Choosing and Owning a Kim Walker Guitar

[Cams]

Details and Completion

I made the decision quite early on in the build that I wanted to go and pick the guitar up in person. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to afford the time or flights when completion date rolled around. I'd just have to wait and see.

I made international payments through the RBS spread out over a year or so and the exchange rate was in my favour and going in the right direction. I did start to worry when it looked like Scotland might actually take independence in the referendum as I was pretty sure that that would weaken the GBP against the USD and my last payment was still pending! Not that that's of much interest in a guitar build thread, but I add it just in case anyone else considering an international build hasn't considered this. Scotland in fact didn't win independence, but it was a small margin!

Oh, and the case. I haven't mentioned the case, have I? Kim gave me options:

My default case has been the Cedar Creek vintage 30s (traditional five ply wood case with a Tolex alligator exterior) that run $250 or a Hoffee carbon fiber case at $800. I got the Hoffee case for my own guitar and it's awesome. It's not quite as light as an Accord case but stronger. It's not as heavy as a Calton case and it's a nicer shape both aesthetically and ergonomically. The Cedar Creek cases have nice leather handle and nickel latches.

I went with the Hoffee, having seen Tim May's when he was over playing in Scotland in 2014. Kim was right - it is awesome! I do own a Calton and it's a heavy beast of a case. The Hoffee is way nicer.

The final decision was the pick-up. I do play out - more on that later. I asked Kim if he would be happy installing a pick-up and what he would recommend, but he seemed hesitant and said nobody ever really asks for that. I was quite surprised to hear that. My go to pick-up has been David Enke's PUTW and I did consider that, but after a bunch of research, I decided to try the Baggs Lyric. Meanwhile Kim had been over on Doug Young's pick-up page and was quite impressed with just how far the technology has come since he last looked at pick-ups. I ordered the Lyric from Sweetwater and had it shipped to Kim's address.

I went with the default medium tall fretwire on Kim's recommendations - I hadn't even considered being asked about fretwire to be honest.

I got an email from Kim to say that the guitar was ready and he was happy to hold onto it until I made the final payment and could get out there. This was tough, knowing my guitar was ready in one country and I in another! Getting away from work around Christmas was just not on the cards – I run a Post Office, so I was looking at early in the year. I did look at shipping options, but I really didn't want to go down that route if possible. So I liaised with Kim and John Thomas and booked flights for February.

And we're off...

[Cams]

Here's a video I recorded not long after bringing the guitar home...

https://youtu.be/zypptOU40s8

[Ron Potkul]

I have listen to your recording of your Kim Walker guitar. I must say it is nothing short of awesome. Could you share your recording info, like which mic,
you used, was there any reverb added, any compression added ect. No matter what this is one amazing guitar and your playing is sublime as well.

[Cams]

Originally Posted by Ron Potkul

I have listen to your recording of your Kim Walker guitar. I must say it is nothing short of awesome. Could you share your recording info, like which mic,
you used, was there any reverb added, any compression added ect. No matter what this is one amazing guitar and your playing is sublime as well.

Thanks Ron. It was two MXL603S condenser mics going into an Alesis iO dock designed for iPad. But instead of iPad, I had my iPhone going into it and was using a video app that allowed me to switch from internal mic to external - it's called MoviePro. Pretty basic stuff really.

[murrmac123]

Not many guitar owners get to enjoy the experience of having Tony McManus play their beloved custom guitar ...

[Cams]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Not many guitar owners get to enjoy the experience of having Tony McManus play their beloved custom guitar ...

Yes, that was rather a special moment!

[murrmac123]

I will be seeing him tonight, and will ask him about your Walker.

[gitarro]

Cams, how have your thoughts and feelings about your Walker and its tone changed or matured over the time you have had the guitar?

[Cams]

Originally Posted by gitarro

Cams, how have your thoughts and feelings about your Walker and its tone changed or matured over the time you have had the guitar?

Good question! I'll try and cover that in the next instalment.

[Cams]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

I will be seeing him tonight, and will ask him about your Walker.

You lucky dawg! Tell him I said hi!

[gitarro]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Not many guitar owners get to enjoy the experience of having Tony McManus play their beloved custom guitar ...

That clip reminds me of that richness of tone that I have yet to encounter in the guitars made by hardly any other guitar maker I've come across so far...of course the skills if tony McManus certainly helped !

[Cams]

First Impressions

I arrived in Boston on a cold February afternoon. I was a little tired, but the excitement of being in America again was bubbling in my tummy and stepping out of the airport into the freezing temperatures was wonderful. I made my way to the train station to catch the Amtrak to Mystic CT and had the most amazing train ride, watching the snowy landscape's passing by and listening to Dark Side of the Moon on my good headphones. I got into Mystic around teatime and the light was amazing as the sun was going down. I waited about 10 minutes for Kim to come and pick me up and finally got to meet the man in person and shake his hand. Kim took me to North Stonington by the scenic route, including a trip down to the seashore to look out over Long Island Sound and it was a great moment.

We got to Kim's and his wife Dianna was there to greet me and show me to my room where I could dump my bags. Then, without further ado, Kim invited me downstairs to his workshop to meet my SJ.

