Nickelback hits Halifax stage with N.S. woodworker’s handcrafted guitar

Nova Scotian Arnold London built a guitar for Ryan Peake from Nickelback.

Arnold London from Mahone Bay, N.S., has spent more than five decades carving out a life in wood.

“I studied in the 70s, the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design had a department, and they offered a course in musical instrument design and construction, and I took that,” London said.

Last week, one of his handcrafted guitars made it to the big stage with Canadian rock band Nickelback.

The master luthier built a custom guitar for Ryan Peake, Nickelback’s guitarist, who played it in front of thousands of fans during the band’s recent show in Halifax.

“Yeah, I know it’s a pretty large feather in my cap and 50 years of making,” said London.

London first fell in love with the craft in Grade 7 shop class. He went on to run sawmills and a retail lumber business for more than 40 years before turning his full attention to guitar building in retirement – a passion project since 1978.

“I love the way they look. I love the way they sound. And I love putting different woods together to get different sounds,” said London.

Each guitar is a one-of-a-kind creation, taking about 200 hours to build by hand. London uses local woods sourced across the Maritimes – everything from red spruce and rock maple to black locust and tamarack.

Some pieces even have stories of their own, like recent guitars built from wood pulled from Oak Island’s famed Money Pit.

“The wood I use for those guitars comes up from underground, some of it over 100 feet,” said London. “If you can build a guitar out of a piece of wood that has meaning for somebody, it’s well worth keeping as an heirloom.”