Official Luthiers Forum!

Ok, it's finally time to let the proverbial [cat out of the bag]. We will debut the new McKnight "Hollow Back" guitars at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival August 17-19 in Santa Rosa, CA. Please stop by our table for a test drive. More information can be found here.

http://mcknightguitars.com/process.html

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

I thought about doing that many moons ago, but didn't want to add the extra thickness to the guitar, nor decrease the volume of the box, or sink a lot of extra money into the materials. Couple with double sides, you have to use two back and side sets per guitar, which really increases the cost of materials quite a bit.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Interesting concept there Tim. I wish I could make it to HB and give one test drive. I'll be looking forward to some reviews.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

cool tim. I've seen this done before but never coupled with the double side
thing. Should make for a loud guitar.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Hi Tim .. reading the lovely prose on the website - thats a really neat idea ...   however .... one thing did bother me, namely the line - "pretty cool, eh" .. whats up with this bro, are you masquerading as a Canadian now . Probably trying to deviously cash in on the upward rise in our monopoly money ....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Pretty interesting,But sounds like a ton more work.
probably not for some of you real guys.
                        James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Hey Tim .. maybe you can get Gwen Stephani to market them for you .... no, wait .. she's NOT a Holla'back girl ...    

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=TonyKarol]no, wait .. she's NOT a Holla'back girl ... [/QUOTE]

I posted this thread on the AGF forum. Someone replied that double backs have been around (in the classical world) since the 1830's. Oh, well, most ideas have already been thought of before. Nothing turned up in my searches but I must not have known where to look. I honestly don't know anything about classical guitars other than they have w-i-d-e necks with nylon strings.

Tony, I just can't seem to shake that Canadian accent, eh!

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

well, Tim, then you obviously enjoyed yourself in Montreal .. looking forward to meeting again, and trying one of these puppies out ..

As for what you are doing, so maybe you didnt invent the concept, but you certainly are doing it YOUR way, and thats a good thing ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Hey Tim, do you normally use a light, thin back that you want to move, or do you normally lean toward the thicker back that acts as a reflector? Do you think you've experienced much of a difference with it, and if so, how?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Tim,

I dont expect this to mean a whole lot to you, but I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you for "pushing the envelope" in your new design. I am a firm believer that innovation in musical instruments is right around the corner and people like you are leading the way to finding those new sounds and styles. THANK YOU for sharing this with us!

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Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks for the encouragement Ken. R&D time is hard to squeeze in but it is a labor of love for me. It must be my Engineering nature that can never be satisfied.

Don, I have used both passive (thick) backs and active (thin) backs and keep going back to the thin backs (.050" - .070" on a ladder back). There is nothing like the sheer power of a really lightly built guitar in your hands or jumping around in your lap.

The biggest gains that I have measured with the Hollow Back is in volume and projection and the fact that the thinner (active) inner back is not dampened by the player. It is easy not to dampen a back if you are seated but if you are player who stands and uses a strap then there is just no way to play the guitar without dampening the back.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

For another innovation...that's decades old...check this out:

http://www.vintageinstruments.com/museum/prmntmrtnfulpage.ht ml

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Hey Tim, do you normally use a light, thin back that you want to move, or do you normally lean toward the thicker back that acts as a reflector? Do you think you've experienced much of a difference with it, and if so, how?[/QUOTE]

Ah.. here we go down THAT rabbit hole again.   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com