Crowds at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium welcomed the Malaysian five-piece rock group enthusiastically, cheering as they performed seven songs, including “Guilty Plea”, “Beautiful”, “Gimme Nothing”, and “Pussycat”.
If you were wondering why frontman Fuad Alhabshi sounded especially good that night, it’s because he was rocking out on custom-made guitars of the highest quality, specially created by local instrument builder Malayan Guitars.
Its founder Tan Kuan Eng said he’d drawn inspiration from the concert-going experience in envisioning and creating these guitars.
“The first one, Unity, symbolises people coming together for the concert,” he said when met with FMT Lifestyle several days before Kyoto Protocol’s performance.
“The second, Catharsis, expresses how everyone goes there and shares their emotions, experiencing what the music is trying to express to them.
“And the last, Healing, refers to the process of people leaving the concert and carrying on with their lives.”
The guitars’ striking designs also reflect their names: the vibrant colours on Catharsis, for example, symbolise emotional release, its blue streaks reminiscent of tears; while the gold delta wing on Unity represents Kyoto Protocol bringing music lovers together.
Established in 2017, Malayan Guitars is the only custom Malaysian guitar builder whose wares are available at major local retailers. Its mission is to innovate electric guitars and establish Malaysia’s reputation as a guitar-building powerhouse.
At his workshop in Kuala Lumpur on July 26, Tan slowly and lovingly put the final touches on Healing, the third member of the guitar trio. This included installing tuning machines, levelling its fretboard, soldering its electronic components, and spray-painting its exterior.
It’s hard to imagine that such a complex instrument could be put together by just one person, but the 38-year-old almost makes it look easy.
It takes at least 100 hours of labour to construct one of these guitars. Each is made from straight-grain, old-growth Malaysian ironwood, which Tan personally and critically selects: only one in 100 pieces fits his criteria.
“Everything is high-end. We have the best wood in the world, especially for electric guitars. Ironwood is extremely hard and heavy, and it’s great for guitars because the sound it creates is amazing.
“But it’s difficult to cut. I need to buy special tools from Germany and the United States for that,” Tan, who has been building guitars for about seven years now, shared with a laugh.
The electronic components, meanwhile, come from the US, Germany and Japan, and “they’re very high-precision”, he added.
The guitars also come with three high-end pickups – devices that convert string vibrations into electricity, embedded in the body of the instrument – all based on technology used by Nasa.
Tan couldn’t wait to see his guitars in action, saying they were the best instruments he’d ever made.
“Everything about them has been a challenge. The wood had to be good; I dried it for at least six months. The sound needs to be clear, rich, balanced and expressive. And most importantly, it has to suit the person who plays it.”
As for his collaboration with Kyoto Protocol, Tan revealed he has been working with frontman Fuad for four years.
“He’s a straight-out rock guy. So I’ve been refining a rock sound that fits his style of music. And with these guitars, I think we nailed it.”
Fuad later agreed with Tan’s sentiments, with high praise for the instruments custom-built for him. “This guitar is dangerous!” he commented upon first playing it. “It’s a riff machine!”
And he certainly did justice to the instruments, judging from the reaction of the crowd during the concert.
Tan is now in the midst of planning an auction to sell the guitars for charity. Potential buyers can attend a preview at on Aug 26, where they can check out and play the guitars before submitting a sealed bid of a minimum and minimum amount to the auctioneer, who will bid on their behalf.
Alternatively, those who are interested can attend the auction proper, the date of which is still to be confirmed. A portion of proceeds from the auction will go to the NGOs Kechara Soup Kitchen and Teddy Mobile Clinic.
Tan has no sales target for each guitar, but shared that his instruments usually sell within the US$4,000-$5,000 (RM18,000-RM23,000) price range.
At the end of the day, he is of proud of how his guitars have contributed towards a stellar concert experience for local music lovers.
“I’m feel it’s such a wonderful thing that a big band like Muse chose to have their Asia leg in Malaysia, and that we had such a great local band like Kyoto Protocol opening for them, playing real Malaysian-made custom guitars for the Malaysian audience.
“I hope this makes people even more aware that Malaysia is full of talented people; and what other countries can do, we can do just as well – perhaps even better.”
Learn more about Malayan Guitars via its website, as well as Facebook and Instagram profiles.
Those interested in the guitar preview and auction can email [email protected] or call Michael Peris at 012-571 2341 for more information.