Posted by: ScottAllyn in Luthier, Guitars, Builder on
Sep 13, 2008
Earlier this year, I commissioned a guitar with Tim and Mary McKnight of McKnight Guitars. We've recently settled upon the final design (well... final except for the last minute changes that are bound to come as I fret over some of the finer details) and Tim has actually begun building the guitar.
I took advantage of Tim's offer to recieve the guitar early if I allowed him to show it at one of the large guitar shows *and* I agreed to pick it up in person - an offer that he extends to all of his customers, as long as there's an open "build slot" for one of the shows. The Newport Guitar Festival in Miami is not at all far from me... so that's where my guitar will make its first public appearance!
Unfortunately, the Newport show isn't going to be for at least another 7 months, which means 7 months of torture as Mary feeds me the occasional photos of my guitar being built while Tim also works on several other guitars for other shows and other customers. I'll just have to suffer through it, I suppose...
Below are the final (::cough::) specs for the guitar. Note that I didn't go with a sound port on this build. I'm just too uncertain about them. The soundports do give a nice effect to the player, but to my ears, they sometimes emphasize a different set of frequencies than the soundhole on the front of the guitar. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does sometimes bother me.
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Paul Woolson of Woolson Soundcraft, who kicked off the first Road Trip of this website, has been named Builder of the Month at the Guitar Gala!
GG: Hello Paul, could you provide a little background information on yourself and your interest in guitars?
PW: I grew up in a very musical family. It seems like there was always some sort of instrument being played in our household. When I was very young, I traded a bunch of GI JOE stuff for a friend's electric guitar. (I'm sure it was worth about $29 new). The first thing I did when I got home was rip the thing apart to see how it worked. I had aspirations of refinishing it and getting it working but, alas, I was 8 or so and didn't have the know-how. But that is my first memory of being interested in guitars. My parents gave me a guitar for my High School graduation present. I found myself wanting to tinker with that one too. Though not as dramatically as I did on the little electric guitar, I installed a pickup and adjusted the action. Pretty minor stuff but it felt big at the time.
For the complete interview (and a few photos of Paul's guitars), visit the Guitar Gala Website. To see more photos and to hear some recordings of Paul's guitars, check the Woolson Soundcraft Road Trip Page.
A Slight Detour 