NGD and more.... Ariel from Edwinson Guitar

[redcrow]

My much anticipated Edwinson Performance VC named Ariel built by Steve Sheriff arrived at my home on April 24, a day earlier than Fedex originally scheduled it. What a surprise!

[IMG]Ariel BoxedJ by Bert Seltzer, on Flickr[/IMG]

I had every intent of just leaving the guitar boxed up until the next day, but I just could not stand the suspense. The weather along its route from Alabama to here, Southern Oregon, was uniformly mild. So after a few hours of waffling, I gave in and gleefully peeled open the box. I was immediately impressed by Steve’s packing job. Study box lined with 1/4” plywood and padded with a couple plastic air bags seemly custom fit snugly around the case.

Once I carefully slipped the case out of the box and made sure it was in perfect condition. It was. I notified Steve of the delivery, and told him I was taking it slow and thought I’d uncase it in the morning. Steve insisted it would be fine to get Ariel out of the case and tuned. Well, who am I to contradict my luthier? So I pulled her from the case and was immediately stunned. We’ve all seen her pictures in our build thread. As gorgeous as those are, the physical presence of the guitar outshine the best of those images by several astronomical units. I don’t know how long I held her in my lap, feasting my eyes on her impeccable fit and finish. Her quilted maple sides and back just shimmered with an unmatched chatoyance complemented by the dark, dramatic grain of the Ziricote appointments. The silking of the German Sprice top promised a lively voice. Evidence of Steve’s mastery of the luthier’s craft was everywhere from the purfling of the fret board to the inlays on the back and end graft. So beautiful it made my eyes hurt.

In truth, a guitar’s appearance is only part of the story, and once recovered from my initial reverie, I gently brought Ariel into a standard tuning using an iterative process, tuning and retuning until the strings began to stabilize. During that tuning, I couldn’t help but marvel at the tone and responsiveness and clarity on every string.

By this time, it was getting late. So I decided to put Ariel to rest and me to bed.

The next morning, the guitar had lost maybe a half step or so, and I spent some time restoring her tune, and I began just noodling around, getting to know her. Steve and I decided to go with a 1 13/16” nut since the 1 3/4” on my Eastman felt a bit tight for my fat old fingers. The difference, as small as it was, made a welcome and immediately noticeable difference. Another characteristic that became apparent quickly is the tremendous dynamic range this instrument has. Just a baby’s breath of a stroke on any string, any fret is enough to produce a clear, articulate note. On the other hand, if I really leaned into a group of cowboy chords, the response was convincing and without any hint of buzz or Flamenco “looseness”. I did, however note a slight over-brightness, bordering on harshness at the high end of her voice. It’s certainly nothing that would have me on the phone, but given the guitar’s rich and sweet tonality throughout the mid and lows, it was noticeable. Nor was it a particular surprise. After all, it’s a brand new guitar, and I’ve had string changes that produced a more apparent brashness on a well seasoned guitar. And Ariel’s blend of woods is still finding its voice. Steve tells me it could take a long time for the nitrocellulose to finish curing and shrinking. So after a couple hours of purely casual play, I put Ariel away, utterly and completely thrilled with her performance. Well, I did spend some time just admiring her looks.

Friday and Ariel is now holding a standard tune nicely. And she’s beginning to sound amazing. I’ve never, ever heard a guitar sound so rich and full. Her higher range has settled down considerably, taking on an almost piano like tone. The sustain is incredible. The effect of her twin sound ports is like nothing I’ve ever heard from a guitar before. Almost like I’ve got a set of stereo head phones on.

As I play her more, I’m finding the set up to be ideal for me. The guitar is very easy to play. Very little finger pressure is needed to produce a clear, full throated note, and she’s forgiving of finger placement to a degree that’s new to me. The time Steve and I spent talking about my neck profile preferences definitely paid off because it is very comfortable to me.

It’s only been 4 days since Ariel arrived at my door, and she’s already sounding incredible and showing great promise. In my book, she will be legendary.

In closing, I’d like to offer my deepest gratitude to Steve Sheriff at Edwinson Guitar for his outstanding skills but also for his kind heart and deep wisdom and intelligence. Despite his manifest virtues, he is humble to a fault. His friendship has been an oasis of sanity for me. I enthusiastically recommend his service without reservation.

Front1-fnsd by Bert Seltzer, on Flickr

Front2-fnsd by Bert Seltzer, on Flickr

Back2-fnsd by Bert Seltzer, on Flickr

IMG_4472 by Stephen Sheriff, on Flickr

IMG_4504 by Stephen Sheriff, on Flickr

[mattwood]

Stunning guitar! Congratulations!!

[BlueBowman]

Congrats on such a beauty! And I'm sure it sounds as good as it looks. One of the few build threads that I've followed beginning to end. Enjoy it!

[TheGITM]

Wow! That is stunning! What a beautiful instrument!

[strangersfaces]

Gorgeous!

Love the details and 13 fret neck join.

Play in good health,

Lance

[jricc]

That is one stunning instrument! Congrats and may you have many great years with it!

[TomB'sox]

I knew it would look great, but it looks better than imagined. Congrats and I am happy for you. Anyone else who would like to experience Steve's work and meet him in person should consider coming to B.I.G. this Sept. He will be there with more examples of his guitars. He always brings some pretty special stuff.

Congrats again Mr. Crow and enjoy this beautiful guitar for years to come!

[redcrow]

Thank you all for your kind words. Ariel is indeed something very special to me. The beauty of this experience is it will continue to evolve for years to come. I look forward to every day.

[roscoe2311]

Followed your build thread in the custom shop section. Congratulations on the beautiful instrument! Thank you for sharing as well!

[TheGITM]

So, I can't help it... the name brought this to mind... from many, many years ago... I think that this is a great tune!

[seannx]

What an incredibly beautiful guitar!!!

[Nickster]

Edwidson makes some of the most beautiful guitars. I came so close to pulling the trigger on one years ago. One of my bigger regrets.

[TBman]

Congrats! Great looking guitar!

[BigTim]

Very neat and pretty. Enjoy it!!!!

[redcrow]

Originally Posted by TheGITM

So, I can't help it... the name brought this to mind... from many, many years ago... I think that this is a great tune!

Actually, the guitar's name is a direct product of the love of literature that Steve and I discovered we shared. It's the name of the wood sprite spirit in Shakespeare's "The Tempest. We both share some fond history with the play, so when it popped up in our conversation about names, it was a natural.