History

Brothers Kauko and Keijo Liikanen are some of the major luthiers in Finland. Their first classical guitars were constructed in 1977, and this became their full-time job in 1986. One of their major innovations is the patented Lens Resonance System® (LRS), which has been one of the key factors in every handmade Liikanen guitar since 2000.

LRS has been an essential part of the product developing process. "We started manufacturing classical guitars abroad in 2004. The idea was to produce quality classical guitars with LRS top also for beginners and advanced players with a lower price range. To separate these guitars from our handmade guitars, these were called Kantare Guitars. Each model was equipped with the Lens Resonance System®. It also made the junior models produce a beautiful and louder sound with less effort. Quality control was always managed by us", says luthier Kauko Liikanen.

In 2022, a new phase began: Keijo and Kauko Liikanen retired and Tomi Tolvanen from Musiikkitoteemi continued manufacturing the guitars. The brand name was changed to Riento® Guitars and the model names were also updated. Guitar tuning moved to Tampere in February 2022, and it is done by local professionals. The guitars are made in EU and the development process keeps going on serving guitarists from beginners to advanced players today and tomorrow.

Riento Guitars - Model map
 Model name  Code  Size 
 Niños S44  NS44  1/4
 Niños S53  NS53  1/2
 Niños S57  NS57  3/4
 Niños S57 Fishman*  NS57-FM  3/4
 Plata S62  PS62  7/8
 Plata S  PS  4/4
 Plata S Fishman*  PS-FM  4/4
 Plata S CW Fishman*   PS-CW-FM  4/4
 Plata C  PC  4/4
 Oro C  OC  4/4
 Oro C Fishman*  OC-FM  4/4
 Dorado S  DOS  4/4
 Dorado C  DOC  4/4
 Diamante C62   DIC62  7/8
 Diamante C  DIC  4/4
 Concierto S  CS  4/4
 Concierto C  CC  4/4
 Acoustic DR6  DR6  D
 Acoustic DR6 CW FM*  DR6-CW-FM   D
* = Electro-acoustic guitar