Photos: Czech guitar maker born of necessity woos stars

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Photos: Czech guitar maker born of necessity woos stars

The company has more than 60 employees and churns out 7,000 guitars annually

Published: August 25, 2020 07:16 AFP and compiled by Balaram Menon, Senior Web Editor

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Copy of 518116-01-02-1598325078128 — An employee of the Furch family company works on a guitar in the Furch manufactory in Velke Nemcice, Czech Republic. Born during a shortage of guitars in former Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia, the Furch family company is now selling instruments to global stars out of its workshop in a former mill. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518112-01-02-1598325087701 — American guitar virtuoso Al Di Meola, songwriter Suzanne Vega and Per Gessle of the Swedish rock duo Roxette all play Furch guitars. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518095-01-02-1598325074510 — It's a far cry from the company's early days. "I had a little green notebook and I took down the names of buyers. It kept growing nicely, but it was also dangerous because private business was illegal then," company founder Frantisek Furch told AFP. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518096-01-02-1598325113976 — The 62-year-old former metalworker sold his first guitar in 1981, when then-Czechoslovakia had eight more years to live under Moscow's rule. | Above: An employee of the Furch family company works on a guitar. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518105-01-02-1598325100739 — Furch risked up to ten years in prison until 1988, when the Communist government allowed private businesses. A year later, the Communist regime fell and Czechoslovakia went on to split peacefully into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518103-01-02-1598325104223 — Furch, who made a guitar in two months at first, started to grow. In 1990, he already had seven employees. He makes only acoustic guitars, mainly from imported wood. He also made his first foreign sale - a mandolin - that year. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518109-01-02-1598325092009 — Now, the company has more than 60 employees and churns out 7,000 guitars annually, selling to Germany, Scandinavia, France, Japan, Britain and the United States, as well as to the Czech market. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518111-01-02-1598325089610 — "We are quite different from the others," said Frantisek Furch's son Petr, 36, (above) the current chief executive. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518107-01-02-1598325095992 — "Our guitars comprise lots of know-how you can't see. There are dozens to hundreds of details whose combination makes the sound and the quality of the product," Petr said. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518104-01-02-1598325098735 — Furch supplies guitars to many Czech musicians, including the award-winning singer and songwriter Thom Artway. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518102-01-02-1598325107969 — "I love the story of the family, that's simply fascinating," the 27-year-old Artway told AFP. "And then, the guitar understands the tones I want to play, it knows how I want to play them and it simply does what I want," he added. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518100-01-02-1598325111428 — The company has just opened a distribution centre in the US music hub of Nashville, Tennessee and Frantisek Furch relishes the thought of top artists playing his guitars. Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518115-01-02-1598325081866 — "I'm happy that the offers come from their side, not from ours, and that we have so many personalities among our customers," Frantisek said, before adding: "I guess Eric Clapton could show up too some day." Image Credit: AFP

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Copy of 518113-01-02-1598325085570 — An employee of Furch family company works on Furch guitar logo in the Furch family company manufactory in Velke Nemcice, Czech Republic. Image Credit: AFP

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