Wood & Tone Guitar Center (1971-1984) was a musical institution that pioneered the manufacturing of electric guitar in Pakistan. Shaikh Abdul Raheem, who was born in 1924 in Amritsar formed this institution in 1971 on the famous Tariq Road in Karachi when he came to Karachi via Lahore after the independence.

The initiator and his son Shaikh Ashraf manufactured various musical instruments such as electric guitar, violin and piano. While the younger sons, Sheikh Murtaza and Ahmad managed the guitar training classes.

The Wood & Tone Guitar Center introduced the locally manufactured electric guitars for the first time in Pakistan. And some of these musical instruments were hand made and very expensive during those years. The usual buyers were people from abroad in addition to the domestic users.

During the early 70’s this musical institution has been visited by various Pakistani personalities such as Alamgir (Pop Singer), Shah Nawaz Bhutto and others. However during the later years the management of the Wood & Tone guitar center was changed. And by the end times the institution failed to run profitably due to inevitable circumstances and therefore Wood & Tone Guitar Center ended up in 1984.

Originally published on Wikipedia