K-Line Guitars

JookyChap

There's a weird snobbery about builders, especially UK builders that I really struggle to understand.

It seems it is OK to tweak classic designs as long as you use fancy woods and translucent finishes over them, as that clearly makes them hand made and crafted with skill and taste.

But it isn't OK to tweak classic designs but paint them, as obviously then they are just made from parts, thrown together without skill or talent.

But then Fenders are made from parts and are covered in paint, and they will make them look knackered for a lot of extra money.

But then it is OK to buy MJT's painted Allparts parts.

But it isn't OK to buy the same from a UK builder as clearly there is no skill involved.

My head hurts

Antique_Guitars

bertie said:

Loobs said:

bertie;161866" said:

one word

why ?

Why what?

yet another company offering the same old thing  *yawn*

100% agree Bertie! I am bored to death of Fender and Gibson let alone all the boring ass clones that are about.
Fender Coronado and Starcaster reiusses are cool though


Guitars need Aluminium!

stonevibe

Build your own I say. 

I have a 'custom shop' in my kitchen.  

:P

chrisj1602

The thing with MJT is that it is very clear what you are getting. The origin of the parts is listed, you can send him bodies and necks, it's finishing, not completed guitars. They sell a full kit for about £500-£600. But then you get "builders" who use the same parts as MJT but bolt the thing together and charge £1500!

Skipped

I like it. But I would expect the £2k Fender CS guitar to be very good/outstanding so the K-Line would have to be exceptional. The only problem then is resale but I have walked away from really nice guitars in the past because I was not 100% sure that it was a keeper. If you only buy keepers you are sorted........ Until you reach a point in your life when you only want to own 2 great guitars. Or even 1 great guitar. Then you are in trouble.

Selling 6 keepers was a nightmare!

dindude

I don't get it, you can buy a Squier that looks just the same for £300.

If K-line's passion is to perfect the art of building Fender style guitars from scratch one by one, and there's a market for it, then fair plays to them (him).

JookyChap

I agree - the MJT stuff I've seen is  excellent - I wasn't dissing them at all. It's just I'm not sure if they were British and doing the same thing they would get the same respect.

p90fool

JookyChap said:

I agree - the MJT stuff I've seen is  excellent - I wasn't dissing them at all. It's just I'm not sure if they were British and doing the same thing they would get the same respect.

You're probably right, but at the end of the day it's just two slabs of relatively cheap wood - there really is a limit to how much "quality" you can squeeze in there.

Coolness has to rely on mystique, a backstory or simply a reputation (justified or not).

My neighbour is an excellent woodworker who could make me a Tele body as well as anyone else in the world, to him it would be almost insultingly like a first term school exercise, but he's just "some bloke", so there'd be no real money in it.

chrisj1602

JookyChap;163078" said:

I agree - the MJT stuff I've seen is  excellent - I wasn't dissing them at all. It's just I'm not sure if they were British and doing the same thing they would get the same respect.

That's probably true, 42nd Street offer kits, bodies, necks, and who's ever seen a thread on any forum about getting one of them?! I think MJT has forums to thank for their popularity, there's pages and pages of MJT on things like TDPRI. And the fact that they are doing good work of course. Their eBay feedback speaks for itself.

matone

S`pose MJT have a name because they operate in a huge market (USA),anyone doing similar here has
a relatively limited market and subsequently limited exposure .Those with commonsense can see through
all the hype & bs created by forums.(not a criticism of forums !).
The K`s do look nicely done !

ThePrettyDamned

That's the thing, they are almost certainly excellent, but they are in a super crowded marketplace.  Not a criticism of the work they do, so much as a pity the market won't support any form of individualism. After all, if Fender don't do the exact strat spec you want, which is doubtful as it is, then there are already tons of builders out there who will.

Another one in the mix is hardly revolutionary, but it's kind of a shame that that is what they feel they need to do to stay in business.  

I'd be much more interested if they had more interesting finishes (a la Jooky) or body shapes, or even refined versions of the classics - those Wirebird ones are thinner than normal, and have custom made bridge plates, which really goes towards justifying their existence as offering a genuine alternative.  They make the Telecaster a truly modern design, rather than a modified vintage style guitar for humbuckers and shred.

Whereas most offer... Well, realistic relics in vintage accurate body shapes, off the shelf components (fitted perfectly, I might add) and perhaps custom wound pickups (which are almost certainly based on vintage designs rather than creating something different).  Which is something Fender offer.  And every other guitar company in the world, pretty much :P

I know vintage style guitars are excellent - I'm making a vintage style Tele in terms of electrics (though I'm using a 6 saddle bridge because I prefer the feel of them and more accurate intonation when downtuned a lot).  However, for a custom builder to really justify themselves, they either need a USP or a new design.  I've got nothing against these guys, but they don't really offer anything to make me even vaguely interested.  Telecasters and Strats don't need a neck angle because they already have a good break angle.

