A Little Bit o’ Karma.

I have no idea how such things work in the universe, though try to remember to spread the good variety – as I’ve seemed to have more than my fair share.  Like this one.

Before Harpguitars.net, there was just my “Knutsen Archives” (a web site about a single maker of harp guitars and Hawaiian-music-based instruments).

That only happened because of inspiration from the late Dan Most (who would later write the Knutsen book with Tom Noe).

In those rare early days of discoveries, Dan would send me each and every interesting image he came across (physical photos in the mail, mind you).

One of his sources was The Red Fiddle, a famous “folk” shop in Tacoma, owned by Dick Fiscus.  Somewhere in my vast files (everything came here from L.A.), I’ve got a folder of Dick’s stuff (taken by Dan), that often spurred me on to find my own treasures.

I never met or spoke with Dick (nor, sadly, met Dan Most in person).  Another mutual friend of those two is Kerry Char of Portland who I’ve known since those early days – when his workbench was in the rear of a vacuum cleaner repair store in San Pedro, CA!  He did lots of work for me back in the day.

In 2011, Kerry called and tried to describe to me a non-sensical Chris Knutsen mandolin that Dick had then recently acquired.  His explanation making no sense, I tasked him with taking some photographs, which made up the short blog “A New Knutsen Design.”  https://www.harpguitars.net/2011/05/06/new-knutsen-design/

Fifteen years later (a week ago), I received a cryptic letter in the mail from an elderly gentleman hoping to sell a mandolin.  He provided no photos, just saying that it must be “an early one” and that he wanted it to go to a good home at this stage in his life.  He soon followed up with a phone call, and I still had no idea what he was describing!

Until his wife was able to text me photos of it from their cell phone…

Recognizing it immediately, I asked if it was Dick’s.  Yes, Dick had passed away some time back and this fellow (Tom Schillar, who knew Dick) had bought it in the estate sale.  (Tom happens to live about 45 minutes from where Knutsen built this instrument.)

I said – quite honestly but always humbly – that it probably best belonged here, with all my other Knutsens…kind of a “full circle” sort of thing to maintain our decades of Knutsen archival work.  Tom – a huge fan of my site – agreed and sent it right out, asking for only a fair honorarium.

The best part was the original case, an extremely well made and designed thick and stiff leather suitcase perfectly fitting the instrument without giving the whole shape away!

Having it in hand, I still can’t tell if the little round inset “pickguard” that matches the soundhole rosette to some extant was originally part of the top or added by Knutsen later.  It seems to have heavy pick wear on top of it, around it, and maybe going “under” it?  It’s a Knutsen first, whatever it is!

The neck-to-body construction of Knutsen mandos are just a simple precarious butt joint.  At some point, someone added a little heel add-on (perhaps Knusten himself at the request of the owner?)

The mandolin itself is in a new Knutsen category that I now code “FM” for “flared mandolin.”  True, Knutsen put body flares on many of his instruments, but always added to something “harp-like” that first had his hollow arm.  This really doesn’t have an arm of any kind.  Nor does a second FM that Knutsen sold to Harry Perry of the famed Vardon, Perry & Wilber story.

Knutsen Archives Inventory #s FM1 (c.1906) & FM2 (c.1907)

This will be entered as “FM1” (Flared Mandolin #1) in the Knutsen Archives.  FM2 is even more bizarre, with three points.  Discovered in rare images of Vardon, Perry & Wilber (courtesy of descendant of “Fake Wilber #1”).  If not for the TWO sole group images that included it, we would never have known what the entire outline of Perry’s Knutsen mandolin looked like.

Frank Vardon, Harry Perry, and Wilber#2 (Miles Lay) circa 1907 with their full-Knutsen line-up.

See https://www.harpguitarmusic.com/VPW.htm

Frank & Harry with “Wilber#3 (Al Bennett) a year later.

That was circa 1907, so very early for his mandolins.  DID he create these oddball “proto-arm” flared mandolins as his first designs before tackling hollow arm “harp mandolins”?  We don’t yet know but I do suspect that this was the likely case.

In any event, now I’ve got to find a spot for it – to honor both Dan & Dick.