What makes this guitar worth your attention?
This is one of those early Knaggs guitars that simply can’t be duplicated today. Serial #3 was one of the first handmade Keyas from Joe, and Joe originally selected this incredible big-leaf West Coast curly maple top and Golden Natural finish for Serial #1. When that customer decided on a quilted maple top instead, this top ultimately became Keya #3.
What makes this guitar particularly special to me is the combination of materials and details that Joe was willing and able to use on these very early instruments. This was the first Keya with a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, complemented by a phenomenal bookmatched Brazilian rosewood headstock. The 24-fret design, curly maple purfling, green ripple binding and abalone details, Pearlworks shell inlays, engraved gold Waverly tuners and figured mahogany neck make the entire guitar feel much more like a one-off instrument than a normal production Keya.
I also really like the Custom ’85 neck carve, which reminds me of the early PRS instruments. The Fralin Pure PAFs are a great match for this guitar. Along with Bare Knuckle, Fralin makes some of my favorite humbuckers for Joe’s guitars. I specifically asked Joe to add the single-coil mode, which gives the neck pickup a nice clear classic tone.
This isn’t a guitar I would compare directly with a Keya being built today. Too many of the woods, appointments and construction details that make #3 special simply aren’t available on the current guitars.
— Gary Thomas