Guitars—electric, acoustic, or semi-acoustic—look simple enough. What in them would call for regular repairs and maintenance, right? For the uninitiated, it’s really just wood with some steel and strings tied at two ends. But anyone who has ever taken up the instrument seriously can tell you about the enormous effort needed to keep them functioning well. In fact, all guitars come with this constant need for repair and servicing, which, if not done on time, could permanently damage the instrument.
This is where 32-year-old Sumit Suwal steps in. Sumit restores guitars that have been worn with time and use and he’s most likely the only full-time guitar luthier specializing in repairs in the country. No wonder his skills have gotten him a clientele ranging from amateurs to professionals from all over the country.
“This is the house I was born and brought up in,” Sumit introduces his old house in Dallu where a room has been set aside for his “SuMeet Guitar Restoration” workshop. The room’s filled with guitars, new and old, some for easy re-stringing, others for not-so-easy repairs. “I wanted the name to sound like Su-Meet, meaning a good friend,” he says, explaining the name of his workplace. “I have been helped by many friends and well-wishers in life and I want to be a good friend to everyone.”
As Sumit continues with his life story, he recalls the sad bit when, aged four, a case of meningitis caused the doctors to amputate both his legs. Although he doesn’t remember much from the time, he does recall having to stay home for a long time. Even as he grew up, his mobility was limited. “I didn’t think about it much then but now I think all that happened so that I could be at this place, doing what I am doing right now,” Sumit says.
Lack of mobility confined Sumit to his home most days and he was forced to find indoor hobbies to keep himself occupied. That’s when he cut out a guitar-like shape on plywood and strung it with rubber bands to craft a guitar for himself. His father, on seeing his 8-year-old son so interested in the instrument, got him a real guitar. Sumit then started exploring music and in time learned to sing and play guitar and keyboards, even competing in interschool music competitions and winning awards later in life.
With a guitar in hand and a circle of musicians around him, Sumit did small repairs on his friends’ guitars for pocket money. A friend got him a battered Telecaster guitar from Japan and restoring it gave much repair experience. Also, around 2008, when he had bought a Chinese copy of a guitar and took it to Deep Music at New Road to get it repaired, Deepak Tandukar, the owner and one of the pioneers of guitar repairs in the country, encouraged Sumit to try to repair it by himself. “Deepak dai inspired me a lot,” he says. “He even lent me tools and offered to help whenever he could. He even sent me repair jobs that came to him. I am very thankful to him.”
Sumit started his restoration workshop at his home in 2014 and quickly became one of the most sought after luthiers. Now some of the most famous names of the Nepali music industry visit his workshop, which is so busy at times that he has also hired an assistant to help him.
But is guitar repairs enough to earn a living? “Well, I’ve been managing to meet my wife’s demands with this,” Sumit says with a laugh. “On a serious note, I am thinking of expanding and am also giving lessons to those who want to join the profession. There’s room for more”.
