Tim and his wife, Mary, share a strong faith in their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s their prayer that all music played on McKnight guitars will soften hearts and change lives for His name’s sake, in ways far beyond their knowledge and expectations.

Tim McKnight, who founded McKnight Guitars in 1992, had honed his craft over many years while repairing instruments built by others. In the process, he came to appreciate the elegance of guitar designs that work—and learned a great deal from those that didn’t. This invaluable experience provided him with the perfect environment in which to develop a desired style of fine custom guitars, artfully blending tradition with innovation to achieve a new level of excellence.

As a member of the Guild of American Luthiers (GAL), Tim has been able to stay on top of the latest innovations in the custom guitar marketplace. He considers John Greven his first mentor and praises John for sharing his wealth of information about the great vintage guitars of yesteryear. Tim also studied with world renowned luthier Ervin Somogyi to further his education.

Tim’s wife, Mary, handles Public Relations. Through email letters of interest she often cross promotes customers keeping them tied together as a huge extended family of guitar enthusiasts. She plays a vital role in designing the aesthetics of each guitar. Due to her keen eye The Diamond, The Spar Guitar, The Autumn Cougar, The McKnight Sonic Sitka Airplane Guitar, The Lilly, The Petosky Stone, Waldo, The Songbird, The McKnight Humming Bird, Judy, Clara, Slim, Blue The Aquarius, Choker, Fire, GearHead 1 and 2 have gained her worldwide recognition. While taking digital pictures throughout the building process she keeps customers involved with their guitar from inception to delivery.