musician – elusive essentials that mass-produced, machine-made guitars can never reproduce. Our boutique workshop is where the finest quality instruments are built to bring to music the pure, full sound of fine wood. I’ve been a classical guitar player and worked in the guitar industry over 25 years, and I can trace my enthusiasm for the craft back to my early years as a violin-making apprentice. To this day, the skills I learned crafting violins still shape my understanding of the guitar and the Techniquess I use in building them. Seeing the limited knowledge of and appreciation for guitar-making in Hong Kong and Mainland China, I followed my growing passion for fine-quality guitars around the world to learn these precise skills and Techniquess from the masters. During that time, I visited and learned from master guitar luthiers and well-known guitar factories in Europe, America, and Asia. With knowledge of the soul of guitar making from Europe and machinery Techniquess from America, I founded Matthew Guitars in the summer of 2002 after returning to Hong Kong with one goal: to build musical instruments of the finest quality with carefully selected, exotic woods and without the headache of a huge brand premium. The instruments born in Matthew's Workshop provide a lifetime of new discoveries and joy for their owners. In the eight years since I founded Matthew Guitars, I have personally made over 200 classical and acoustic guitars for outstanding musicians all over the world, including Ernesto Tamayo, Gabriel Guillen, Massimo Stefanizzi, Luz Maria, Anna Likhachiva, and many others. And with the help of my workshop staff, Matthew Guitars has crafted over 500 guitars for guitar players of varying levels of proficiency and professionalism. My experience as a major supplier of quality woods to Hong Kong and Mainland China has also been an invaluable source of inspiration and knowledge for the selection of fine woods with striking acoustic qualities. All these experiences and studies have combined to form my present approach to guitar craftsmanship. Through constant experimentation founded in a love of distinct design, my approach and philosophy are constantly evolving – thus, no two instruments from Matthew Guitars are alike. Being the number one guitar workshop in Hong Kong, the goal of Matthew Guitars has never changed – to give birth to the finest handcrafted guitars from carefully selected woods. Matthew Guitars is dedicated to giving voice to the unique sound of fine wood and making every musical dream come true.
