The Humble Beginnings
Our story started in 1919 at Lincoln Street, Cebu City, where Pedro Abendan started a guitar store and builds guitars and banjos in the small backyard of his house.
The shop’s name is in Spanish when in English translates to “The Filipina”. His instruments had a label inside of a Filipina wearing a Filipiniana, the Philippine flag background, and a ribbon that says “Proprietor Pedro Abendan Since 1919”.
To all his children and grandchildren he taught them that every instrument has a partner. So, every time an instrument takes time to be sold, he says:
“wala pa maabot ang tag-iya ana na instrumento.”
The owner of that instrument didn’t arrive yet.
Pedro Abendan had 4 children, Avelino “Biling” Abendan and Nelita “Nely” Abendan-Dagoc were 2 of them. Both are in the guitar-making business as well, Biling started his own Cebu Classic Guitars, and Nely has her Nely’s Guitars.
Biling
Of all the children of Pedro, Biling has his business model focused on making and marketing Electric Guitars. This was the time when The Beatles, Bee Gees, and Elvis Presley were at their peak. Guitar pickups were not rampant in Cebu by that time, so Biling was the one who created the pickups for the guitars he sells.
He opened a different store at the corner of Lincoln Street and started to have his hands-on with the acoustic guitar makers of Mactan Island (Lapu-Lapu City). He handpicked the ones who make slow, but good-quality instruments to work with him.
Other than electric and acoustic guitars, Biling learned to make Rondalla instruments from a priest in Don Bosco. He then supplied rondalla instruments to different schools in the Cebu Province.
Biling spends most of his time going to Mactan Island, where he goes from one guitar maker to another to buy their instruments, and together with him in his journey is the young Fernando “Andoy” Dagoc, the son of her sister Nely, who at the early age of 7 was exposed to the craft of guitar-making.
Andoy
Fernando “Andoy” Dagoc is a quiet and humble man, and even his children didn’t know that he was a varsity of Classical Guitar Player at the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
D’Original Guitar Store
In 1978, at Lincoln Street, Cebu City, on the opposite side of the road from Nely’s Guitars, D’Original Guitar Store was started by Andoy himself!
It was during this time that Andoy sharpened his skills of buffing and varnishing guitars from Boy Helbolinggo, as well as his guitar repairing skills.
On the year 1983, Andoy was also a Wood Agent on the nearby pier where his familiarization with the different behaviors and characteristics of wood grew.
All this to have his allowance for school, then he closed it down after he graduated from the University of San Jose-Recoletos as Mechanical Engineer.
Custom Guitar and Repair Shop
D’Original Guitar Store had lots of customers who wanted custom-built guitars. So in 1985, Andoy together with his siblings started Custom Guitar and Repair Shop with Joy as the proprietress.
Andoy employs and trains guitar makers and varnishers from Lapu-Lapu City. His first employees were Ali and Luz Casquejo, Ali makes the guitars together with Andoy, while Luz does the varnishing.
On February 2, 2017, at 3:58 am, a fire broke out in one of the guitar stores on Lincoln Street. Out of the 12 guitar stores, only 3 were left including Custom Guitar.
Source: Cebu guitar industry suffers blow: Fire razes P3-M in 9 shops
Custom Enterprises
In 1997, Andoy then left the management of Custom Guitar to his sister Joy. He then started a lumber business in Lapu-Lapu City together with his wife Angelita. Andoy and his wife started Custom Enterprises, which sells lumber and materials specific for guitar building in Abuno, Lapu-Lapu City.
Andoy always has this passion for making guitars. Even running the lumber business, he’s still making guitars and branded them as Custom Guitars.
It was during this time that Andoy asked himself the question:
“Can our guitars compete in the global market?”
Ferangeli Guitar Handcrafter
Just one question, question sparked the research of guitar-making, in which he saw a lot of things that need to be improved, and the development of a high-quality solid wood instrument that can compete in the global arena. By this time, Andoy handpicked and trained local guitar-makers in Lapu-Lapu City. He taught these guitar-makers the new techniques, and procedures apart from what they have been used to.
With Andoy’s burning passion for making high-quality solid wood instruments, instruments that can compete in the global arena, instruments with the best possible sound, and instruments with a mark of Filipino craftsmanship, Andoy started Ferangeli Guitar Handcrafter.
Ferangeli because it’s a combination of Fernando and Angelita, and is also the name of their first-born daughter.
Humpback Guitars
But Andoy wants something unique, something that is not common among the guitars available in Lapu-Lapu City. So he started to make solid wood humpback guitars using different Philippine woods.
Humpback guitars were not new in town there were already fiberglass humpbacks available. But what makes Ferangeli Guitar’s instrument unique is using solid wood, both whole wood, and 2-piece wood.
Using wood for the back and sides not only makes the instrument aesthetically pleasing with the different wood grain patterns but also gives the instrument more volume to the sound.
Of all the solid humpback guitars, the one that stands out the most is the “Bachelor’s Guitar”.
The humpback on these guitars is still made out of solid wood, but this one is carved as if it’s a woman’s body but with flowers on the sensitive parts. 😉
From the owners of these models:
“It gives an extra feel when playing!”
“I’m living alone, now, I’m not…”
Philippine Ebony Research
Known as “Kamagong”, and one of the hardwoods in the Philippines. In the early 2000s, no one was making guitars using this wood. Some say it’s hard to cut, the wood often cracks, and the wood is always moving. But when Andoy made one for testing, he finds the sound interesting…
So he started his research on this wood, finding the sweet spot, to prevent movement so he could share the sound of Philippine Ebony with different musicians across the world. Now, Philippine Ebony back and side instruments have been the best-selling back and sides sets for Ferangeli Guitar’s Custom Builds.
You can see some of the instruments here: https://www.ferangeliguitar.com/back-and-sides/solid-philippine-ebony/
Intricate Inlays
His guitars also have abalone shell inlays, from the bindings, the whole back and sides, and the soundboard. Being part of the Department of Trade Product Development Program, different inlay designs were produced like so:
We have also been known for the different inlay designs on our instruments from simple name inlays to intricate designs like a Cebu the themed fingerboard inlay.
Our story continues…
Andoy met a lot of musicians and guitar makers alike, giving comments, and critiquing his work. He met Adolfo Timuat, a luthier from Spain, and they exchanged ideas and knowledge in the art of lutherie. His meeting with Adolfo enhanced his Classical Guitar making skills and apply some of the theories to his Acoustic Guitars and Ukuleles as well.
He also met Ichiro-san, a musician from Japan, who’s very eager to try out different bracing patterns of different lute instruments. Ferangeli built a handful of guitars for him, each with different bracings, measurements, and the number of strings.
Now, Ferangeli Guitar Handcrafter is exporting Cebu-made guitars, ukuleles, rondalla instruments, and other lute instruments. to different parts of the globe, with customers from the US, Canada, the UK, France, Japan, Australia, and so on. Still, we make Cebu’s finest handcrafted guitars since 1919 and we aim to produce instruments with the best possible sound the wood can offer.
