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  #1  
Old 01-16-2019, 12:59 PM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Default McKnight Lowlander--Final Pictures!

...and so begins the accumulation of the next sawdust pile in the McKnight Guitars workshop!

Hello AGFers, Tim began just a day or two ago, and I received the first batch of pictures, so I thought I'd get a thread started to share the details of this unique build.
There are a number of McKnight builds in the AGF archives, but I don't believe there's been a build thread of a McKnight Lowlander before, so that'll be something new for you McKnight fans!

So first, what exactly is this Lowlander model? Well, it's shape is based on the general contours of an 000. The Lowlander, however, is larger than an 000 in every dimension, I'd say it's roughly halfway between the size of an 000 and a slope dreadnaught, in fact.

I chose this model because it's body dimensions and 12 fret configuration seem like a perfect size for a modern fingerstyle guitar, but at the same time, it's "vintage" body shape would allow me to give it some matching vintage details that I might not otherwise want to include on a more "modern"-shaped body.

I had the good fortune to visit Tim and Mary on a rainy Tuesday (I think it was a Tuesday, I was so jetlagged, I can't remember) in late August where, after a marathon-length day of talking, tapping, chatting, and other related activities, I made a tentative choice of the woods and model for this guitar. By Thanksgiving, we had pretty much settled on all the details, except a last-minute change of fretwire dimensions.

So on to the details of the Lowlander model:


Body dimensions:
Lower Bout: 15.375"
Waist: 9.265"
Upper Bout: 11.25"
Body Length: 20.25
Depth at the Tail: 4.5" (this is my spec, Tim is willing to adjust body depth to your preference)

Scale length: 25.4"
Nut width: 1 13/16"
Bridge spacing: 2 5/16"


Tonewoods: Pretty much every piece of wood on this guitar was selected first for tone, not appearance--lightweight, unrivaled tap tone, stiffness, low-dampening, etc.

Soundboard: McKnight-certified "Tone King" Grade German Spruce
That's my designation, anyways--selected strictly for stiffness and tap tone--I was able to see it and hear it for myself, as well as directly compare it to other very fine spruce tone wood sets from Tim's diverse and carefully-curated collection. Along with Tim's personal recommendation, it was an obvious choice.







Back/Sides: Brazilian Pernambuco
--Quartersawn, very beautiful, high quality set. Unfortunately, there aren't many sets of this quality-or ANY quality--to be had now, and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to get an instrument with this prized wood, built by someone of Tim's skill and reputation.






Additional Specs:

Honduran Mahogany neck

Pernambuco body binding with Ebony and African Blackwood purflings

African Blackwood fretboard (originally Pernambuco, but changed later!)

Pernambuco Pyramid bridge

Slotted headstock with Gabon Ebony veneer

Rodgers tuning machines

Florentine cutaway

Luckenbooth soundport

EVO gold jumbo frets with hemispherical fret end treatment

AST Titanium bridge pins
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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD

Last edited by GaultierRedon14; 05-22-2019 at 11:59 AM.
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  #2  
Old 01-16-2019, 01:03 PM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Ok, obviously I don't know how to post pictures here anymore! I tried flickr, but they didn't load. I'll get it figured out later and edit the previous post to include pictures....
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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD
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  #3  
Old 01-16-2019, 03:58 PM
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fitness1 fitness1 is offline
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I hope that's 2 5/16 saddle!!

You're going to love the experience of the build with two of my favorite people
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  #4  
Old 01-16-2019, 04:53 PM
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Tim McKnight Tim McKnight is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fitness1 View Post
I hope that's 2 5/16 saddle!!
I certainly hope so too since I cut the fret board today with a 2-5/16" 12th fret width
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  #5  
Old 01-16-2019, 08:10 PM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Yes, I flubbed that detail! Correction made...bridge spacing is 2 5/16"

Still working on the photos...hopefully tomorrow...
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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD
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  #6  
Old 01-16-2019, 08:59 PM
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Tim McKnight Tim McKnight is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaultierRedon14 View Post
Yes, I flubbed that detail! Correction made...bridge spacing is 2 5/16"

Still working on the photos...hopefully tomorrow...
Check your PM inbox.
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  #7  
Old 01-16-2019, 11:58 PM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fitness1 View Post
I hope that's 2 5/16 saddle!!

You're going to love the experience of the build with two of my favorite people
Thank you, fitness 1. Indeed, they are a class act.
I figured out the picture posting , so a few pictures are now included in the first post.

Thanks for the instructions, Tim!
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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD
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  #8  
Old 01-17-2019, 01:56 AM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Default Cutting and bending the Florentine cutaway









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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD

Last edited by GaultierRedon14; 01-17-2019 at 02:02 AM.
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  #9  
Old 01-17-2019, 02:08 AM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Default Bending the sides

Double sides of Pernambuco and Cherry wood





Sides are spritzed with water and ready to go...




[IMG][/IMG]
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Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD
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  #10  
Old 01-17-2019, 03:37 PM
Nemoman Nemoman is offline
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Looks like some killer woods on this one!

Looking forward to following along...
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2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle)
2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW)
2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga)
2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco)
2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak)
2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk)
2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa)
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  #11  
Old 01-17-2019, 09:45 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Well what the heck? Another McKnight build when the other guitar barely had strings put on it? Don't tell me, you quit your day job?
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  #12  
Old 01-17-2019, 10:21 PM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemoman View Post
Looks like some killer woods on this one!

Looking forward to following along...
Thank you, Nemoman! Definitely killer woods all around this one! More to come on that. I'd like to think that we have some killer details to bring it all together into a very unique and classy instrument.
My goal was to give it a "19th century meets 21st century" aesthetic, so that's the direction it's headed as the build unfolds. I love the vintage details of the old gut string classical and parlor guitars of the 19th century, and their somewhat Victorian more formal appearance. I took a lot of inspiration from researching pictures of instruments from this time period. Overall, I think it will be quite understated, but quite unique, nonetheless.
Certainly no one will mistake this guitar for a vintage instrument, considering it will have a Florentine cutaway and a soundport, among other things.



Here is a picture of a Lowlander model from the McKnight Guitars website:




...and here is a rough computer sketch Tim made a while ago that will give some idea of what we have planned:

__________________

Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD

Last edited by GaultierRedon14; 01-19-2019 at 01:23 AM.
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  #13  
Old 01-18-2019, 05:44 PM
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cigarfan cigarfan is offline
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This looks to be quite a special build. I'm intrigued.

Congrats and thanks for sharing the build with us.
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  #14  
Old 01-19-2019, 01:32 AM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cigarfan View Post
This looks to be quite a special build. I'm intrigued.

Congrats and thanks for sharing the build with us.
Thank you, cigar fan. I'm equally intrigued to see your Kostal come along. I love those burl back inlays!
__________________

Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD
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  #15  
Old 01-19-2019, 03:32 AM
GaultierRedon14 GaultierRedon14 is offline
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Default Florentine Cutaway double sides being glued together

Spreading the glue to adhere the inner and outer sides








adding a piece of foam to each side and placing the cutaway back in the mold.






Finished. Sort of.
__________________

Instruments:
2022 Dake Traphagen 12F Slope Dread--Torrefied Carpathian Spruce/Snakewood
2016 Darren Hippner "Torres" classical model--German Spruce/Pernambuco


Commissioned:
mid-2024 Michel Aboudib MA-J Fanfret--Western Red Cedar/Bois de Rose
late-2024 Michel Aboudib--TBD

Last edited by GaultierRedon14; 01-20-2019 at 04:43 AM.
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