I'd gone for the purple Hoffee case and there it was, sitting on the bench waiting for me. I opened up the case and first laid eyes on my SJ. That new guitar smell wafted up to my nostrils and I breathed it in, eyes filming over with tears that this moment was finally here after almost 10 years. I had of course gone over this moment in my head countless times and considered what I was going to play first, but all that went right out of my head and I'm sorry to say that I can't even remember now what I played first. The thing that struck me initially on picking up the guitar was the same thing that still strikes me every time I pull it off its wall hanger or out of its case, and that is the feel of the five-piece neck and the finish. It feels quite unlike any other guitar I've ever held. There is a weight to it, a feeling of solidity that lets me know that I'm holding something unique and valuable.

Kim had strung it with GHS True Mediums and the action was a little high as per my request. This was to be a flatpicking and rhythm guitar first and foremost. We had never really discussed neck profile other than to say that I had reasonably big hands and didn't like anything too thin or too fat. Not really much for a luthier to go on I guess, so I was fortunate that I found the neck very comfortable. It's too fat for my sliding capo to be of much use, but I wouldn't put it on there anyway as it's not too kind to the finish on a guitar neck. It stays on my Santa Cruz VA that has already been subjected to a fair amount of play wear. I'd gone with a 1-3/4" nut and generous spacing at the saddle and, when I started playing the instrument, I began to fear that it was a bit too generous. It made the whole guitar play like it had a 1-13/16 nut. And, to be honest, I was a little travel weary and, with Kim watching over my shoulder, it was difficult for me to find some honest feelings about the tone and playability. I played several pieces, some folk with a thumbpick in standard and dropped D, some rhythm and flatpicking and some fingerstyle in standard and DADGAD. Then we put it back in its case and went back upstairs for some food and to get to know each other a bit better. I wasn't sure how I felt at that time, so I let it go and decided to give myself some time to adjust.

To be honest, I wish I'd kept better notes of the details as, sitting here one year on, I'm struggling to remember much of what we did and talked about that evening. I did write in my diary that I went to bed at 8 p.m. local time and slept right through till 7 the next morning. Take that, jet lag!

A thing that you probably don't know about Kim is that he's not only one of the world's finest luthiers, he also makes a darn fine cup of coffee. He and I share a love of the AeroPress method and I got a really useful tip from him that I'm using to this day. See the paper filters? You can rinse them and reuse them at least twice! For some reason this had never crossed my mind, so I can now put the savings I'm making towards another guitar, right? Of course!

Dianne made us a really good breakfast, and I mean really good - Spanish omelette, crispy bacon, hot sauce and home made jams with endless coffee, ground from freshly-roasted beans and served in a clay mug. It was and remains one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.

Before visiting Kim, he'd sent me a link to a radio show featuring Paul Asbell talking about and playing his new Kim Walker guitar. That kind of got me thinking about just what fine players Kim must have had visit and made me a bit hesitant to play my guitar in his company. I know, I know, that's just silly, right? But it was there nevertheless. I'm pleased to say that it didn't last very long though.

After that wonderful breakfast, I brought the SJ up to the lounge and Kim went off to do whatever it is that Kim does on a wintery Saturday morning. Dianna sat at the table and relaxed and I sat by the fire playing the SJ for a good three hours. I soon began to lose myself and really get a feel for how this guitar played and what it had to offer. I had worked on a few of El McMeen's tunes in CGDGAD and took my time over them, giving the guitar a chance to savour the notes of My Mary of the Curling Hair, the Humors of Ballyloughlin, Hector the Hero and the Mist-Covered Mountains of Home. Despite the fact that this was to be a flatpicking guitar, it works really well with fingerstyle too. Bonus!

The most memorable moment for me of that morning was playing a fingerstyle arrangement of Auld Lang Syne. It's one of my own arrangements that I'd come up with the previous December for our Hogmanay gig with the Arran Ceilidh Band. I'd arranged it actually on the afternoon of Hogmanay, played it that night and then not really gone back to it. Well, it is traditionally a song for new year after all. I didn't want to lose the arrangement, so I figured what better time than right now to try and get it back again. It didn't take long I'm pleased to say and I must've played it through a dozen times. It was a moment. Dianna then commented on how lovely it was to be listening to my playing, like her own personal concert!

Those three first hours with my new guitar was one of the best experiences I've had in all my playing career. It was a real getting-to-know-you moment for us both, trying all the songs and tunes I could remember from my repertoire, with one thing leading to another thing and songs coming to mind. It's nice to be writing this a year later and thinking back to just how special that time was and I can see now that making the decision to go and pick up the guitar in person was the right thing to do, even if it meant a transatlantic flight for a weekend. If anyone reading this has a custom guitar build on the horizon and can manage to pick up the guitar in person from the luthier, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you do that. It's seriously worth it!

So that was the first meeting and my first impressions. Next up is how we spent the afternoon and evening on an already memorable day.

[Redpick]

Spanish omelette, crispy bacon...mmmmmm

Sorry, I meant Adirondack/Maple...mmmmmm

Great story so far (and also Brett's), can't wait for the next episode Cams.

[Ron Potkul]

Thank you for your response to your recording setup. Can't wait to read the rest of your story.

[jperryrocks]

I was on Kim's newly redesigned website and saw that he has closed the books on orders.

With 7-8 years backlog, my guess is that he has enough to take him to retirement.