Luthier Stephen Sheriff : Edwinson Guitar

About Stephen Sheriff and Edwinson Guitar from http://edwinsonguitar.com/

The 'Edwinson Guitar' brand name is an homage to Stephen's Dad, Mr. Edwin Sheriff, who is a master of fine woodworking in the Asian, primarily Japanese and Chinese aspect. He is now retired, after a lifetime of doing the best he knew how.

The woodworker’s gene, a profound affinity for Asian design, and a considerable measure of both challenge and inspiration was Stephen's fathers legacy Stephen is carrying forward now through luthiery. He feel a personal imperative to attempt to achieve a level of impeccability in Guitars he makes that Mr. Edwin has personified to him since Stephen first met him, fifty one years ago!

Stephen is convinced that music is the fifth Element. He explains, You’ve got Fire and Water and Air and Earth, all doing their elemental best to compose the world. Those four elements are supposed to make up everything. And yet, they largely remain separate, in dynamic opposition to one another. So I’m asking, why wouldn’t there be a fifth element that brings them all into union and symphony? Wouldn’t something like Music have to step in to make beauty and order out of all that elemental Chaos? When you get right down to it, Music encircles all four of the other elements. It’s Music that’s forming and shaping this crucible. Music is a truly universal language, spoken and understood by all of the world’s peoples. Music is the respiration of the human race, and it is the song of Nature, striving after its own nature. We are musical in our own nature. Music is in the air we all breathe. It’s hunted and gathered wisdom, histories of experience, secrets hidden in acorns that fall to the earth and take root. I’ve found that my part in this is to be a guitar maker. It is a unique privilege, one may even say a spiritual calling. Lutherie is a form of alchemy, practiced in wood. A fine guitar is the bridge that spans the time and space between inspiration and expression. A fine guitar gives voice to the Muse. The whole of the human condition can be found there, under those vibrating strings, in the hands of anyone who cares to take Humanity’s universal language to a higher octave.

With this background he elaborates himself as, "I am a tool maker, and more than that, I’m a tool myself, as much as are my saws, chisels, and pots of glue. I am an instrument, used for making instruments. But that’s only the beginning of it. A fine guitar isn’t truly made until it’s played. And then, it’s the Music, playing the Musician. The whole thing is so elegantly circular. Guitar makers, instruments, musicians, and music are all links in an alchemical chain."

Stephen acknowledges, "I owe a great debt of gratitude to so many people who have been my teachers, mentors, inspirational beacons, and friends. I’m providing links to several notable personages throughout the text of the following pages. These include a number of other luthiers and musicians whom I admire and aspire to emulate."

Stephen is recipient of the very first Acoustic Guitar Forum Founder's Choice Award 2009.

Stephen offers following models...
EP Performance | EC Consort | EF 75 Falcon | ES 75 Siren

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