The Petoskey guitar heads North

[Tim McKnight]

We had the pleasure of meeting another new McKnight guitar owner and closing the loop on a special project we have been building for him. His parents own a cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is situated in the middle of a huge Oak forest. He had grown up with an appreciation and fond memories of those huge trees and wanted to combine that with his love and fascination with a unique stone. He photocopied one of the actual oak leaves from the area and then the stone was cut to the exact shape.



The Petoskey stone is only found in one place on the planet, in the UP of Michigan. It is the petrified remains of a unique sub-tropical coral. In the 18th century, the chief of the Ottawa Indian tribe named the stone "Petoskey" which means "Rays of the rising sun". The stone's hexagonal eye(s) was the mouth of the coral and the radiating lines (sun rays) from the center were the tentacles that drew food into its mouth. We acquired this stone from www.Kornergem.com so if any of you are interested in a piece of history give Kevin a call and tell him we sent you



The guitar shape is our own design which is called the MiniMac. It is a scaled down version of our JumboMac. Kurt chose a unique set of Cocobolo Rosewood for the back and sides. He opted for the "Hollow Back" design and chose another set of Coco for the inner [Double] sides and Hollow Back.



The top that was chosen is from a piece of history as well. It is from the tree that the Carter's dubbed "Lucky Strike". It was a downed tree that was rescued from the Redwood forest in Northern California. These tops have the MOST sustain of any top wood that I have ever encountered. For the focal point of the top Kurt selected a special piece of convergent grain Spalted Maple for the rosette, that Mary rescued from our firewood pile. The inner Cocobolo RW ring was salvaged from the waist of his guitar back.



Kurt wanted to carry the Spalted Maple theme on to the body bindings, fingerboard bindings, headstock bindings and script McKnight logo.





Kurt wanted a soundport but he wanted maximum effect for both of his ears while he played so he chose our "Two-holer" design. The upper port is aimed at the players left ear while the lower port is aimed at their right ear. It is quite a stereo affect. He also plays out so he chose an LR Baggs i-Mix dual source pick up system to give him on board control and greater tonal flexability than a single source PU.


We are gratified with the outcome of this project and it was special for us to combine our customer's unique ideas into his new guitar. Thanks again Kurt for including us in your memories.

[Kabookie]

Sheeesh, simply sublime, Tim. Someday I'll be fortunate to own a..........yeah, someday. What a resourceful idea. Thanks for sharing this vignette........and the pics! Stunning, just plain stunning!

Best to one and all in Ohio. Play on, pick often, and prosper. Best regards.....Kabookie-san

[fitness1]

very cool, the finished product looks better than I imagined!!

somewhere there exists a picture of me with the two pieces of that instrument from the Mcknight Jam weekend!! Feste (James Filkins) told me to do that because it would drive the owner crazy....so don't blame me!!!

[Rodger]

Tim... every inch of that guitar is spectacular. I haven't seen spalted maple binding before. I love it!

I like guitars with themes. Fantastic job!!!

[Mary]

I know what picture you speak of, Todd. I saw it. I have no idea where it is hidden.

BTW, you should see the beautiful brag book that John (Yamaha Junkie) sent to us. It is a beautiful hard bound book of McJam pics. Very impressive work!

[jay7347]

Gosh, is there something wrong with me that I find that beautiful guitar prettier than an attractive woman? Ok, I guess my wonderful wife might be ok with that. (Or maybe I'm really getting old.) You folks make just beautiful guitars!
-jay

[acousticjazz]

That is absolutely beautiful, I love the coral/leaf inlay, any soundclips?

[Feste]

Kurt is on his way back to Michigan and as luck would have it lives only about 15 minutes from me...you can bet my review will be forthcoming(If I can pry his hands off off this beauty long enough to get my hands on it). Kurt put a lot of thought into this guitar. This is his first custom build and he certainly did it right. He visited several builders before choosing Tim McKnight. What an EXCELLENT CHOICE!
I must say, even though I encouraged Kurt to go with his gut (the Petosky Stone), I had my doubts.... man was I wrong. Tim and Mary you two are artists of the highest order. This guitar is breath taking in every aspect....

Hey Tim, How about a close up of the 12th fret

[mhs]

--- Quote from Tim's OP ----

"The Petoskey stone is only found in one place on the planet, in the UP of Michigan. It is the petrified remains of a unique sub-tropical coral. In the 18th century, the chief of the Ottawa Indian tribe named the stone "Petoskey" which means "Rays of the rising sun"."


It's rare I actually know anything about things like this, but my parents retired to Petoskey, Michigan. It's about 20 miles south of the UP, near .. nothing .

I visited them many times there and walked the shores of Lake Michigan. I have no idea if Petoskey stones are found elsewhere, but there sure is a lot of them in Petoskey (go figure )..

Anyway: Thanks for bringing back a nice memory.

[SongwriterFan]

Having seen that guitar TWICE now (in person), I just have to add that the pictures (as nice as they are) do not do it justice.

[orsino]

My God that's beautiful!

[ramsa]

That top looks SO rich!
Congrats on such a beautiful build!


Dave

[oldrocker]

Wow!!!!!!!!

[J185-4Me]

Originally Posted by Papol

--- Quote from Tim's OP ----

"The Petoskey stone is only found in one place on the planet, in the UP of Michigan. It is the petrified remains of a unique sub-tropical coral. In the 18th century, the chief of the Ottawa Indian tribe named the stone "Petoskey" which means "Rays of the rising sun"."


It's rare I actually know anything about things like this, but my parents retired to Petoskey, Michigan. It's about 20 miles south of the UP, near .. nothing .

I visited them many times there and walked the shores of Lake Michigan. I have no idea if Petoskey stones are found elsewhere, but there sure is a lot of them in Petoskey (go figure )..

Anyway: Thanks for bringing back a nice memory.

"Petoskey stones" per se are found at and in the vicinity of Petoskey Michigan (go figure). Having been a geology student in Michigan many years ago, I seem to recall that it is the "State Stone of Michigan".

As the fossilized remains of coral, the limestones that bear these fossils near Petoskey are indeed very nice examples. However, fossilized coral in limestone is not uncommon on a worldwide basis. Petoskey has just done a good job of marketing the stuff. :-)

Hopefully, the headstock inlay on this guitar is protected by lacquer from the elements, as the material will be a bit susceptible to scratching and abrasion (Mohs' Hardness should be about "3"), and contact with certain acids will etch and dull its finish.

Fred

[mesa]

Stunning work Tim! I love the Spalted Maple theme

Blessings
curt