SceneNoise delves into the life and workshop of the distinguished guitar repair man handling and maintaining the instruments of Cairo's greatest musicians.
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“Awtarak eh?” (What are your strings). Adel Sakr shoots this question at a client as he walks into Sakr's guitar workshop in a semi-lit room in the outskirts of Maadi.
The infamous Adel Sakr has been known to be the Egyptian music scene's go-to for guitar repairs, maintenance and exclusive purchases that would rarely be found in any other Cairo music store. Tucked away in the ground floor of an old building in Zahraa’ el Maadi lies a dimly lit workshop that one can't help but feel at home in.
A man of values whose goal is not solely to profit, but to inform and supply musicians with industry-level products and to correctly maintain their instruments. He truly gets to know his customers as well as their sound and is able to carefully shape each of their guitar tones by helping them to curate their own custom pedal boards; this would include “boutique” and exclusive effects pedals not found anywhere else in the country. We quietly observe him conversing with a new customer who, surprised by the range and quality of Adel’s effect pedals which he has up in display, asks Sakr's advice.
Adel smiles, replying confidently: “I could advise you to buy six different pedals and i’d profit thousands of pounds, but it’s wiser if you buy one pedal first and not rush yourself, in order to get to know your sound first and shape it slowly." When asked which is the better between two products, he projects his philosophy that there are no ultimate answers, that things always depends on the situation and the purpose.
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For eleven years, Adel Sakr has fixed the instruments of the scene’s biggest artists, including Wust El Balad’s Hany Adel, the members of Cairokee, Massar Egbari and more.
We sat down with the legend to witness and find out a little more about his craft, his clients and why he doesn’t advertise or have a sign in front of his store.
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Videographer: Mohamed Tamer
Photographer: Bashar Galal
