By Bryanne Whatley
Walking into the Great Salt Lake Guitar Company in Provo, it is impossible not to notice the collection of tools, wood shavings and skeletons of unfinished guitars. Past the workbench and into the heart of the store, the walls are literally covered with guitars. Many are Canadian imports, but there is a special case where a few guitars seem to be displayed with a quiet reverence.
These are the coveted steel string acoustics known as ?Stikas.?
The guitar?s namesake and master builder, Ken Stika, 56, does not even play the guitar, but said he has a passion for the instruments. Chance and a strong love for learning led the Utah native to become a master guitar maker.
While recovering from a fishing accident, Stika said he went to the Provo library and checked out a book on guitar making. He returned to his hotel room and soon started making small folk instruments.
?I began making mandolins, hammer dulcimers and small appellation string instruments right there in a room of the Hotel Roberts,? Stika said.
After four months, Stika said he realized that this was something he really wanted to pursue, so he bought a house and moved out of the hotel.
In 1981, Stika made his first guitar and hasn?t stopped building since.
The demand for the guitars grew quickly. By 1985, Stika bought the old Stephen B. Hardware store on Center Street in downtown Provo and moved his guitar workshop out of the garage.
Stika said a quality guitar is all about design, good materials and the time it takes to put one together.
?The thing about building guitars is you have to have humility to realize you can?t control all the variables,? Stika said. ?You are working with something that is organic.?
With a production average of 15 guitars a year, the waiting list for a $2000 to $3000 Stika guitar is over a year.
?Ken?s store is more than a retail store,? said Catherine Smith, 45, from Provo. ?It?s a place that truly welcomes all music lovers and encourages musical talent at any level.?
Smith said she visited the store when a friend told her it was ?the place? to buy a guitar for her 13-year-old son. Now she said she recommends the store to her friends, and her son takes lessons at the store.
Justin Lesley, 30, a part-time teacher at the store from Mapleton, has worked with Stika for 10 years.
?[Stika] is a craftsman of old world quality,? Lesley said. ?Not just anyone can make a guitar like he can.?
