India is globally known as a country that’s home to a wide range of unique and traditional music instruments. It’s no surprise that we’re now also home to a growing industry of premium guitars. The best Indian guitar makers or luthiers can be found in the states of West Bengal, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka. Emerging and established brands like Indische Guitar, Cipriano Music, Astha Guitars, and Cathode Guitars are paving the rise of the country’s traditional and modern guitar, pedal effects, and audio equipment markets. With the recent launch of Aurelia Guitars in 2020, Kerala has joined the list of states that are home to India’s premium guitar brands.
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CREDIT: @vivian_varghese on Instagram
“When I was a kid, I remember having to borrow guitars from friends and mentors to play shows, because the international brands were too expensive,” explains veteran musician, luthier, Swarnabhoomi Academy Of Music alumnus, and Aurelia Guitars founder Vivian Varghese. “For now, my designs are handmade and cost over a lakh, but by 2022, if all goes well, I plan on setting up a workshop where I can make these premium guitars available for less than H50,000.” The idea of creating an affordable premium guitar business came to Varghese in 2016, when the veteran musician himself couldn’t find a trustworthy luthier to repair his guitar. “It was around the time my daughter was born – the brand is named after her. I went online and started learning the process, and also caught up with luthiers abroad. There wasn’t anyone I could train under locally, so it took some time. Eventually, few of my students started enquiring if I can fix their instruments, and that was a start.”
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CREDIT: @vivian_varghese on Instagram
Varghese works with wood not just from India but also from different parts of the world. Locally sourced mahogany is his bread and butter. But he also uses varieties such as maple, walnut, purpleheart, ash, poplar, and pine. On occasion, Varghese is also able to source rare materials such as Tasmanian blackwood, which is imported from Serbia.
According to Vivian, he currently sources his pickups from two different companies. However, he uses a digital model on a CNC machine to craft the guitars himself. Any new customer of Aurelia Guitars can pick between Varghese’s three custom models, as well as specify the fretboard and pickups that they want for their guitar. In short, Varghese wants to help fellow musicians to achieve the exact tone and sound that they want. As a small but quickly growing artisanal business, the secret behind Varghese’s guitars is without a doubt the man’s own passion for music.
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CREDIT: @vivian_varghese on Instagram
The formula for Aurelia Guitars’ success is a story that’s common across the global music industry. AmpTweaker pedals founder James Brown started by crafting amps for Peavey to achieve the tone and sound in his head, which later grew into its production company for highly sought-after boutique effects pedals. Meanwhile, Japanese electric guitar company Ibanez Guitars grew globally from a need and desire to shape their own guitars that are distinct from the Western styles of the time.
In short, Aurelia Guitars is in good company. Much like these now-global music brands, Kerala’s first homegrown premium guitar brand began with a passion to create unique and high-quality equipment for musicians. And just like its fellow premium guitar brands across the country, Aurelia Guitars is part of India’s emergence as a global hub for high-quality, modern, and traditional instruments.
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