Where American luthier meets China's guitar soul

In southwest China, inside a workshop humming with the sound of tools, an American craftsman known as "Big K" shapes a guitar bound for Los Angeles. Kurt Hendrick, a celebrated luthier from Texas who built Billy Gibbons's first custom guitar, has spent the last three years in Zheng'an, a small county that now produces one in every seven guitars sold worldwide.

He first visited China in the 1990s. Three decades later, he chose Zheng'an as the base for his new line, partnering with local maker Natasha Guitars. "I've been in this factory for almost a year now," he says. "I enjoy this town – it treats me better than any place I've lived in."

Local craftsmen and Hendrick work side by side, preparing a batch of custom models for the 2025 NAMM Show in Los Angeles. "I've been in factories in every country all over the world, and I've been in so many factories in China," he adds. "Their company philosophy and the way they treat people is the best I've seen. China grew faster than any country. So this local government and this gentleman here have helped make it really smooth."

Zheng'an's story mirrors China's broader industrial transformation. Once a poor mountain county, it became a pilot for specialized industry clusters. Tax incentives, training programs, and an industrial park dedicated to guitars have turned it into the nation's largest production base. The Zheng'an Economic Development Zone now hosts a complete guitar industry chain. Over the past five years, it has produced an average of 2.27 million guitars annually and holds 168 guitar-related patents, as well as 77 proprietary brands.

What draws Hendrick is not only efficiency, but a shared pride in craftsmanship. Here, a tradition once rooted in the American South finds new life in China's landlocked county – a place where policy meets artistry, and where nature, hands, and sound together form a shared language that connects the world.