The EDWINSON "De Profundis" : EPC-F1 Ancient Glacier Sitka/Bois de Rose

[Nemoman]

Safe travels and congrats and kudos to you and Steve on this magnificent guitar!

[GaultierRedon14]

Well, this update is long overdue! I am travelling all summer and only have a phone for internet access. I hate typing on these phone keypads, especially with hard callouses on my left fingers and long nails on my right fingers!
So this will be brief for now.
De Profundis has met and edceeded my expectations for sure. Stunningly beautiful from every angle. Elegant and understated in its own way. For me it is the most beautiful guitar I've ever seen.
Ok that's all well and good, but what about the tone??
Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for! Absolutely epic sustain, perfect for dadgad and open tuning pieces.
Great intonation.
The neck carve is very comfortable and the natural finish on the rosewood neck feels great.
Since this guitar has has so much rosewood - back, sides, bridge, fretboard and neck, it seems to have a rosewood on steroids quality to it. Again, this suits my final goals perfectly. It is super lush and sweet, even with a Sitka top.
I really can't say what unique attributes the ancient Sitka top has, it seems to have a warm strong fundamental, but it is immediately enveloped by the reverby , overtoney contibutions of all the Bois de Rose components and the Indian rosewoodneck.
I really like the removable armrest. It's a great idea whose time has come. Very easy to use and comfortable.
That's all for now...

[Jamiejoon]

Bravo Mr. Sheriff, that is magnificent. A masterpiece.

[skinnerb]

Stephen-- Well done Sir, Bravo-- It's a pleasure to witness your wonderful work.

[christoph.penny]

Originally Posted by GaultierRedon14

Hey Tom,

If it's worth $25,000, maybe I should request to move this thread to the Classifieds section

Here's another gorgeous shot:

Orgasmic!!! Want/ NEED this beauty

Sent from my XT1021 using Tapatalk

[TomB'sox]

Shout out to Steve at The Edwinson guitar for a fantastic job. I have been waiting for the review and thoughts from the new owner. Wonderful job on what I am sure was a very difficult build with all the fancy woods you were using, not like you had a back up for anything!!!!

[invguy921]

Steve, WOW , you knocked this one out of the park! Nice work. Very pretty guitar indeed!

Thanks for sharing it!

[DamianL]

Yikes...amazing!

Reminds me of the joke -


'But if less is more just imagine how much more more will be!'

D

[theEdwinson]

Glad to hear from you Daniel! I'm guessing you and your wife and baby boy (and new guitar) have made it safely over to the Philippines now, to visit your inlaws. Your summer travels are epic! And I do believe that in this case, "epic" is the right word. I'm relieved to hear that you are in high spirits.

I just got back from a visit to my beloved Aunt Amy out in Rohnert Park, CA- went there with my elderly Mom for a week, so she could visit her sister. While there, I found that Amy is also computer-phobic, and, like your parents in Indiana, has no WIFI- so I got a bracing dose of NO ONLINE ACTIVITY for awhile. It's actually a little disturbing to find how dependent I've gotten on the cyber-universe.

I do admit, the De Profundis guitar was a challenging build for me, a little outside my comfort zone in some ways. I have never made a guitar that looks like this one. The De Profundis stands out as probably the most unique looking guitar I've made yet.
I was pretty nervous about how that ancient Sitka would perform. But once my trepidation about handling it abated a bit, I found that it actually has all the right properties for this type of guitar. And it didn't dissolve into green dust when I put the strings on! Whew!
Daniel, I like your description of the tonal nature- "rosewood on steroids". That's exactly it.

I do hope that as you continue to play the guitar, it will continue to grow more complex and colorful, and you get endless pleasure and inspiration from playing it.

The only missing ingredient in a new instrument always seems to be the heart and soul of the new owner infusing the woods. When you put your own mojo into it over time, THAT is when the personality really begins to emerge.
Daniel, I hope you and your young family have a wonderful time on your EPIC travels, and all goes well, and good fortune goes with you all the way.
Deepest gratitude to you!

[GaultierRedon14]

Thanks, Steve. This whole process has been a pleasure. Not every luthier would be willing to put themselves through all of this--but you've remained open minded and determined to see it through, it's a total success!
I also want to mention that while I was in Indiana I went to Sweetwater and bought a pair of beyerdynamic MC930 mics, a pair of Audio-Technica M50X headphones, and a Presonus 22VSL audio interface.
These are supposed to be very good mics for recording acoustic guitar.
I hope to have some recordings to share before the end of the year. Nothing original, just some pieces I'm learning. I'm far from an advanced player! But at least I will be able to get some accurate recordings of this guitar so others can get an idea of how it sounds. And have a little fun in the process!
I'll do the same for my Doerr Trinity and my upcoming Hippner classical guitar. I'm really excited about playing with these great mics and learning how to record. It's a new chapter for me.

[Codfather]

Hi

It looks as though both sides were bent at the same time is that the case ?Or was each bent separetly in the fox style bender?
It's hard to tell from the pictures


Cheers JJ

Originally Posted by GaultierRedon14

Laying out the sides


Ready to bend



First sides done



Fresh out of the bender


Bois and Coco

[theEdwinson]

Thanks for asking! This guitar, as with all my guitars now, was built with double sides. Or, laminated sides, if you prefer. This greatly improves the long-term stability of the guitar, and provides very stiff, stable rims for the top and back. The sides don't have any active affect on tone; they're reflective. But stiffer rims will allow the soundboard and back to be more active, and less of the energy from vibrating strings will be dissipated.

Double sides are a fair bit more work to make, but in my opinion, this building method is more than worth it.

The De Profundis has Cocobolo inner sides, so the interior of the guitar looks harmonious with the Bois de Rose.

I do bend the inner and outer sides together at the same time, so they conform exactly together. My bender is NOT a Fox style bender. I use a silicone heating blanket as the heat source. The Fox bender uses three 200 watt lightbulbs.

I remember at one of the guitar shows, Charles Fox gave a lecture on smart jigs and fixtures for guitar making. Someone asked him why he didn't patent his Fox Side Bender, which at the time was used by the vast majority of luthiers. Mr. Fox replied, "Why would I want to patent a device that will burn your house and workshop to the ground if you get distracted and forget to turn it off?"

Good point!
I made my first thirty or so guitars with a Fox Side Bender, and the insides of that machine were burnt to charcoal. It even caught on fire once!
Using the silicone blanket with a temp control and timer is vastly safer. But still- You must NEVER walk away and take a phone call while you are bending sides. Do NOT allow yourself to become distracted during this procedure!