Rocky Hill Resident is Magical When It Comes to Guitars

The owner of Guitar Magic has always had a passion for music and an uncanny ability to fix the instrument he loves.

Steve Kubica was born with "above average mechanical skills" and "very strong hands." When he was just a baby, he was able to get out of his crib by figuring out how the complicated lock worked. When Kubica was five years old, he was able to fix an old grandfather clock and the hand brake on his grandmother’s walker.

"I could look at stuff and figure out the problem," he stated.

Between the ages of eight and 13, he worked on and raced go-karts.

"I love anything with wheels," he said. "I was always the fastest. I am like a pit bull when I get something on my mind."

When he was 13 years old, Kubica started a band in the Elmwood section of West Hartford where he was living at the time. Kubica stated he was "the best guitar player in town" and was recording jingles for radio and television commercials by the age of 17.

"It came so easy to me," said Kubica, who started as a bass player. "I liked every aspect about it."

One day, Kubica broke the pickup on his guitar and no one in town or the state of Connecticut could fix it. So, he had to go to New York where he met the legendary Dan Armstrong.

After Kubica gave the legend a book on UFOs, Armstrong had the youngster run guitar parts for him. Kubica would run as fast as he could to complete the assignment. He impressed Armstrong enough that he offered himself a job fixing guitars.

"I learned a lot from him," Kubica said about Armstrong who he still considers a friend. "He was brilliant. He was the guy who knew everything."

After working with Armstrong for two years, Kubica would go onto work for Guitar Lab where they made the instrument, Guitars Unlimited where he was the head of their electronic guitar department and We Buy Guitars where he restrung instruments and cleaned up.

In 1982, Kubica ran and owned his own storefront in the Elmwood section of West Hartford. However in 1984, he closed up his doors for various reasons.

"It's a responsibility when you have a store front," Kubica stated. "You have people hangout and get noise complaints. It was too much of a headache."

In the 90s, Kubica got burned out with guitar repairs and switched careers to become a wielder at AeroWeld. Following his divorce in 2004, his life changed and he started repairing guitars again.

"It's a passion," Kubica, who has been repairing guitars for over 46 years, said. "It is something different every day. I cannot wait to get going in the morning."

When he started working on guitars again, he was averaging about two to three repairs a week and now averages about 40 to 60 a week. And his clients appreciate his work.

"I met Steve a few months ago after I had asked several people where I could get some guitar work done and all four independently said Guitar Magic - Steve Kubica," said customer Mike O'Toole.