Tauno Pesu (1932 – 2006) was a mainly self-taught accordion manufacturer at Taavetti, Luumäki. Main income Pesu earned as a truck driver and in the start of his early retirement, he began making accordions by himself.
Pesu became interested in accordion playing already in the 1950’s. Pesu was interested of accordions mechanisms before he started producing accordions. According to his wife, Liisa Pesu, Tauno bought an accordion as a Christmas gift for his children. For some reason, Pesu stripped down the instrument and then assembled it into a functional accordion. The accordion manufacturing became to Pesu’s life much later, in the 1970’s. The enthusiasm for the construction of the accordion started from fixing an old accordion. In fact, he had bought an old and badly-broken, Oy Harmonikka’s Laihasmalli in the intent of repairing it. The body of the accordion was cracked and otherwise it was in poor condition. The entire instrument had to be dismantled in order to make the repair propely. Tauno Pesu’s friend had come for a visit when the Kouvola accordion was under maintenance. He told Pesu a bit jokingly that they would make a new accordion together because the Kouvola accordion was in such poor shape. Pesu took his friend’s talk as a joke, until after a week of contemplated he was inspired by his own accordion project. However, when the construction of the new accordion was beginning, his friend did not come into the project. Pesu began to make a accordion alone.
Pesu had acquired a tree that was poured 15 years ago – this became the body of the instrument. The registers, reeds, bellows and other parts were imported from Italy. The bass mechanisms are totally mady by Pesu. Pesu’s aim was to get the instruments sound similar to the war-time accordions. In the bass side, Pesu did not use plywood as a body base, but they were solid wood. The reed block bodies were black alder and the bottom parts red beech.
Pesu can be seen as a self-taught accordion manufacturer, although he did seek informations from Kari Ahvenainen as well as from an accordion courses in Ikaalinen.
Karjalankaiho accordions
Tauno Pesu plays his own-made Karjalankaiho in 2002.
The accordions made by Tauno Pesu are individual, because he hasn’t made any accordions that are completely the same. The instruments was developed a bit at the time by experience. In the instrumets Pesu have made, the name Karjalankaiho stands clearly on the bodies. The total of 29 instruments was completed between 1985 and 2006. The preparation of one accordion took about a year. Karjalankaiho name comes from Taunon’s longs for Karelia. His wife was from Karelian and before the wars his relatives lived in Vyborg.
“We had a large sibling crowd at home in Luumäki. Every year, the father took his turn to explore the great city of Vyborg. When my turn would have been to get involved, the war broke out. I did not see Vyborg, and it was so much to mind that it was easy to come up with the name of the accordion. In addition, it is the warm sound of the accordion which is reflecting that same feeling”, Pesu have told
Most of his Pesu’s instruments have been used in his family (in 1991). The last accordion was sold in summer 2006 to Salla. The last accordion was not finnished – it would have gone to Australia. Pesu’s desire was that his accordions would always go to a good home. Tauno Pesu died at the age of 74 at boxing day in 2006.