ANAHOLA — Venturing down the two-track road made worse by heavy winter rains, the driver doesn’t know if the next blind turn will yield a palatial, fenced, riverfront mansion with guard dogs and armed security personnel, or something totally different.
ANAHOLA — Venturing down the two-track road made worse by heavy winter rains, the driver doesn’t know if the next blind turn will yield a palatial, fenced, riverfront mansion with guard dogs and armed security personnel, or something totally different.
Think totally different.
Folks from around the world, including Jackson Browne, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, international composer and artist Mel Bell-Grey, Roland Cazimero, Raymond Kane, Taj Mahal, Barry Flanagan of the group Hapa, Larry Ramos of The Association, Larry Rivera and various members of his musical ‘ohana, members of the Kingston Trio and Grateful Dead, and others have journeyed down the unmarked road mauka of Kuhio Highway here, ending up at a simple, single-story building that is the workshop of Michael “Mickey” Sussman, Luthier O Anahola.
He is the island’s only luthier, or maker of stringed instruments.
Sussman celebrates 30 years of making stringed instruments on Kaua’i, has added an apprentice, Fred Dent, is building a recording studio attached to his modest workshop near Anahola Stream, and wants to share his creations with the world.
Mostly, though, he wanted to thank the people of Kaua’i for their support over the years, and to unveil his 30th-anniversary, double-hole, koa guitar. The holes are shaped like taro leaves, giving the guitar a unique sound.
He is proud of his products, including guitars, ukuleles and violins, which are made nearly exclusively from koa wood grown on this island.
They are Kaua’i products, supported by Kaua’i residents, he said.
“A majority of this island has supported me beyond belief, and not just monetarily,” said Sussman.
Now that he has an assistant, Sussman figures now is the perfect time to offer his instruments “to the rest of the world. This is the first time in my life I have an inventory,” thanks to Dent, he said.
So enamored with Sussman’s work is Jackson Browne that, after purchasing a few of Sussman’s koa guitars, he simply purchased some koa wood from Kilauea for subsequent instruments.
From humble Kaua’i beginnings, making and selling instruments out of a space in the old Hanapepe pool hall, to even humbler digs, in the woods of Anahola, Sussman has remained true to his craft.
He is even contemplating crafting an upright bass, by request from someone on Kaua’i who plays one.
Most of his guitars have mother-of-pearl inlays at the top of the neck, with his logo, an image of the Kalalea peaks that inspire him. Bill Carl cuts those inlays for him. On the 30th-anniversary koa guitar, mother-of-pearl inlays on the neck of some of the instruments are shaped in the taro-leaf pattern.
In the case of Dente, a musician, recording producer and woodworker for 30 years as well, the apprentice has had much to teach the teacher.
“I slowed down production to have the time to teach Fred,” but Dente is “extremely valuable and a substantial contributor already,” said Sussman, president of the KKCR radio Community Advisory Board.
“So while I may have slowed down in some areas, because of Fred we have made awesome progress in other areas that I myself have seldom moved into, such as the documentation, digitally, of the entire process, organization and business of the shop, the process of selling the increasing number of instruments being made, and, perhaps most importantly, he is able to express himself very well as a player and producer.
“He is an asset.”
Scotty’s Music in Kalaheo has a few of Sussman’s koa guitars, though most are still sold to people who manage to find their way to Sussman’s workshop here.
He figures he could fashion two to three instruments a month if he worked eight-hour days. But he sets his own schedule, flexible enough to allow for a lost day or portion thereof when an unexpected guest drops by, wants to play some instruments and, maybe, purchase one or two.
He spends a lot of his time restoring instruments made by others, too.
At $3,800 for a basic, six-string koa guitar, the instruments aren’t for everyone. But, then again, they weren’t built to be. Get more information at www.anaholastringedinstruments.com.
Business Editor Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
