Myanmar Guitar-ology, Episode-3: In the beginning..

Back to this series once again. Fathers' Day kept me busy and thus I couldn't post anything.

This is the guitar which caught my attention first.

Reasons? Here they are:

1. The only guitar sporting a brand name on its headstock
2. Has a cutaway (I favour guitars with cutaway over those without one)
3. Larger guitar body than any others
4. Look suspiciously like a Martin.

Well, I was correct. It is a Martin (See the photo). Why would Ko Cho feature a guitar of other brand in his guitar show? That is because he made it. Here's the story.

When Ko Cho first started out as a luthier (I guess nearly 16 years ago or even more), he tried to seek knowledge from other luthiers and guitar companies. I am sure he would surely have contacted famous guitar makers like Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Taylor, Martin, etc... and luthiers alike. It is a wonder how he contacted them back in those time, when there is no Internet on this piece of land called Myanmar. My guess is that he must have used airmails to contact them. 

His teachers back them were books. Kind souls would mail him back books on guitar-making and apparently, it seemed that the only company that bothered to reply him was (none other than) Martin. They replied to him that he could start out by buying their unassembled guitar parts and try to assemble it himself. Now everyone familiar with Martin would know that their guitars are definitely not cheap. The less pricey range of Martin was only introduced a year ago (probably because Taylor started mass-producing some of their guitars). Hence, it must have cost him quite a lot when he purchased those parts and get them send over to Myanmar (let's assume he doesn't get taxed over those). And because of the price, he didn't dare to start assembling it in case he makes a mistake. All he could do was to read the tutorial booklet that came along with the parts over and over again. It took years (like 4-5?) to muster up enough 'courage' to make this guitar. 

What is commendable here is not the guitar but Ko Cho's eagerness in becoming a luthier. An amateur would not bother contacting all the companies and luthiers out there or face any rejections. An amateur would not dedicate his life in instrument-making and study about different types of tone wood and alternatives. I hope there are those in my generation who are like him. I'm sure there are some out there in Myanmar. Just that I have yet to meet them. =)