Dick Knight was an important British luthier, best known for his beautifully made acoustic, archtop and jazz guitars. An industrial accident badly damaged Dick’s left hand and effectively ended his playing career. He turned instead to building instruments. Following his wife's death in 1963, he became a full-time luthier, building instruments from his Surrey workshop. In 1967, his son-in-law Gordon Wells joined him, and together they developed Knight Guitars into a highly respected British workshop for custom instruments, repairs and restorations. Knight's work became particularly admired by professional musicians; notable associations included David Gilmour, as well as work connected with players such as Allan Holdsworth.
This high quality built archtop guitar from Dick Knight is from the mid-1980s. A one-off, apparently built for a well-known jazz guitarist (we don’t have any details on who this was). All solid wood with a Spruce top and flamed Maple back and sides. The guitar has a 16” wide lower bout and a 3 ½” body depth. Unusually for Knight guitars the body has a Venetian cutaway, whereas Knight guitars usually had a softer Florentine style of cutaway. The neck is 5-piece Maple with a 24 ¾” scale Ebony fretboard, 45mm nut width, and the typical Knight "Prince of Wales" style inlays. The gold hardware includes Schaller machine heads and “Deluxe” tailpiece, with the original Bartolini floating pickup controlled by a single volume control on the scratch plate. The through red finish has mellowed over the years to give a very cool look.
The guitar is all original and in great condition for its age. It does have some small marks to the guitar top (see last 5 pictures) but overall it is in great shape. The acoustic sound is superb, especially compared to similar shaped Gibson guitars, and the Bartolini pickup is the perfect voice for plugging in this guitar. Comes with a rather striking sparkly pink hard case that fits the guitar perfectly.
Shipping within mainland UK using fully insured 24-hour courier service @ £35.00.
Shipping to US/Canada, using UPS, is £185.00. Shipping to EU is £65.00
Customers outside of UK/EU/US/Canada should contact Vintage Rare & Retro Guitars for a shipping quotation. Free pick-up is always available at our Gullane shop.
