McKnight all-walnut 00-12 fret build
 

You should be able to follow this link occasionally to see all the pics that Mary is uploading for my latest McKnight build

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...Fxb3pKcUNSTGl3

This is his Deacon body (a 00-size), 12-frets to the body, 24.75" scale, 1-13/16 nut width, deep-body, made of walnut from the 1700's and local to his shop just north of Columbus, OH.

I had a guitar made of this wood for back/sides and LS redwood top about a decade ago. At the time I commented that Tim should build me one out of all walnut . . he wasn't at all interested then (something about tops shouldn't be made of hardwood? :D )

But now he's changed his mind, and must've remembered me asking for a guitar out of this stash of special wood, so now one is being built for me!

I'd challenge someone to count the lines per inch in this Walnut. I've never seen grain as tight as this black walnut. It's unique and quite special and no doubt extreme old growth. It's got tap tone that will rival the best rosewoods in my inventory. As far as similarities, I'd compare this to "the tree" in terms of rarity and tone but without the bling.

[IMG]http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL89.../413357601.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for sharing Dave. Looks like an interesting build. And Tim, that is a pretty spectacular piece of wood! I like Walnut & own a couple of guitars with Walnut B&S, but I've never seen or heard an all-Walnut guitar. I will be anxious to follow this and learn.

Spectacular! Should be an awesome geetar! Photos are excellent. But who is this Marty fellow?

This is going to be fun following this one ... great build photos Tim ... gorgeous Walnut too!

Oops! Need to go fix that.

I haven't played or seen one in person, either.

But they have been made. Supposed to be similar to all-koa or all-mahogany guitars (makes sense).

Taylor has made quite a few, I believe.

Hey D - I'll enjoy following this one!

Phil

This is certainly going to be interesting. Personally, I'd have gone with an Adirondack spruce top but to each their own. I hope that the top turns out to be responsive enough but I have no doubt that Tim will make it so. I wonder how thin the top will be, though?

One thing's for certain: the Deacon is a fun size to play and I bet the hardwood top gives it a nice focused and "thumpy" bass.

The all walnut 000 I built a couple of years ago (and documented on this forum) sound much like any of my other guitars. More "normal" than any of my all Koa guitars. I'd happily recommend it to anyone. I've never seen walnut as close grained as the photo, but then I live in Claro country and it is quite different.

I've personally never been fond of hardwood topped guitars and have always pushed back when asked to build one. However, after playing Bruce's all walnut guitar, at a show a couple years ago, changed my attitude and inspired me to build one. Therefore, if it doesn't turn out great, I'm blaming Bruce😜

Here's some back story on the wood ... There was a stage coach livery, in a small town about 20 miles from us. Our research revealed that the livery was built in the late 1700's. Unfortunately the local historical society was unable to prevent the building from being razed by the owner of the property and it was leveled about 15 years.

My dad knew the company that was demolishing the building and he was able to salvage some of the window frames. They were true 8/4 planks, a full 2" thick, 10" wide and 10' long with at least 30 coats of paint on them. We pulled LOTS of square nails out of them and then ran the boards through my thickness planer, which revealed the most beautiful, arrow straight grained black walnut, that I have ever seen. EVERY board was perfectly quarter sawn which I found interesting. It seems that the carpenters, of that period, knew the importance of using quarter sawn wood, to keep the windows operating stable.

Unfortunately there was a lot of loss due to all of the nail holes. However, we were able to yield several sets suitable to build with. The tap tone is amazing with sustain that hangs with the best rosewoods out there. Most walnut, that I've built with, has poor to lackluster tap tone about as exciting as wet cardboard. This stuff is truly unique and that is one reason I felt I had a really good chance to build a great guitar from it. I'm anxiously looking forward to the day that I string it up.

So after Lucky Strike redwood and Tree mahogany, there may be Window walnut.

Looking forward to this.

That's a cool back story on the wood Tim, Thanks for sharing and looking forward to following along.
Travis

About 10% thinner than the 1932 Martin 0-18k (all-koa) that I recently acquired.

Also 10% thinner than a Santa Cruz 00-29 (all-mahogany) that I own.

Ditto when compared to a 1965 Martin 00-21NY that I own.

Hmmm, "Window Walnut" now that's got a ring to it. However, y'all must add one more "W" word to the title because the wood came from a village named "Waldo". I'll leave it that and let the "WWW" moniker fun begin :roll: