kenblount.com CONTACT : Email kenblountguitar@yahoo.com Phone 863-385-3433
Blount Guitars
Ken Blount is in his 20th year as a guitar builder, and has built over 125 instruments in that time. In that period, he has had pieces purchased by buyers world wide, both players and collectors. Blount guitars are all hand crafted by Ken. He does not use 'apprentices' or other assistants to construct his instruments. He has built both traditional and cutaway guitars of all body sizes, wood combinations, and of varying degrees of cosmetic enhancements such as inlays.
Ken relies on traditional methods of construction, neck joints on Blount guitars are all dovetail, (not screw in joints like some of the high end manufacturers are doing,) nitrocellulose lacquers, (instead of the less expensive and less labor intensive water-soluble variety,) bone nuts and saddles, and always the fine attention to detail that is a hallmark of a Blount guitar.
Ken searches the world for the finest raw materials. Fine wood is getting increasingly harder to find, so when he can make a purchase, he stockpiles the best grades of Brazilian and Indian rosewood, Koa, Sitka and Engleman spruce, mahogany, maple and ebony.
When Ken plans a guitar for an individual buyer, he will ask many questions to determine the suitability of that guitar to that player. The style of playing, - how hard or soft the player's touch is, if the guitar will be used primarily for finger picking, flatpicking or both, - are all factors in determining optimum string spacing, set up, and even body size and style.
To many players, appearance is important in an instrument. Ken can incorporate a wide range of cosmetic features on his instruments, from custom abalone or mother-of-pearl inlays, position makers, bindings. Everything can be exactly how the buyer desires. On the rare occasion one of Ken's instruments shows back up on the market, it commands high prices, often more than the original purchase price, at dealers such as Gruhns.