However, like I said, if they can make offset guitars with interesting electronic configurations (they already had interesting ones, but come on, let your imagination run free!) AND fix the neck angle to allow the vibrato system to be used without a buzz stop (which rob you of the best bit of an offset) or shim (which is a pain - and can be unsightly) AND offer custom made bridges which give you the option of vintage style string spacing or modern, not-going-to-fall-off-the-fingerboard spacing, in a variety of fretboard and bridge radius', they have a market for anyone who wants a jazzmaster that looks great, sounds like a jazzmaster but plays more like a strat.  

A super offset - a modern version of a classic guitar that fixes what *are* problems for a lot of people.  Imagine one with a 12" radius, custom Jazzmaster bridge to match the radius and string spacing, jazzmaster vibrato, proper neck angle for best tone/sustain/looks etc and a wonderful set of a pickups.  It would have a market and justify quite a bit price tag, because it is a genuinely different guitar,

K_Line

Hello all. I have read through the comments and wanted to clear a few things up for everyone. First of all, we all have opinions which believe me, I have some very strong opinions:). Every guitar is made by me and my crew at my shop starting from raw lumber. Hopefully that clears that issue up. Neck angle? Flat pockets can work but when you put in a shim if resonates better, plays better. So why not put a slight angle in the pocket. Does my San B and JM have an angles neck pocket? Absolutely. Right about 2degree loft. You may not think these things matter and I can appreciate that. Do we reinvent the wheel? Not a chance. Just a better tire is all. What we offer is a guitar how you want it not how the big box company thinks you want it. Coda takes custom orders with most spec changes being the same price. Premium materials do incur extra costs. Pick up the phone and call, who answers? Me. If you stop by there and play one and still do not get it, that is OK. If there was one company for every player, these forums who cease to exist. I appreciate the kind words and the criticisms alike. I am a student always. Thanks, Chris

TTony

K_Line said:

Hello all. I have read through the comments and wanted to clear a few things up for everyone. First of all, we all have opinions which believe me, I have some very strong opinions:). Every guitar is made by me and my crew at my shop starting from raw lumber. Hopefully that clears that issue up. Neck angle? Flat pockets can work but when you put in a shim if resonates better, plays better. So why not put a slight angle in the pocket. Does my San B and JM have an angles neck pocket? Absolutely. Right about 2degree loft. You may not think these things matter and I can appreciate that. Do we reinvent the wheel? Not a chance. Just a better tire is all. What we offer is a guitar how you want it not how the big box company thinks you want it. Coda takes custom orders with most spec changes being the same price. Premium materials do incur extra costs. Pick up the phone and call, who answers? Me. If you stop by there and play one and still do not get it, that is OK. If there was one company for every player, these forums who cease to exist. I appreciate the kind words and the criticisms alike. I am a student always. Thanks, Chris

Thanks for taking the time to join up, and join in.

[admin out!]

guitargeek62

K_Line said:

Flat pockets can work but when you put in a shim if resonates better, plays better. So why not put a slight angle in the pocket.

I'm in complete agreement. I'm a fan of stealthy modifications, ones whereby you wouldn't know it was there just from looking. It's nice to see a builder with that ethos as most people just follow the original recipe, or feel the need to go "too far" (objectively) for the sake of change. I hadn't noticed your set-neck series before, is there anything funky going on under the hood of these, or they more of a straight-up tribute?

Anyway, we're quite a UK-centric forum but it's always good to have another experienced builder on here. Thanks for joining.

K_Line

Thanks.  I hope that people take what I say at face value.  I do not intend to be a know it all, that my opinions are gospel.  I just love guitars and feed my family with them.  I do what I do and put all my heart into my guitars. The KL Series were introduced as an entry into the set neck market.  In other words, these were designed for the neck joint.  The plan is to move away from the basic slabs into more unique shapes.  The neck joint is always the hardest to design and so far so good.  Thanks for allowing me on the forum and hopefully I can add to it and not detract.

Wazmeister

Bumping this thread, as I played some K Lines at Coda today...

To be honest, they were absolutely magnificent guitars, and gave the Masterbuilt a good run for their money, imho... I would have bought one most likely, if there had beena reliced model. Superb

woody

I own a k-line springfield relic (gilmour rep) and a fender 60 cs relic..i replaced a usa 62ri strat with the k-line and the difference was vast tbh.the k-line was just better in every conceivable way.in comparison to the cs, again to my ears the k-line sounds better and feels better..i will conceed that i prefer fenders relicing job, but the sheer amount of time spent giving the neck a played in feel on the k-line, makes it so much nicer than the fender neck to me..so what im saying is personally i prefer how the cs looks, but to me the feel, playability and tone are better on the k-line..incidentally both are lovely and lightweight.truth be told, i love both of them.
Ill also add that chris is very generous with his time..a high recommendation here.

Forge

I couldn't agree more with mr K about the shims...what is the point of that? The more contact surface you have the better. I saw some K-Line guitars quite a while ago at the Guitar Lounge and they looked just as good as the Fanos in Coda.

octatonic

Where are they made?

If they are really hand built then I can see the price being justified- there is a lot of labour that goes into making such a thing, especially with the relicing.

Are the body and neck routes done by CNC?

(I have no problem with CNC, just curious as to the process- I build guitars as well.)

Klein pickups are nice.

jellyroll

St. Louis, Missouri according to his website.