McKnight build for Healdsburg delivery - 'tree' mahogany & adi

[riorider]

Well, paint me "embarrassed" that I haven't updated this thread in a while. I can only plead overload at work for end of year, as both Tim and Mary have been quite faithful in communicating and sending me pictures of the build's progress.

So - I have a lot of ground to cover. I'll start with the rosette design. Back in post 32 I showed some pernambuco that Tim had scored with his CNC as the first step in constructing the rosette.

To those of you who have watched a rosette being constructed this will be old news, but for those of you seeing this for the first time I'll show a few intermediate shots.

Top routed, first (inner) binding glued in place:


Gluing in the base rosette:


The kernels of pernambuco "wheat" inlaid (you'll see them in a moment), Tim now is routing for the purfling rings:


Gluing in the purfling:


All glued in place, starting to dry:


A quick trip through the thickness sander:


And we have a completed rosette, with very nice color in the binding and purfling scheme (which will be echoed in the rest of the guitar's binding and purfling).

[riorider]

The wheat theme is somewhat subtle in the rosette, but will be clear on the headstock, although elegant.

Some of the thinking and decisions that went into the design:

How many wheat stalks? How many wheat kernels?

Realistic or symbolic or abstract? Straight and stylized, or bent? If bent, all one way, or the other way, or split?

Color on the realistic side, or more with an abstract coloring, or something else?

Wheat heads on the bottom of the headstock, with a logo or script on the top? Or laying over the full headstock?

We decided that a more realistic, less abstract inlay would be most attractive. For coloring I had sent Tim pictures of a needlepoint my mother in law had hanging in her front room:


That was the coloring that led Tim to the pernambuco.

As to the number of stalks, and number of kernels, the numbers 3 and 12 are important in the Judeo-Christian scriptures, so that an easy decision.

A "soft" bend, with the wheat heads and stalks laying all the way up the headstock was chosen as looking best. I asked Tim to inlay a small Knight's head logo on the back of the headstock - to acknowledge the McKnight's as we could not come up with an easily doable way to get the logo or script logo on the headstock.

But - you didn't stop by to read about the headstock, so here's some pictures:

Pernambuco wheat stalk "parts":


Routing the inlay channels:


Ready for the inlay:


Careful, delicate, tedious work!


Another view of the inlay progressing:


The ebony dust will fill in the minute gaps:




All dried and into the thickness sander!


(I skipped a few steps - the gluing to the headstock, the trimming and sanding of the headstock) And here we have the inlaid headstock completed! With finish this should be both more subtle as well as more bold - the background ebony will recede from conscious view while the wheat stalks will stand out:

[El Conquistador]

Very cool Phil.

Steve

[pepperboy]

WOW amazing and beautiful, work and concept

[colins]

I'm 100% with Steve and Travis on this...WOW! This shows how to bring beautiful design and very meaningful themes into a giutar without any fear of bling.

Glad you are posting again after a hectic work period buddy...and Happy New Year!

Col

[cotten]

Love it, Phil! From the very special inspiration of your mother's needlepoint to the very fine detail work of incorporating that them into your guitar - this one is going to be even more of an heirloom than most McKnights.

Do I assume correctly that Mary has been instrumental in translating your vision into an actual custom guitar design? She certainly was for my McKnight. (Thank you again, my friend, for helping make that one possible!) Tim and Mary make an incredible team.

This is going to be one very special guitar!

cotten

[riorider]

Originally Posted by cotten

Love it, Phil! From the very special inspiration of your mother's needlepoint to the very fine detail work of incorporating that them into your guitar - this one is going to be even more of an heirloom than most McKnights.

Do I assume correctly that Mary has been instrumental in translating your vision into an actual custom guitar design? She certainly was for my McKnight. (Thank you again, my friend, for helping make that one possible!) Tim and Mary make an incredible team.

This is going to be one very special guitar!

cotten

Thanks Steve, Travis, Col, and John! Without having been a "mouse in the pocket" (so I'm not certain), my viewpoint collected from notes and snatches of conversation on this are that Tim has had the main design elements in mind and laid out, and Mary has had color and supplemental ideas (adding another purfling line to the rosette; adding a way to complete the soundhold (both design and construction ideas). In a way it's hard to separate the work of one from the other - and I sincerely hope that's a big compliment to them!

More soon...

Best,

Phil

[riorider]

The body is of Honduran mahogany from "the tree"; the top is adirondack spruce; the inner sides of the double sides are spanish cedar.

There is a florentine (sharp) cutaway. These pics show the bending setup, bracing being glued in, in the forms with neck and tail blocks, and the two elves who are magically producing this guitar!

[coldshot]

One word Phil, Stunning.

[riorider]

For anyone who's not gone through this process, the amount of detail in the decision making up front and the careful steps in each phase that create the materials we "ooh" and "aah" over at the end are mind boggling. It's not something that weighs on the lucky buyer - but the pictures that Mary takes on each build show the amount of work there is just in testing the variations, before a decision can be made.

For example, Tim made up some bound purfling using Sapele and Mesquite (separately) to consider which looked best with the other woods.

In this post I'll show the test purfling that Tim produced. I like the edge-grain purfling "wood bling" and between Tim and Mary they've evaluated the colors of the body, binding, and purfling, and produced a very integrated package of appointments.

Do they add anything to the tone? Not a bit. But do they add to the enjoyment of a fine piece of playable art? Absolutely! And it is encouraging to know that Tim puts as much thought, care, and skill into the sonic design elements as he does with the appointments.

[riorider]

As I noted earlier, we had some ideas of incorporating the McKnight logo into the wheat stalk inlay on the headstock overlay / inlay, but it didn't work out.

The wheat stalk will be striking on the headstock, so I asked Tim if he could inlay a small knight's head logo on the backplate.

The headstock is ebony; there was enough of the quilted mahogany from the back cutout to make a backplate. Into that Tim inlaid the knight's head.

I hope you like it as much as I do!

[Tone Gopher]

Are the tuners going to go through the inlay?

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by riorider

The wheat theme is somewhat subtle in the rosette, but will be clear on the headstock, although elegant.

Phil, looks like you could make lots of bread with this guitar!

Steve

[riorider]

Originally Posted by Tone Gopher

Are the tuners going to go through the inlay?

Yes, no way around that. But that's not the only operation that makes one wince...

I call this one "Did your dad ever teach you how to clean a fish?"


But - to your point - yes...


(I'll show the front side once everyone has time to settle their stomachs..)

Cheers all,

Phil

[D.Kwasnycia]

Phil, congrats on this build and love the design aspect of this guitar. Tim and Mary make a great team!