Somewhere about a week ago I received an inquiry from a lady in Edmonton hoping to get some help to ID her guitar. There was one photo of the label. The label says "KUSTIN The Award Winning Handcrafted Guitar" with an address of 1037 Notre Dame Ave, Winnipeg, Mb. Now, I've lived in Winnipeg all of my life and had never heard of this guitar maker. I've also driven past this address many times and saw only the McDonald's that is there now.
I posted the inquiry on the Classical Guitar Forum (Delcamp), and Steve from Calgary managed to do some excellent CSI work, tracking down a few leads. First, for "Kusti's Piano Shop" at that address. Following up on the owner's name, Kusti Pikkarainen, a reference came up on Gary Komoski's website. Gary is a local luthier building in his retirement, I hope to meet him one day.
"My name is Gary Komoski and I have been building musical instruments for over 30 years. I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I worked as a gas utility serviceman for 34 years, during this time I was building guitars and violins as a hobby. I am now retired and build instruments full time. I was first inspired in the mid 70's by a piano repairman, Kusti Pikkarainen who built classical guitars as a sideline."He also included an old newspaper photo of Kusti!
Cool little story!
A little more research by Steve also turned up the following at:
http://newspaperarchive.com/ca/manitoba/winnipeg/winnipeg-free-press/1974/03-09/page-144"A lot of love and talent goes into his guitars One of the most popular and versatile musical instruments used today is the guitar. Children play it. grown-ups play it and so do those in between. It comes in all shapes and sizes, from the electric guitar, which not only produces sound through a microphone under the strings but also shatters eardrums in the audience, to the whining Hawaiian guitar with its deep body and wire strings. All of these are mass- produced in great volume. There are guitars which are not mass-produced but are hand-built by master craftsmen. These are the classical guitars used by such great artists as Andres Segovia and Carlos Montoya.
Up to the present time, such guitars have been mainly imported from Europe particularly Spain and from Japan. Recently, a maker of classical guitars has surfaced in Winnipeg. He is 53-year-old Finnish Kusti Pikkarainen a piano finisher by profession. Even though Mr Pikkarainen, his wife Hilkka and their two children have been in Winnipeg since 1951, it's only in the past few years that he's been experimenting with building classical guitars. From 1951 to the present, he's been working at refinishing, tuning and repairing pianos. "In Finland, I did some experimenting, too. says Mr Pikkarainen, a tall ruddy faced gentleman who looks the picture of health and vitality. "I lived in Varkaus. which is 400 kilometers from Helsinki. I was in the Finnish army for 34 years and after the war. I was thinking about going to the States or Canada At that time. I was a finisher and cabinet maker, and I had five men working with me." He modestly notes that in 1950 he won first prize in Finland for a classical guitar he made. "I tried to come to Canada twice. Mr. Pikkarainen continues, "but had no luck getting a job. Then, in 1950. immigration was opened and in Stockholm they recommended we come to Winnipeg. I have a sister and three brothers. We all came at the same time."
Mr. Pikkarainen. who now speaks perfect English, says that, when he came here, he did not know one word of the language. But he got a pocket dictionary and "the first words I learned were 'I am looking for a job.'". He did get a job. with J. J. H. McLean, finishing pianos and working on his own in the evenings. "So I bought papers, books, and learned English by myself." His wife attended English classes at the YMCA for two years. Five years later. Mr Pikkarainen started his own piano repair business, and began experimenting with classical guitars Now he intends to open a guitar shop at 1428 Erin Street. By Lee Schacter "I haven't produced too many guitars yet." says Mr. Pikkarainen. "To build a classical guitar has problems." Mr Pikkarainen describes, but in not too great detail, how his guitars are made. "After he says with a smile, "I have my trade secrets, too." A classical guitar is built lighter and with a wider neck than the ordinary acoustic guitar. Mr. Pik- karainen uses nylon strings, which he says, are better than steel. Although steel produces a lounder sound, nylon has a better quality. The thickness of the wood at the top, back and sides is half the thickness of ordinary guitars. Mr. Pikkarainen uses cedar, which has the best tone, he says, although spruce and pine can also be used. The sides and back are either mahogany, rosewood or maple. When he cuts the sides, to his own pattern, he smoothes them, then boils them in a special stainless- steel boiler for about four to five hours. The boiling softens the wood, which is then put in a press and left to dry for three to four weeks. After that, the lining is glued in and the parts prepared for assembly. The guitar is put together face down, with a built-in neck. "The built-in neck, which means the sides are connected to the neck, is very says Mr. Pikkarainen. "This is what creates strength. It protects the guitar to hold the tension. Otherwise, it's not strong enough." The size of the classical guitar is limited. If it's too big, it's clumsy. If it's too small, it does not have enough volume. When the guitar is completely assembled, Mr. Pikkarainen then polishes it by hand. What kind of polish does he use? He hesitates, then shakes his head. "No. I don't think I'll tell. Thai's one of my trade secrets." He also does not care to say what he will charge for his guitars but he does say they'll compare in price to superior classical guitars on the market. "You see. I can only make 15 or 16 a year It takes approximately one month, working full days, to make one. There is a considerable backlog of orders and the waiting period is from four months to half a year But professional musicians are willing to wait this length of time for a custom-built instrument." Mr. Pikkarainen notes that, unlike Spanish guitars which crack in our dry climate in a year or two, his guitars, if treated with care and kept in a good case at a temperature never below zero, should last the owner a lifetime. "It's all in the wood you he says. He recalls with obvious satisfaction that a guitar of his, sent across Europe for a year, remained in perfect condition. "Not a crack in it." Now Mr Pikkarainen has decided that his guitars, too, should adorn the concert stage. Oddly enough, he doesn't play them "but I can make them."
I dropped an email to Gary who replied with this note:
"I met Kusti in the mid 70s. he had a piano, repair business on Notre dame at that time. Then McDonalds bought the property on Notre Dame and he moved to a location on Erin. To my knowledge he could not have built more than a half dozen classical guitars.
He moved to B C when he retired but I don't remember the year he died. He was a very nice man and an inspiration when I started building."I received a few more photos from the owner, forwarded them on to Gary, and he replied
" I totally agree that the evidence leans towards the guitar being a Kusti. It was Kusti that suggested that western red cedar was a suitable top wood and he was going to use it on his next guitar. I am attaching a picture of Kusti and if you notice on the wall hanging up is a cedar top fully braced. I would bet its the top on guitar in question. Kusti also loved Walnut for the back and sides which is what the guitar in the pictures suggest."
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