- Joined
- Aug 21, 2006
- Messages
- 501
This is a little off topic but since most people here enjoy all forms of handmade craftsmanship and because it does get to a knife eventually I think this little preamble is permissible
There are a few things that you may not know about Northern Ireland as well. Some of the few things that you do know are probably clogged up and bogged down by the years of the Troubles and political and religious unrest which made my country famous throughout the world. On a more positive note however one of the few things that many of you will not know is that Northern Ireland, a country which consists of 5,456 sq. miles and has a population of 1,864,000 is home to some of the finest luthiers in the world and some of the few that still do the majority of their work by hand.
The three most famous are:
Lowden Guitars - http://www.lowdenguitars.com/
McIlroy Guitars - http://mcilroyguitars.co.uk/
Avalon Guitars - https://www.avalonguitars.com/
You could say that George Lowden is the daddy of Irish guitar making and Avalon and McIlroy can trace their roots back there.
They all make outstanding guitars and have a long history of hand crafting their instruments. Lowden has recently expanded his workshop and brought it into line with some more modern modes of production which, I have to admit, I recoil at a little bit. Avalon and McIlroy are still the product of hands over machines and long may that continue! For me you can keep your Taylors and even after being at the Martin factory though it pains me to say it, you can keep the modern Martins as well!! These Irish guys are some of best at their game.
My allegiance is for Avalon, they are only 30 mins drive from me and I am the proud owner of this beauty with 90 year old Brazilian rosewood which takes on a beautiful almost luminous green hue in the sunlight and a dark chocolate cedar top, beautifully quartersawn:
Here are a few photos of their other craftsmanship and if you ever wanted to see some beautiful woods and hand inlay you are in for a treat. All of these inlays are hand cut and hand inlaid and I think you will agree some of them, especially the celtic knot work is pretty outstanding:
The guys at Avalon and myself have become firm friends and in chatting with them we got talking about tools and their difficulty in trying to get quality tools to do their work. So a little plan hatched in my head that I would scout around and find them a new carving knife. For over 30 years they have used Japanese tools to carve each of their necks, there is no CNC work with them. I'm also privileged to call Tad Lynch a friend. So after a chat with Tad he produced this little beauty and the guys at Avalon were very impressed with his workmanship and its performance:
The handle is bubinga with a carbon fibre collar and some low layer damascus. Tad did a hollow grind on the back and chisel grind on the front. I havent got an update from the guys lately but they used on it a Brazilian mahogany neck and they said it cut like a razor just like custom cutlery should.
There are a few things that you may not know about Northern Ireland as well. Some of the few things that you do know are probably clogged up and bogged down by the years of the Troubles and political and religious unrest which made my country famous throughout the world. On a more positive note however one of the few things that many of you will not know is that Northern Ireland, a country which consists of 5,456 sq. miles and has a population of 1,864,000 is home to some of the finest luthiers in the world and some of the few that still do the majority of their work by hand.
The three most famous are:
Lowden Guitars - http://www.lowdenguitars.com/
McIlroy Guitars - http://mcilroyguitars.co.uk/
Avalon Guitars - https://www.avalonguitars.com/
You could say that George Lowden is the daddy of Irish guitar making and Avalon and McIlroy can trace their roots back there.
They all make outstanding guitars and have a long history of hand crafting their instruments. Lowden has recently expanded his workshop and brought it into line with some more modern modes of production which, I have to admit, I recoil at a little bit. Avalon and McIlroy are still the product of hands over machines and long may that continue! For me you can keep your Taylors and even after being at the Martin factory though it pains me to say it, you can keep the modern Martins as well!! These Irish guys are some of best at their game.
My allegiance is for Avalon, they are only 30 mins drive from me and I am the proud owner of this beauty with 90 year old Brazilian rosewood which takes on a beautiful almost luminous green hue in the sunlight and a dark chocolate cedar top, beautifully quartersawn:
Here are a few photos of their other craftsmanship and if you ever wanted to see some beautiful woods and hand inlay you are in for a treat. All of these inlays are hand cut and hand inlaid and I think you will agree some of them, especially the celtic knot work is pretty outstanding:
The guys at Avalon and myself have become firm friends and in chatting with them we got talking about tools and their difficulty in trying to get quality tools to do their work. So a little plan hatched in my head that I would scout around and find them a new carving knife. For over 30 years they have used Japanese tools to carve each of their necks, there is no CNC work with them. I'm also privileged to call Tad Lynch a friend. So after a chat with Tad he produced this little beauty and the guys at Avalon were very impressed with his workmanship and its performance:
The handle is bubinga with a carbon fibre collar and some low layer damascus. Tad did a hollow grind on the back and chisel grind on the front. I havent got an update from the guys lately but they used on it a Brazilian mahogany neck and they said it cut like a razor just like custom cutlery should.
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Really cool that Tad's knife is being used to make them!
