A “Beshi Joss” guitar experience

Nafeez Al Amin, besides being arguably the most energetic drummer in the music industry, had become a fully-fledged craftsman with Beshi Joss Customs a few years ago. What it originally started as a passion project for the Arbovirus drummer, is now a workshop of dreams for all sorts of musical instruments, especially custom-made guitars.

Recently Nafeez Al Amin made a special guitar for James, one of the most prolific and legendary musicians in the country. The Les-Paul shaped guitar, made in the theme of James' evergreen song "Taray Taray", was built by the Beshi Joss Customs team and handed over to the rock star on June 14.

Nafeez, who was given the commission by lawyer and consultant Chisti Iqbal, says that he was overjoyed to be able to present James with the instrument.  Every part of the guitar was carefully handpicked to provide the best quality possible. The legendary musician especially appreciated the fact that the guitar was made with mostly local components, especially the deshi wood.

The chasses, neck and bodies of the guitars are usually made by the team, while electronic components like pickups have to be imported. The custom nature of this craftsmanship results in a product that can suit the specific needs of a musician, according to Nafeez. "We import from various countries, depending on the customers' needs. However, the end product will be of much higher quality than a standard issue guitar of the same price."

The workshop, which is in Mirpur 12, donnes a display of all sorts of guitar bodies inside.

Having a pre-conceived notion of custom guitars being absurdly expensive, I inquired the about how much it costs to make a custom guitar. "It depends on the parts and material used, but it usually starts from 22-24k BDT," says Nafeez, who also plans to add various kinds of musical instruments to his repertoire.

"We currently make drums, guitars and cajon. We are currently conducting R&D on how we can make the electronic components for our guitars. We also plan to make more products – namely our very own brand of Piano and drumsticks – soon", says the musician.