Official Luthiers Forum!

A couple of weeks ago, I had a house full of guitars and their proud
owners for a visit. Among the guitars present was a Ryan, a Fay, three
Omegas, a Taylor and a McKnight.

I wanted to take a few minutes to post some comments about Tim
McKnight's little beauty (OM size) that was here that day.

It had beautiful waterfall Bubinga back and sides and a very clean
Caucasian Spruce top that complimented one another nicely to create a
warm balanced tone with great response. I've never been a heavy
proponent for Caucasian Spruce, but Tim did a great job of coaxing it as
close to its potential as possible on this guitar. The tone was warm and
woody and very responsive to a broad range of attack velocities. It was
nicely balanced with a quick and punchy bottom end that never rose up to
swallow the highs that we thick and present. I love small bodied guitars
and this was had all of the tonal traits that have won me over. Tight, fast
bottom, nice punchy midrange and those highs that are never twangy or
thin, but contribute to the overall complexity of the tone. The Bubinga
made its typical offering to the tone with that immediacy and dryness that
make guitars built fom it perfect for soloing or chord work while still
being complex and rich enough to lay a nice pad under vocals or other
instruments.

The guitar is a smaller bodied model and Tim's shape allows it to slide
into your lap and disappear. It was immediately comfortable to hold and
play and the dimensions were not only ideal for comfort, but obviously
provided a great vehicle for offering powerful projection and volume.

The smallish soundport opening in the bass side upper bout was carefully
thought out as far as size and placement. Tim has obviously done his
homework while arriving at his final soundport dimensions since it
provided a very obvious monitoring effect for the player while not robbing
volume from the output of the main soundhole in the top. I've played
guitars from other very reputable builders that have caused a loss in
overall volume with the addition of ports in their sides, but this little
McKnight had the perfect balance between the holes that allowed both to
do their respective jobs well.

This guitar sported Tim's originally wider head shape that was his
signature shape before he tapered ad narrowed to his current shape. I
love the current McKnight headstock, but this one was also very nice and
reflects the evolution that every builder goes through as they develop
their models an designs. I also like the fact that a few people have those
guitars with Tim's original head shape. There will always be a certain
charm about them since they are so few.

Neck shape fit me just right and the set up was nicely tweaked. Fast, but
not too loose and nice bendability with little to no buzzing. I wouldn't
have changed the playability at all. The finish was nicely executed and
really allowed the woods to come to lfe under it.

With that said, I have to say this guitar is great for a wide variety of
playing styles and dynamic needs. It responds nicely to very light fleshy
attack for fingerstyle and gave in very little under medium to heavy
flatpicking and strumming. It almost emulated that very cool melting of
the harmonic blanket that occurs mostly in lighter woods when they are
driven close to their dynamic potential. When you really push it, the
harmonics blend into full chords of color underneath what remains a
clean and separated fundamental presence. Almost orchestral as its
driven for accompaniment. I like it and look for it in certain woods.

Tim is a great guy who is constantly developing the details of his guitars
as he builds through smart and practical R&D efforts. I was glad to be
able to play this one as a representation of his work before some of his
more recent changes and developments. I've heard lots of favorable
comments about his guitars from many satisfied McKnight owners and
this guitar made it obvious why.

Great job Tim...I really enjoyed this guitar!

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher

Kevin,

I, as a beginning luthier, REALLY appreciate the effort and time it took to compose that review. There is so much information, that you may not even know you are conveying, I'll have to read it a few time to let it all sink in.

Thank you

Larry

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Thank You and Best To All

I just saw a McKnight gutar for sale on the Acoustic Guitar Forums classified section, appearantly the guitar was won in a contest of some kind,
and the person needs the money.
They are selling for less than the list price of a new commish, and no waiting list. I just thought Id mention it, in case anyone knows someone really interested in a McKnight.
Cheers
Charliewood

Man, I wish someone said all that about my guitars

Kevin, I had the good fortune to sit with one of Tim's guitars at Artisan Guitars in Franklin, TN...and if I had to write a review I'd copy and paste yours! (With your permission, of course! )

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Tims guitars are first rate. I saw one at the NAMM show. His wife showed it
to me. A superb instrument. Even in such a loud place as a NAMM booth,
you could hear the tonal differences. I am sure Ervin has had a tremendous
impact on Tim and how he builds guitars.    You can see the influence in
them.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com