Mickey Sussman was born in California and came to Kaua‘i in 1972. He made his first guitar in a shop that was behind an old pool hall in Hanapepe. Forty years later, Sussman is still going strong, building and restoring
Mickey Sussman was born in California and came to Kaua‘i in 1972. He made his first guitar in a shop that was behind an old pool hall in Hanapepe. Forty years later, Sussman is still going strong, building and restoring high-quality guitars, ‘ukuleles and violins, and passing on his knowledge of creating instruments to anyone who is willing to learn.
“I had my shop in the back of the pool hall, then I met the koa,” Sussman said. “I wasn’t really a musician then, but all my friends were musicians.”
A lot of Sussman’s friends were Hawaiians who showed up by the pool hall with their guitars.
“The Hawaiians were there and they could play music,” Sussman said. “I showed up, I was a guitar maker in the back and later on I figured out who these Hawaiians were.”
The group of Hawaiian musicians were related to the Hawaiian Renaissance that started at the end of the 1960s. These people were the younger cousins and brothers of the group who took Kaho‘olawe and protested against the U.S. military bombing of the island.
“And really, that was the beginning of the Hawaiian Renaissance, when some Hawaiians stood up to the powers,” Sussman said. “It’s pretty amazing what happened. I consider myself very lucky to be here when that was going on. …
“I started making ‘ukuleles. Things just happened from there. It’s been a long road, but I did get swept up in the Renaissance. I did get to hang with these people, and I did get to make instruments for a lot of them. Most of them aren’t around anymore. A lot of them were here (Anahola). Now their kids are coming back and it’s really kind of mind blowing because I have the same trees that I made the instruments from for their parents or other family members.
“That’s what I do, too. I get the trees. The wood doesn’t come from the stores; it comes from the forest. There’s this deal that I have: the wood only comes from Hawai‘i. That’s what I am, a Hawaiian koa guitar maker. That’s the specialty. That’s why people come to me, because I’m willing to go up to the mountains, get the wood and cure it for 20 or 30 years like a violin. I’m a violin maker who makes ‘ukuleles. That’s why people come to me.”
Sussman’s market is composed of clients who are looking for quality, high-end instruments. Sussman said his clients know what they want.
“There are no violin makers making ‘ukuleles and treating their clients as if they were Itzhak Perlman,” Sussman said. “My market shifted to a niche of people who don’t care if anybody is watching them play. Some of these people are the same people who compose music and record, too.”
Sussman noticed that the baby boomer generation took a liking to the ‘ukulele.
“They decided that they didn’t want toys, they want the real thing,” Sussman said. “They want the stuff from deep in the forest. They know what it sounds like, even if they don’t know exactly what I do. They were alive in the 60 s, and they know what ‘ukuleles are supposed to sound like. The market went up and that’s what I do now.”
For many years, Sussman had ‘ukulele designs. He then decided to get a CNC machine (computer numerical control). With the CNC machine, he was able to create instruments with perfect geometric designs.
Sussman doesn’t sell his instruments in the stores. By cutting out the middlemen and the banks, Sussman is able to sell his instruments at a cost that is fair.
“I stuck it out all these years,” Sussman said. “I don’t sell them in the stores because they gotta markup double my price. Where does that leave everybody?”
Currently, Sussman instructs students on how to make instruments.
“Not only do I love my designs so much that I put them in the computer, but I’m also making them public domain for anybody who wants to take classes on how to make instruments,” Sussman said.
“Obviously, nobody can copy my designs and sell them because they are copyrighted, but anyone can take my design and make them for themselves.”
Sussman will teach whatever anybody wants. At his home, he said students can do whatever they want to do, within reason.
“If they want to build a guitar, ‘ukulele, resonator guitar, violin or whatever it is, they have to be responsible,” Sussman said. “I need to lay out the curriculum, so they can receive the full extent of their education. It may be more than what they thought they would have learned, but that’s my standard. It’s a high standard.”
Instruction for instrument making is $500 per student. That does not include money for materials, however, Sussman said that students can gather materials on their own if they can’t afford them.
“If students don’t have any money or if they don’t want to spend any money, they can do the same thing I did: make it themselves,” Sussman said. “The same thing all of us did before there was the Internet.”
Students will be able to use Sussman’s tools, his shop and they can take as long as they need to complete their instruments.
Peggy Lake of Kaua‘i Community College assisted Sussman with his teaching program.
“I want to get involved with the college,” Sussman said. “There’s some really good stuff happening over there.”
Sussman added that he and Lex Riggle reforested koa around Sussman’s property in Anahola.
“Lex Riggle and the Department of Agriculture taught me how to grow koa seedlings,” Sussman said. “I got koa seedlings available, a small nursery down here of koa seedlings and koa trees. It’s nice to be restoring native forests.”
With clients worldwide, Sussman has produced more than 300 guitars, violins and ‘ukulele, and restored more than 400 historical instruments. His vast knowledge of music and the island of Kaua‘i is a treasure trove of historical and unforgettable information.
