About TK Instruments
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Todd Keehn,
Owner/Head Luthier of TK Instruments started modifying instruments at the early age of 13.
He has been a luthier spanning over three decades.

Todd has also been a serious musician for almost 4 decades:
in 1989/90 he won two state guitar competitions, as well as receiving honors in the Guitar Player International Sound-Page Competition,  playing a guitar he designed to be tuned in all fifths.

He's one of the early guitarists to push the boundaries of  "Extended Range Guitars":
designing guitars for all fifths tuning and even building 9 string multi-scale guitars as early as 1992.
 Todd has earned a reputation among musicians and luthiers alike as being one of the  early pioneers of "Extended Range Guitar".
in 1989 & 1990 Todd won two state guitar competitions, as well as receiving honors in Guitar Player Magazine's International Sound Page Competition


Here is the (rather strange) write up on Todd from the above Guitar Player issue.
We were living in Washington State at the time.

Here is the award Guitar Player magazine gave Todd for the 1990 Sound Page Competition

Here is another award Todd received for the 1989 Colorado Guitar Wars Competition

Click on "Sunrise In Africa" (below) to hear the guitar sample.
MP3 file size: 1.3 meg.
Everything you hear on this improvised 2 track jam, was done on Fifths tuned guitar.
No bass guitar was used... Just pure Fifths Guitar all the way!
Todd Keehn Playing the Vicellotar 'V'

Todd Keehn Playing the Ztar

Todd has also been written up in newspaper and magazine articles for both his instrument building, and musicianship.
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"My mission with TK Instruments has always been to create the "perfect instrument" for the highly skilled progressive musician.
Over the past three plus decades, I have continuously scanned my own needs as well as the many needs of other musicians,  in order to create instruments that in no way hinder, but actually enhance  performance, technique and musicality.

Each of my handcrafted instruments is the result of these three plus decades of consistent prototyping to perfection.

None of my instruments are ever mass produced, or built with CNC machines.
By crafting my instruments in a completely hands-on manner, I can make sure that each instrument will become capable of the full expression of my art and passion.

The final result is a rather technical, yet very human feeling instrument, that brings a sense of depth, warmth and musicality to the owners of these rare specimens"
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For a more in depth view into TK's design process please be sure to see: TK Anatomy
A little more on the history of Todd Keehn:

Way back in the beginning, I originally got into instrument building due in part to poverty and the desperate need to play music.

I grew up rather poor in a very small "hick" town in Colorado.
Let me tell you that being a skinny 120 pound long haired guitarist in a small "hick" town isn't much fun...
We lived in a single wide trailer, where my mom was most often either  a waitress and/or professional house cleaner.
Anyway,  the main theme here is:
 when you are broke and a total outcast,  you can get pretty good at playing an instrument, -IF- you can afford one...
And that's how I got started in building them.
At first, I just got by with VERY cheap guitars.
Anyone remember the brand known as "Hondo"?
I actually got a plywood Hondo II Les Paul copy for Christmas one year.
At the time, it seemed like it  was one of the best days of my life, but after some time had passed and the Hondo II had long since run it's course, I decided I REALLY needed an upgrade instrument.
Now I had already done many repairs / modifications on the guitar, such as: basic electronics repairs,  fret work etc. etc.
But "plywood" was just something I couldn't modify...
So really, my first real building experience was to build a real wood body.
So, I used some mahogany book shelves I had in my bedroom (with out my mom knowing!) and I glued the shelves together to form a body blank.
I then cut the pick guard out of an old white Plexiglas cutting board using a saber saw...
The only tools I had were a Saber saw, a router, a drill and a few basic hand tools.
Anyway the final body shape was very similar to those cool old Ibanez Destroyer II's that Iron Maiden and Def Leopard played.
So there's where it all really started!
From that day on I began modifying all of my guitars to fit my needs.
But eventually it got to the point where modifying guitars just didn't cut it anymore.
So then I decided to officially build my first complete guitar (neck and all!).
Well after building about 5 instruments or so, I really felt like I  knew what I was doing.
Then the day came where I sold one of my instruments to a local high end music store for $1200!!
Man, I felt like king of the world!
It was then, that  I decided to do this for a living....
Many years have passed since the "Bookshelf/Hondo II" , and so far, I am still inspired to continue  expanding on my abilities as a Luthier and musician.