Contacts and Links

  If you would like to get in touch with me, I want to make it easy. I’m a one-man band, and there are no filters or baffles that you have to go through. Here is my contact information:

Stephen J. Sheriff

Edwinson Lutherie

5306 Roosevelt Way N.E.

Seattle WA 98105

Phone:  (206) 271 8743

email:  edwinsonguitar@yahoo.com

   If you call and don’t get an answer, leave a voicemail with your name and number, and I’ll get back to you promptly. I’m probably out in the shop, making a lot of noise with a router or bandsaw, so I didn’t hear my phone going off.

   My work hours are usually from about noon to midnight, PST, every day. My shop is attached to my house, so my daily commute to work is about twenty footsteps. Email is always available too. Sometimes, important messages go straight into spam, if my computer doesn’t recognize the sender. I check the junk drawer often, so please give me a brief introduction in your message. I don’t want to mistake you for someone who is trying to launder $30,000,000 from Nigeria, if you know what I mean.

   You’ve probably noticed that I have salted and peppered this site with lots of links. On this page, I’m winnowing those down to the most relevant and important.

   Aaron is, hands down, my favorite, most admired guitar maker. He has a great gift for this work. Aaron’s design chops are peerless, and his craftsmanship is as high as you’ll ever see. He set the bar pretty high for me, as a craftsman and designer. If you see something special in my own guitars, a lot of that is because of Aaron’s exemplary presence and influence.

   We have promised each other that someday, we will trade each other a guitar, straight across. The object of my extreme desire is one of Aaron’s Eclipse style F guitars. I’ve got a terrible Jones to own and play one of those.

   If you’re looking to have a custom instrument built, you really owe it to yourself to check out Aaron’s superlative work, as long as you’re here in my shop. And his.

   A couple of years ago, my long-time employer went bankrupt, leaving me jobless and grasping for a lifeline. I had a number of guitars I’d built over the years, in my spare time, quietly resting in their cases at home, totally invisible to the outside world.

   One day, I took one of them down to Robb’s shop, unannounced, and introduced myself as a local luthier, interested in possible consignment of my guitars. He looked at me archly, and asked me to show him the guitar.   

   He examined it minutely, not saying a word. I stood there, nervous and mute, while he took the guitar through its paces. Finally, he set the guitar down, looked at me archly again, and said, “Who the hell are you, and where have you been hiding?”

   I spent the rest of that afternoon hanging out with Robb, talking guitars, and beginning what has become a close and prosperous friendship. At the end of it, Robb said he would take every guitar I had, on consignment. And one after another, they began to sell. And then, commissions for custom guitars started coming in.

    Robb Eagle taught me how to fly. He said, “You want to own your own business? Prepare yourself...”

   I first became aware of Ervin Somogyi in the early 80’s, when several Windham Hill recording artists began using his guitars. The music that came out of those instruments was revelatory to me.

   I first met Ervin at the Healdsburg 1999 Guitar Festival. He was very generous with his time and advice, finally saying to me, “Look, if you are meant to be a guitar maker, it will happen. And when it does, I want to see your work.”   

   Those were the magic words that set me on the path. I returned to Healdsburg in 2001, where I had the opportunity to show Ervin my very first guitar. He was unimpressed with the guitar’s, um, somewhat rustic appearance, but he was somewhat complimentary of the general craftsmanship, sound quality, and setup. He told me I had a lot of potential, and that I should work very hard realize it.

   Dr. Somogyi has just published two volumes of some of the most important literature in the annals of modern lutherie, entitled The Responsive Guitar, and Making the Responsive Guitar. I bought both volumes from Ervin at the Healdsburg 2009 Festival. The picture at left is the Grand Magister himself, signing the title pages.

   To my surprise and delight, I discovered a photograph I had taken of Martin Simpson, playing a Somogyi guitar, at Healdsburg 1999, in Martin’s Forward to the first volume.

   I intend to nominate Dr. Somogyi for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He truly is a living national treasure.

                                                                           of further interest...

   The ACOUSTIC GUITAR FORUM is an amazing resource for luthiers and guitar players, and enthusiasts of all stripes, for sharing all sorts of discussions, pictures, sound clips, and literally, anything of, about or relating to the Acoustic Guitar. AGF was founded almost a decade ago by Jared (JR) Rogers, who is a true visionary. I met JR at the 2009 Healdsburg Guitar Festival, and as a result of that, he is now the owner of my first prototype Falcon guitar. JR is very well known for his generosity and kindness, and for his great depth of knowledge and appreciation for the instrument we all love. I am proud to count JR among my very favorite friends and colleagues.

   The Acoustic Guitar Forum is a private forum, so if you want to participate in discussions and other fun, you need to register with a user name and password. Once you’re in, you’ve become a part of a huge community of like-minded people, with whom you can fully indulge your guitar passion. JR keeps everything to a very high standard. There’s no name-calling or shouting matches going on, just congenial, educated, humorous, enlightened people, sharing their opinions, wisdom, and experience.

   If you are not already a registered participant in the AGF, I strongly urge you to give this extraordinary website a close look. Warning, though--it can be quite addictive. You’ll need to square away some time for daily visits. Tell JR that Steve the edwinson sent ya. (My AGF handle is Cminor7sus4.)

   Addendum, December 3, 2009:   On the eve of the publication of my new website, I have just discovered that JR has bestowed upon me a great honor. He has just instituted a new feature at the AGF: The Founder’s Choice Guitar of the Year Award. JR created this award to give recognition to luthiers he considers notable for their high level of craft and artistry. To my complete surprise, amazement, and delight, JR has selected the very first Edwinson Falcon guitar to be the first recipient of this award. I am profoundly moved by this generous accolade. To check out the post, click here.

   I will add further links from time to time, for items of interest. You may have noticed that I’ve inserted various other links throughout the content of this site. To my way of thinking, open information sharing is good for everybody.

   Now, as I write this, the time has finally come to publish this website and hoist it up the flag pole. I invite your commentary and suggestions. This is the maiden voyage of the good ship Edwinson on the World Wide Web. Boy, I sure hope it doesn’t hit a reef and sink...

   Once again, I must put down a line of deep gratitude and praise to Apple Computer for making this possible. I love my new iMac computer, and all the brilliant software that comes with it. This website was created by me, at home, using Apple’s iLife ’09 creative suite, mainly with the iWeb and iPhoto applications. I am deeply grateful to Apple Computer.