An Orillia man is stringing up his passion for music by building custom guitars.
For Chris Lewis, his guitar-building career began at the Mariposa Folk Festival five years ago.
"I met Ron Belanger, the guitar maker here at the festival for many years," he explained. "I asked him where I should go if I wanted to make a guitar and it set me on a path that led me right back to his doorstep."
Lewis, 61, had done some woodworking before and was intrigued by the hobby.
"I needed something to do in retirement," he said. "I started building at my house about 18 months ago."
Lewis learned guitar-building techniques from Canadian icons such as Sergi de Jonge before graduating to the point where he purchased Belanger's shop.
"I love working with the wood," he said. "I love working with the finesse of the craft."
Before guitar making, Lewis spent most of his life as a chef and video producer. He says building a guitar is much like crafting a perfect recipe.
"You have to collect all the ingredients to make a dish," he said. "It's the same for a guitar. Setting up a shop is just like setting up a kitchen in that you need to set up all the tools and supplies."
It takes Lewis 60 hours to build a guitar from scratch. Polishing the guitar takes him 15 hours.
"I think I'm able to tune the guitar to the specific wood which is what a factory can't do," he said. "It's a very subjective thing because not everyone can agree on what's the best guitar, but I can get it to a level where I'm proud to have anybody play it."
On average, Lewis' guitars sell for $2,000. While the money helps, right now his focus is getting his name known in the luthier industry.
"It's a tough market," he said. "There are a lot of builders and a lot of guitars you can get from China for $300."
Lewis, an Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute alumnus, says his high-quality guitars will last much longer than some of the cheaper options. He can also personalize each guitar to its player.
"I'm willing to build the guitar to what the player wants," he said. "I'm not trying to sell anybody on anything really, I'm just trying to build good guitars."
Lewis says he has a selection of woods in his inventory that players can choose from. He is also happy to order new wood if somebody is looking for something more specific.
"I'm not trying to pay the mortgage through this," he said. "I'm trying to pay for the materials and the wood. I just want to keep building guitars."
To see more work from Lewis, click here. He can be contacted by email at [email protected].
