Testimonials

"I'm picky and demanding when it comes to guitars. I want my guitar to sound sweet and gentle on ballads, gutsy and gutteral on the blues. I want it to ring like a bell for bluegrass and sing out elegantly for swing and jazz. Most of all, I want it to be responsive and loud, so I don't have to struggle to get sound out of it. Only a handful of guitars I've ever played fulfill this requirement completely. My Ken Miller guitar is one of them, and it has a unique voice which somehow manages to sound traditional and/or modern as the music requires. In addition, it is simply a joy to hear and FEEL it resonate. The neck profile and setup are so perfect that I never even think about whether it's comfortable or not. In the bargain, it's a thing of beauty to behold (thanks in part to Virginia's amazing and tasteful inlay work), and it grows prettier every year as the face darkens. It is one purchase I've never regretted, and one of just a couple guitars which are definitely here for the duration."

"Ken Miller has to be one of the pre-eminent custom, small-shop guitar builders of the new millennium. In my opinion, his work can be added to the pantheon of master luthiers widely known among flatpickers: Henderson, Walker, Hoover, Huss, Proulx. There are many good builders, but few can turn such humble materials into the magnificent tonal and aesthetic creations that are Ken’s instruments. Last summer I commissioned my second guitar with Ken and Virginia, based on two words I saw on their web site – “The Tree.”

Ken started building my guitar in 1965, although he did not know it at the time. In 1965 lumber mill scouts in Honduras' Chicibul jungle located a “magnificent mutant,” a mahogany giant, and cut it. Because of the way the cut tree fell and its overwhelming size, it was not until the early 70’s that a company with heavy equipment pulled the tree in sections from the rain forest and sawed it into boards. This was the beginning of the legend of “The Tree” which is described in an article by Mark Berry in the 1985 September/October issue of Fine Woodworking magazine. I had also read about “The Tree” in an article by Bob Taylor some years ago. George Lucas, creator Star Wars, apparently had his office in San Francisco paneled with it.

Ken indicated that he had managed to obtain 3 sets of “The Tree,” an auspicious and fortunate beginning to a great guitar. He called it “Brazilian favored mahogany.” We agreed that he would bring the wood to Kamp for a preview, including a “surprise” top set. So, I first saw my new guitar -- wooden pieces stacked next to the sink between the Kamp doctors’ rooms in Carnegie, the beginning of # 118: thin ribbons of dark Brazilian binding, a chocolate and caramel piece of Brazilian veneer, a long thin strip of black Ebony, two pieces of the dark, hard, glassy “Tree” with big quilt and three-dimensional figure even unfinished. The surprise top was an extremely rare piece of wide-grain Adirondack spruce with bearclaw. I don’t mean red spruce with occasional spots of bearclaw here and there, but top to bottom symmetrical bearclaw carved into the plank-board, wide grain.

Add to the fine collection of stacked wood pieces, stainless steel fret wire, mother of pearl pieces, oil varnish, and a set of hard-to-find “Tony” turners from Stew-Mac. We agreed that he would work to deliver the finished guitar by Christmas.

Two weeks before Christmas I received a note from Ken. “Poor news” the e-mail read. Ken had carved and mounted the neck, and he did not like something he saw in the neck wood. He decided to fashion a second one. This meant no Tree for Christmas. I was disappointed by the timing, but I was also pleased. I took this as another positive indication of Ken’s need to create the perfect neck for the already perfect body, without flaws or doubts.

Ground Hog Day about two months later, I received a note that it will be shipped within the next week. The silence is broken. The wait begins for what my friend Mike calls, “the brown truck of happiness.”

As it sits on my guitar stand now, I see stunning perfection, understated at a short distance, but full of marvelous details when held up close. I’d forgotten about the highly figured, Brazilian bridge mounted with hand carved walrus ivory pins with matching end and strap pins. There is no guitar like it, and probably nothing like it again.

How does it sound? Right out of the box, it was loud, focused, and commanding -- a guitar for playing lead. The trebles ring clear on all frets. The bass is dry mahogany, but a bit darker and richer than my other mahogany guitars. Ken’s guitars have a light build, the kind that delivers rib rattling bass from the back. The mid’s are really indescribable. They are not bluegrass mid’s but strong and cutting nonetheless. I attribute this special mid-range to the dovetail neck joint, a construction that delivers the open “G” note the entire length of the guitar. The setup of the Les Paul-shaped neck is perfect. A fine red line of wood separates the ebony fretboard and the Brazilian fretboard binding, pearl fretboard dots, and still more visual subtlety to distract me when I look down."

The back and sides are darker than most mahogany and with enough big, 3-D quilt to make a sailor seasick. Most of the expense of the guitar is in the back and sides. The varnish finish delivered all the excitement and beauty I expected.

Doubtless finer and more expensive guitars have been built, but today none finer in sight or sound than #118. Thank you Ken and Virginia."

Bob Kidd
February 9, 2008

"I have to say here that I played Old 97 before it went to it's home, and it was the best sounding dread that Ken and Virginia had built to date, with mine being a close second. If your guitar is of the same stock as that one, it should be a fine sounding guitar.

Mine is Brazilian, but of different stock than those two. In the past two months this guitar has started to really open up. It doesn't have the big boomy Martin sound that a lot of folks seem to be going for these days, while it does have great balance and plenty of bottom end. But it has the drier woody tone that simulates the vintage stuff closer to my ears. It mics well because of that character, imo. While I have always enjoyed playing this guitar, in the last couple of months it has just gotten so much stronger, and I have some pretty strong stuff around at times to compare it to, and it holds it's own very well."

Ken & Virginia,

I have a breathtakingly beautiful, magnificently brilliant, hand-crafted custom built Ukulele which has a label in it that says, "Kenneth Miller".

This Kenneth Miller must be some sort of mythical dragon because only a dragon could build such an exalted musical piece.
There really are no words that do this instrument any justice. One really has to see it, hold it, smell it, and strum it's strings to fully grasp the meaning of expert craftsmanship. Simply put this musical instrument is amazingly beautiful and sounds like a million dollars.

Thank you both for all of the time and effort you put into building what I'll call the Eudy Ukulele.

Thanks again for an awesome musical instrument.

Mary bought a Ken Miller quilted mahogany dreadnaught for me a couple of years ago. It is far superior to the Martin and Gibson guitars we have had and comparable to the very expensive pre-war Martins owned by a friend who is a collector. The sound is crisp and clear and the volume is exceptional even with light gauge strings. I can easily be heard even playing with several banjos and fiddles! The guitar is very easy to play and frets true up the neck. I couldn't be more pleased.

I have a Martin D-21 from the 60's. This was one of the last made from old growth coastal Brazilian Rosewood and is considered collectable and was valued at $3,000 ten years ago. Ken did extensive work on it for me which made it easier to play and much louder. However my Ken Miller guitar totally blows it away. I have played very expensive pre-war Martins which come close and a variety of other guitars, but have played nothing better IMHO.

It is a beautifully made and tastefully ornamented guitar with spalted magnolia around the sound hole and an Anhinga inlayed on the peg head. The quilted mahogany is very beautiful.

If I ever get another guitar it will be another Ken Miller, probably with a different wood for variety. On the other hand if I never get another guitar it won't matter because I am so pleased with the one I have.