Adam Chan
Luthier
Singapore, Singapore
Crafting towards the first strum
- Adam handmakes steel-string acoustic guitars with a full sound and enduring sustain
- He focuses on employing unusual woods and efficient mechanical design to optimise the player's energy
- Through teaching, he shares his love for music and craftsmanship
“I respect the guitar as a serious instrument because of the way it is built,” declares master luthier Adam Chan. Guitar making is a passion that the self-taught craftsman picked up in his forties while refining his design for a portable guitar dehumidifier. In 2014, he rented a workshop where he practised his skills, before gaining the confidence to launch his studio in 2017. Originally trained as an engineer, Adam is not bound by traditional making approaches, such as using mahogany solely for the neck, or crafting for as little weight as possible. "The guitar of the future is the one I am interested in making, and it is modelled after the principles of audio speakers, which includes a necessary mass in the right parts," explains Adam. While he builds up to 12 guitars a year, he keeps only two at home, preferring to share them with others instead. “My guitar can be part of a person’s life story,” he says.
Discover his work
INTERVIEW
A critical difference between a handmade guitar and a mass-produced one is that every topboard has a certain strength that the artisan maker can feel with their fingers. So when I make the internal parts of the guitar that define the sound of the finished instrument, I am able to take into consideration the strength of this particular board, rather than treat it as one of hundreds of boards.
When I play the first chord! Nobody knows how it will sound before that. In my classes, I always reserve that moment, the maiden chord, for my students. Every time I make a guitar, I look forward to hearing how accurate my work is. That feeling is hard to describe. It is a new experience every single time.
I build guitars for other people, not for myself. I would be really happy to make a guitar as an heirloom for a family one day. Being able to make an instrument that represents the family members, that functions and plays well, and that looks and sounds good would be wonderful.
The most satisfying parts of practising my craft are having the space to exercise creativity and guiding a learner through the creation processes. These are a reminder that hands are good for making things, not just for swiping on phones.
