| Visit Our Catalog at SteelGuitarShopper.com |

Post new topic Knutsen?
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Knutsen?
Bob McEvoy

 

From:
Delaware, USA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 11:17 am    
Reply with quote

I was shown this instrument and told it was a Knutsen. Can anyone identify?
This is my first attempt at attaching a picture. Hopefully it works.



In another section of this forum, I saw a picture on an Otwin post with this type bridge.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Brad Davis


From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 12:46 pm    
Reply with quote

I'm not an expert, but I don't think so. Any markings or labels inside the guitar?

Then again, maybe. Could this be your guitar?

https://danamusic.com/instrument/knutsen-circa-1912/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 12:56 pm    
Reply with quote

I think it must be, that is a very unusual fretboard.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Larry Carlson


From:
My Computer
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 1:40 pm    
Reply with quote

I will 2nd the "it's a Knutsen" opinion.
That fretboard with the scallop, or whatever it's called is found on a Knutsen model.
_________________
I have stuff.
I try to make music with it.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
But I keep on trying.
View user's profile Send private message
Brad Bechtel


From:
San Francisco, CA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 2:56 pm    
Reply with quote

http://www.harpguitars.net/knutsen/hawaiians.htm
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 5:45 pm     Re: Knutsen?
Reply with quote

Bob McEvoy wrote:
I was shown this instrument and told it was a Knutsen. Can anyone identify?

Try to contact Tom Noe (known to this Forum as George Noe). He wrote a book about Chris Knutsen and his instruments. He would know.

https://squareneckjournal.com/2015/02/06/hermann-weissenborn-the-man-and-his-guitars-an-interview-with-author-tom-noe/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bob McEvoy

 

From:
Delaware, USA
Post  Posted 3 Apr 2018 7:14 pm     Knutsen?
Reply with quote

I have the book and I see no bridges like this one in the book. That is why I wondered if it was a Knutsen. Then I saw the german made instrument Otwin on this site with a similar bridge. That is why I wondered if it was actually a german built instrument.
I tried to send George an email through this forum but did not see how to attach a picture.

It is not my guitar and the individual wants to sell it. I saw no markings.


Last edited by Bob McEvoy on 5 Apr 2018 3:29 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 4 Apr 2018 8:45 pm    
Reply with quote

You can reach Tom through his Facebook account.

While the inlay are a type used by Knutsen at least a couple of times they're common shapes. The headstock is typical of a few Knutsen guitars but not others.

The fretboard extension, though, looks like no Knutsen I've ever seen and the bridge is either a replacement or IMO the guitar is not a Knutsen. The herringbone rosette also appears quite different from any Knutsen I've seen. and the binding also appears to be much wider than the plain type Knutsen normally used.

My guess is - if it *is* a Knutsen - it has a non-original fretboard, non-originalrosette and has been rebound and refinished. Some collectors might buy it out of curiosity and some players might have interest, but it IMO it has only a fraction of the value of an unmodified, original Knutsen.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Ben Elder

 

From:
La Crescenta, California, USA
Post  Posted 4 Apr 2018 8:47 pm    
Reply with quote

“Knutsen Hawaiians: no one alike.”

Definitely inspired by, but the work and materials look a little too slick on a vintage iphone screen.
_________________
"Gopher, Everett?"
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
George Noe

 

From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 7 Apr 2018 8:51 am    
Reply with quote

It is definitely a Knutsen. Made in Seattle around 1910.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
George Noe

 

From:
Washington, USA
Post  Posted 7 Apr 2018 9:19 am    
Reply with quote

The black fretboard with treble extension, crescent moon and star inlays, as well as the bridge with the two screws. were all common features on Knutsen mandolins in the 1910 - 1914 era. The headstock is the one that Weissenborn copied on his earliest Hawaiian guitars.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Bob McEvoy

 

From:
Delaware, USA
Post  Posted 7 Apr 2018 10:24 am     Knutsen
Reply with quote

Thank you for affirming its originality.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  
Please review our Forum Rules and Policies
Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction, and steel guitar accessories
www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

The Steel Guitar Forum
148 S. Cloverdale Blvd.
Cloverdale, CA 95425 USA

Click Here to Send a Donation

Email SteelGuitarForum@gmail.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for Band-in-a-Box
by Jim Baron