❌SOLD❌ Ron Kirn Basic T Signature Swamp Ash Natural, 2008

The Ron Kirn Basic T is just what it sounds like – a basic T style guitar, very well built, well finished and with high quality components throughout.

Ron Kirn has been building, repairing and finishing guitars in Jacksonville, Florida since the 1970s. At the time, custom builds were the only way of getting high quality T and S style guitars, as the production quality of major manufacturers was at possibly its lowest point. This was the time when many ‘alternative’ builders began – Charvel, Jackson, B C Rich, and Lado for a few examples. As well, aftermarket component builders appeared, including Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio and Schecter and these markets have grown continually and dramatically.

While most of his production is based on custom orders, the current COVID situation has interrupted many supply chains and as a direct result, Ron Kirn has suspended taking new orders. So if you want one of these guitars, you need to look for used examples like this one!

Here we’re looking at a Ron Kirn Basic T built during 2008 at Kirn’s shop in Jacksonville, Florida. Like early T guitars, the Basic T pairs a lightweight Swamp Ash body with a one-piece, 50’s style fat C profile, 9.5 inch radius  Maple neck with Walnut inserts for the truss rod access plugs on the head and back of neck – and that’s it for woods used. All of these materials are native to the USA.

The finish is simply clear nitrocellulose lacquer and is in good condition, with a few marks from honest use.

For hardware, the tuners are possibly Gotoh versions of the Kluson split-post sets, a six-saddle bridge for accurate intonation, and custom wound Kirn single coil pickups. The controls are straightforward, with a 3-position switch and master volume and tone controls. There is a screw-in, cup-style output jack holder, and the strap pins are part of a Schaller strap-lock set. This Schaller design is one of the best, in that as long as the strap component stays on the strap (use a little thread locking fluid like LocTite when assembling it), it’s almost impossible for it to accidentally come apart during use. 

Fret wear is light, and this guitar plays quite well with lots of T-style ‘Spank’!

This Ron Kirn Basic T comes with its original brown, faux-gator texture G&G hard shell case.