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What a photo! It took Knutsen aficionado Kerry Char a couple of years (and my
nagging) to finally track down the owner of this incredible image - Robin Amend,
the grandson of the gentleman seated at right - leader of a successful group of one-armed
vaudeville musicians!
See Bert
Amend & the One-Armed
Musicians. This page shows the left-handed instrument owned by the group. Proportions identify it as a shorter scale instrument - somewhere around 3/4, I believe. Both group instruments are very fancy, this one the most. Note the wonderful headstock extension to incorporate an extra "moon & star!" Along with three other headstock inlays, I believe this is a record for Knutsen. He also included a moon & star on the bass headstock (another first), and a butterfly on the body (not within the typical pickguard, apparently). Both instruments also have the doubled third ("G") string, a rare Knutsen specialty (seen also on HGS5, HGS8 & HGS25). It's interesting to note that on four of these instruments, the tuners for the pair of strings are on opposite sides of the headstock. The wonderful detail in the photograph also shows how the bass strings are run around the shaft of the brass woodscrew "nuts." Some strings have extra nuts, with the lowest string showing in the succession of three photos that a second was added at a later point. Perhaps the second was added to help "pinch" the string (as on pedal harp mechanism does) for a clearer tone? Hard to tell. Note how every other bass was eventually removed, leaving just three. On HGS40, the "zither harp guitar," I wondered whether the crude "rib bone" treble bridges were original - but these "new-in-the-photos" instruments have the same bridges! |
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 This is the same instrument from as seen in the first 3 photos. |
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 HGS43 & HGS44 to scale |
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