The Magic Touch of Roka Dyer Maker

Once upon a time in the 20th century, an Indonesian luthier decided to craft a custom thinline classical guitar. Over the years, successive owners added various mods to the instrument, including a preamp and Fender-style output jack. It's said that the guitar spent some years at sea before finding its way into the possession of an elderly gentleman from Kuala Lumpur. Which is where local musician/sound engineer "Prof." Din discovered the poor thing, beaten and bruised beyond repair; or so we thought.

For starters, the bridge and under-saddle (presumably) pickup were missing; as were the tuners and preamp innards. The frets and fretboard were bowed inwards, so much so that the entire length of the fretboard was lower in the middle than the edges. Imagine that if you can! To make matters worse, the back of the guitar was missing a chunk of wood near the output jack, and someone had filled the gap with plywood. The top was no better, being severely discolored and  uneven with large dents and divots marring its surface.

Both Prof. and yours truly were in agreement that only a bona fide luthier could do justice to this guitar. And so it was handed over to Kuantan-based luthier extraordinaire Roka Dyer Maker for a total makeover. Roka, as some of you might already know; once studied under internationally-acclaimed luthier Jeffrey Yong.

The post-restoration transformation was mind-blowing, to say the least. The frets and fretboard were as level as it gets. A new preamp, pickguard and bridge were in place. The guitar looked and sounded fantastic, something local bluesman Shafie can attest to. Prof. was so pleased with the end result that the guitar's now sitting in a glass display case; only to be taken out when absolutely necessary. Roka Dyer Maker, you da man!

Image Credits: AA and Roka Dyer Maker

August 27 2016 - Jeffrey Yong Guitar Workshop

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, and Kuantan guitar aficionados were excited as can be. And why not, for renowned Malaysian luthier Jeffrey Yong was about to treat them to a two-hour-plus workshop at the delightfully elegant Rocana Hotel. This workshop was organized by JZ Lim and Kay Shoun of Jammer Music -- kudos to them for succeeding in bringing Jeffrey to Kuantan, no easy feat indeed!

The workshop started off with a slide show narrated by the master himself. Jeffrey showed us loads and loads of beautiful images of under-appreciated local and Asian tonewoods that were usually discarded or used as firewood. Amongst these were mango, monkey pod (raintree), blackwood, rambutan, and even lychee. Jeffrey stressed that local tonewoods were on par, if not better; than "traditional" tonewoods favored by luthiers from the USA and Europe. However, before you take an axe to the mango tree in your back yard, take note that the mango trees Jeffrey is talking about are hundreds of years old and really huge.

During the slide show, Jeffrey also talked about some of the steel string and classical guitars that he had brought down to Kuantan in terms of design rationale, construction techniques and materials used. Following this was a demo session featuring Jeffrey's proteges and friends on his stunning handcrafted guitars, including the "Special Limited Edition" series. The man himself is no slouch on the classical guitar, as he ably demonstrated to an awestruck audience. And no wonder, for Jeffrey used to teach classical guitar full-time before adding luthiery to his resume in the mid '80s.

Then came the time everyone had been eagerly anticipating, a hands-on session with Jeffrey's guitars. Even in these inexperienced hands, they played smoothly and sounded heavenly; for want of a better word. The master took this opportunity to chat with some of his old friends and proteges, including Tele Wong and Kuantan-based luthier Roka Dyer Maker.

All too soon it was time to bid farewell to the master. Come back real soon, sifu.

Achtung Riders Tele

The action on this guitar was way too high even with the saddles bottomed-out. Turned out the neck angle was the culprit. Thanks to thin wood veneer generously donated by Roka Dyer Maker, I was able to fashion a shim and get the neck angle just right. Action & intonation adjustment was a breeze after that. The electronics were also upgraded to full-sized Alpha pots and a Sprague cap. Nuff' said, then. Onto the pics.