Gao Yi, the first Chinese luthier ever to take the top prize at the Antonio Marin Montero Guitar Building Competition in Granada, builds fewer than 13 instruments a year — and finishes them with SINTOMS frets.
From concert stage to workbench
Born in Shandong province in 1970, Gao Yi is one of China’s most accomplished classical guitarists. He taught himself guitar at 17, graduated from Jining University with a music degree in 1992, and continued his studies in classical guitar performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing — where he first encountered instruments built in the traditional Spanish style.
In 2000 he won first place in the Chinese Guitar Competition, performing on an Antonio Marin Montero guitar borrowed from a friend. Later that year he joined Yamaha Corporation as China’s guitar market manager. Eight years with the company deepened his understanding of guitar history and construction.
He opened his own workshop, Gaoyi Guitars, in 2010. Shortly afterward a serious accident during a repair left his fingers badly injured. Rather than discouraging him, it pushed him to shift his professional focus toward lutherie for good.
Learning in Granada
In 2013 Gao began studying traditional Spanish guitar making in Beijing under Juan Labella, a respected maker from Granada. The following year, with support from the Spanish Consulate General in Shanghai, he travelled to Spain and was introduced to Antonio Marin Montero himself — widely regarded as one of the most influential living masters of the Spanish tradition, and a mentor to Gao ever since. In 2019 the European Guitar Foundation recommended him to study with another renowned Granada School luthier, Rene Baarslag.
“While I was in Spain, I lived with local musicians and luthiers to learn and exchange ideas. Then I realized that guitar making is far more than simply creating a seemingly abstract sound. Behind it lie the culture, history, humanism, life experience and the thoughts of the luthiers.”
It was in Spain that Gao learned that the finest soundboards for premium Spanish-style guitars often come from high-quality spruce grown in the Fiemme Valley in the northern Alps at around 1,500 meters — the same region that supplied wood for the famed Stradivarius violins.
“Guitar making is never like solving a math problem, and it doesn’t have an exact formula. Every detail in the whole process comes from the accumulated experience of pioneers and also from luthiers’ innovation. I see guitar making as a testament to collective creativity across generations.”
International recognition
Two years ago Gao’s flamenco guitar took first prize at the 7th Antonio Marin Montero Guitar Building Competition in Granada, Spain, while his classical guitar reached the final — making him the first Chinese luthier ever to win the competition’s top award.
Last month his instruments impressed Japanese musicians and fellow luthiers at an exhibition in Tokyo, where he signed cooperation agreements with major Japanese distributors including Gendai Guitar and Kurosawa Gakki for both online and offline orders. His guitars are increasingly sought after by professional musicians and collectors in Germany, Spain, Japan and the United States.
A Chinese signature
Gao deliberately works elements of Chinese identity into his instruments. The rosettes on the two guitars that earned recognition in Granada draw on traditional Chinese geometric window-grille patterns combined with Japanese Hakone Yosegi Zaiku marquetry, creating an elegant visual signature. Elsewhere he uses mother-of-pearl and shell carvings for inlays, and is exploring locally sourced woods from different regions of China.
“We have already opened the door to the high-end guitar-making sector. As Chinese luthiers continue working toward the same goal and accumulating our own experience, I believe we will see more handmade guitars with a distinct Chinese identity shine on the global stage.”
Why SINTOMS frets
At this level of craftsmanship every component is chosen deliberately — and Gao Yi frets his instruments with SINTOMS fret wire. On guitars that take weeks of hand work and are judged by masters in Granada, the fretwire has to deliver consistent crown geometry along the whole coil, a tang that seats cleanly in the slot without deforming a thin fingerboard, and hardness that holds intonation and finish through years of professional playing.
That is exactly the brief SINTOMS fret wire is drawn to. For a luthier who releases no more than 13 instruments a year, there is no margin for a fret that has to be redressed — and a warm, delicate tone with rich dynamics depends on a clean string-to-fret contact from the nut to the last position.
“Just slow down”
Building a high-quality guitar is a painstaking process. Working full-time as a luthier, Gao produces no more than 13 instruments a year, focusing on warm, delicate tones, rich dynamics, an authentic Spanish voice and a lasting Eastern character.
Asked about the secret to building a great guitar, Gao offers the answer — and life philosophy — he first learned from Marin Montero: “Just slow down.”
“The guitar is a record of my life. It contains my passion and what I hope to leave behind in the world. Even when my life comes to an end, my instruments will remain.”
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