|
 KNIGHT GUITARS |
| Instruments currently built in Surrey, England since the 1970s. |
| Luthier Dick Knight (1907-1996) was a well respected British guitar maker, and examples of his work were collected worldwide. Knight (born Stanley Charles Knight) specialized in archtop guitar construction, notably the Imperial model. While Knight began building his first guitars in the 1930s, he became more prominent in the 1970s (and 1980s), and featured such clients as Dave Gilmour, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, and Mike Rutherford (among others). During Knight's formative years in the 1930s he worked for Lagonda, the motor vehicle manufacturer. After work, Knight would construct wood items at home, and lost the tips of his fingers in an accident. As this accident prevented him from playing guitar, he turned to making instruments as a hobby. At the outbreak of World War II Knight met Ben and Lew Davis (the owners of Selmers music shop in London), as well as Joe Van Straten (Selmers' shop manager). In addition to instrument repair, Van Straten suggested the two work on producing a quality English archtop. When finances would not permit the business to carry on, Selmers asked Knight to produce some guitars. Later, when Knight's wife became ill, he left his work at Selmers and professional guitar making for seventeen years. During this time period, he did produce a number of instruments under the "Knight" logo. Some of his earliest models do not have a name on the headstock. In addition to his archtop models, Knight produced flattop acoustic, solid body and 335-style guitars. All Knight's instruments were produced with the same high degree of quality. Recently, Knight's son-in-law Gordon Wells has been continuing to produce guitars and keep the Knight name alive in the guitar-building world. For more information, visit Knight's website (see Trademark Index). Source: Keith Smart, The Zemaitis Guitar Owners Club. |