Strumming up a milestone

A guitar business in Huizhou, Guangdong province, has hit the big time, driven by upgraded manufacturing and a stronger domestic market. Li Xiaoyun reports from Huizhou.

Tsai Lai-feng, general manager of Grand Reward Education & Entertainment Co and founder of guitar brand Farida, shows off an award for "Best New Acoustic Guitar", won in 2006 for an order of instruments made for an American firm.

"It's a milestone," Tsai says, as it marks his company has mastered the technology of mass-producing all-solid wood guitars instead of those made of plywood.

Manufacturing guitars is not easy, Tsai says, explaining the intricacies of the production process. In order to guarantee sound quality, the instrument body's board should be no more than three millimeters thick. Although solid wood produces good sound, it is prone to warping compared to plywood.

"The mastery lies in striking the right balance between maintaining structural integrity and achieving superior sound quality," he says. "We have owned this technology without relying on foreign expertise. Even now, there are still many factories that can't make solid wood guitars."

Guitar companies in Huiyang district of Huizhou — one of the nine Guangdong cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — have had a "big time", like Tsai's building up their brand names and capitalizing on a vibrant domestic market, as the nation's manufacturing industry continues to upgrade and consumer spending power is on a rise.

Huiyang is home to more than 200 guitar and spare parts manufacturers, nine of which are large-scale enterprises with an annual revenue of up to 20 million yuan ($2.73 million), while 11 are national or provincial technology firms.

Tsai, who is in his 60s, is from the third generation of a Taiwan family steeped in musical instrument trade. As costs in Taiwan rose, his family and business peers considered relocating to the Chinese mainland in the early 1990s. With no direct flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan then, many opted for Hong Kong as a transit hub for logistics and capital. As one of the mainland cities geographically closest to Hong Kong, Huizhou saw the creation of Tsai's Grand Reward Education & Entertainment Co in 1995 and six other guitar factories funded by Taiwan investors.