His life

The Chinese Master Luthier

 

 

Guo Yulong

 

Yulong Guo is probably the best known Chinese guitar luthier among luthiers and guitarists in west world.

He built up his passion on guitar in late 1970s and early 1980s, a time when guitar was booming in China. ‘ I was totally stunned by the beautiful sound of guitar.’ He recalled. That was the beginning of his lifelong love affair with guitar

Every guitar is handcrafted by the chinese master-luthier Yulong Guo and his apprentices.

At the time when China has just openne up herslf to the outside world, guitar was a symbol of new thinking and new way of life among Chinese youth and pioneers. However in terms of guitar, Yulong Guo was the pioneer of poineers.

As many new generation luthiers in Spain and other countries, Yulong Guo started as a guitar student firstly. After the enlightenment of guitar playing, Yulong Guo became a formal student of Professor Cui Min, a member of Musician Association in China. Later, Yulong Guo won a second prize of classical group in a China’s national level guitar competition, the First Aoqi Guitar Competition, and he was invited to play a theme for a Sunday English teaching programme of China Central TV Station.

 

 

At the time when a new generation of Chinese guitarists, such as Xuefei Yang, was educated in colleges, Yulong Guo switched his career to guitar making. Now, he is the technical director and a shareholder of Huacheng (Watson) Guitar Manufacturing Company, and solely owns a high grade guitar workshop, where this guitar was hand crafted by himself and his apprentices.

The apprentices in the workshop are well trained and instructed very precisely by Guo Yulong.

Yulong Guo has alway been a pioneer and done a lot of experiments of guitar making in order to achieve the best sound, not to mention wood works. He is a master figure among Chinese guitar makers emerging on the horizon, and the first Chinese guitar luthier who applys lattice bracing, also the first and so far the only one who has the ability to make Nomex ‘double top’.

Yulong Guo with two Doublet-Top spruce tops.

Yulong Guo has witnessed China becoming the world’s guitar manufacturing centre and been a part of this. He hopes that not only a great part of the world’s guitars is made in China, but also there are great gutiars made by China for guitarists around the world. He counts himself one of whom are promoting the idea. Actually, he has become the pioneer of these pioneers again by presenting this wonderful guitar.