No other guitar I have played has matched up to the versatility, sound, aesthetic and feel as my Maestro. I play a lot of different styles of music, both as a soloist and ensemble player, I know my guitar will be able to deliver a high quality and professional sound that gets the job done no matter how challenging or dynamically intensive the music I need to play.
– Zarek Silberchmidt (New Zealand / Switzerland)
Featured Artist
Zarek Silberschmidt
Stylistically defined as remarkably versatile, some would go as far to state, a natural born performer. Zarek’s unique dexterity in the art of shape shifting sounds has been described as simply outstanding by listeners. A spectrum of techniques mastered through a vast comprehension of genre specific qualities, grants his ability to seamlessly accommodate to each individual performance.
Featured Instrument
Traditional Series
Available in 5 shapes, the Traditional Series represents an exciting era of innovation and inspiration. From the compact Parlour to the iconic Slope Shoulder Dreadnought, these instruments bring nostalgia and inspiration to today’s players.
Featured Journal
Learning Voicing from Ervin Somogyi
It was March 2015 when Hozen went to Oakland, California to further his studies on voicing under Ervin Somogyi. With him was one of his best builds during that time, a Raffles Malaysian Blackwood. He was very eager to find out what was he missing and hear how his “best sounding” guitar becomes better.
Recent Builds
Series Overview
Learn what makes up each Series of our instruments in terms of specifications and understand the stories behind them.
Shapes & Dimensions
Understand how shape “shape” the sound; another consideration, aside from comfort and looks, when selecting your instrument.
All About Wood
Every tonewood has its own charm. Know what kind of sound each wood offers and explore the most ideal wood combination for you.
The Maestro Story
Hozen comes from a family of piano builders who were the only ones in Singapore from 1960-80s. Parts such as Action and keys are imported and assembled in Singapore by Hozen’s grandfather, father and uncles. However Hozen’s passion was obviously in guitars when he started repairing guitars instead of pianos in his dad’s workshop in 2001. Hozen’s first few guitars are assembled from Stewmac Kits and in 2006 he decided to gain more confidence in hand tools on a short stint with British luhier Chris Horton in Goa. He pretty much taught himself from instructional videos, interacting with other builders and practising with trial builts.
Inspired by his family tradition, he decided it may be commercially viable by assembling guitars in Singapore with imported semi-finished parts. Maestro Guitars has been done this way from 2006-2009, however the quality of the semi-finished parts deteriorated over the years and Hozen decided that out-sourcing is not the way to go to ensure quality. In 2010, he started a new workshop and employed 6 other luthiers; for the next 2 years he struggled with the hard realization that working in a team and managing the team is very much different than building by himself.
Nevertheless, he preserved and kept moving his dream forward. Today one can see the acclimatization of Hozen and his team’s hardwork throughout the years in terms of the quality of Maestro’s instruments. Hozen’s relentless thirst for perfection brings him to a 2 weeks understudy with the famed Ervin Somogyi in early 2015 which resulted in radical changes to his voicing and construction methods. He never stopped pursuing perfection.
Since 2004 Maestro has been providing instruments to discerning players that are very particular about playability, tone and craftsmanship. Each Maestro instrument is handcrafted using only the finest wood and components through age-proven techniques. Owner and Master Luthier “Hozen” spearheads a small yet highly experienced team of luthiers, ensuring each Maestro instrument is built to its fullest potential. Hozen readily embraces modern enhancements such as Carbon-Fibre Reinforced Necks, sound port, double tops, beveled armrest, PLEK setup, blended with age-old traditional Hide Glue, wooden bindings, air-dried tonewood, individually hand voiced soundboards to help produce the finest hand made guitars in the region which are an inspiration to play.
Standard features and enhancements, depending on your model choice, will include but not limited to Double Top Soundboards, Rigid Rim Technology, Soundport, Bevelled Armrest/Body rest, Florentine Cutaway and Advanced Hybrid Bracing….options that can only be found on Custom Orders elsewhere. Maestro Guitars and ukuleles have garnered rave reviews from their discerning dealers and players globally, boutique quality is no longer a lofty dream!