Seventh Heaven

It’s nearly seven years to the day since Knaggs shipped its first guitar. Timely, then, that the company delivers a killer punch with the new Severn X model.

- Dave Burrluck

A way from the brouhaha of the big-company electric guitar industry, Joe Knaggs started “signing his own paintings” when he left his previous employer, PRS Guitars, and set up his eponymous operation in 2009, shipping his first guitar on 17 March 2010. Many of his subsequent canvases have graced our pages in recent years, either in our review section or in the hands of an increasing number of pros, not least Steve Stevens and Doug Rappoport. Each instrument we’ve seen remains a perfect illustration of guitar making in modern times. Knaggs was never a vintage-clone maker; instead, he brings many of his own concepts, including quite unique bridge designs, to pepper what most would consider a watertight understanding of the craft of the guitar.

That said, Knaggs’ original Choptank, and to a slightly lesser extent the Severn, were far from mainstream pieces with enhanced sustain and clarity paired with a slightly home-spun appearance. Which is sort of where our Severn X slots in. “Due to requests from artists and customers for a more modern feel, we developed the Severn X,” says Knaggs. So the X-spec offers a slightly thinner depth neck that’s slightly wider, too, with a flatter 356mm (14-inch) fingerboard radius and jumbo Evo frets. The neck and body back are mahogany and, as with the standard Severn, the X can be ordered in Knaggs’ ascending three tiers with the same options as the standard model.