Hey, Joel, are you gonna show us what you're bringing to the show? I'm pretty sure there will be at least a dozen people who will be there just to see you, and your incomparable instruments. I know you're going to have great success there- again. And you totally deserve it, brother!

Time to dig this thread out of the attic! The Zephyr Noir has been strung up for about two weeks now, and right from the start, I'm just over the moon about it. Since I built this guitar to the exact specs that I prefer, it just looks, feels, and sounds right to me. If you come to the Healdsburg show next month, stop by the Edwinson table and check this one out.

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/IMG_0020.jpg

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/IMG_0041.jpg

The three copper-encircled shell dots on the back have a little story. When you hold the guitar in playing position, this area of the back is closest to your heart. I put these three dots there as a symbol of the emotional connection between the player and the instrument.

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/IMG_0031.jpg

This Zephyr is a smaller, 00-size guitar, 14 3/8" wide in the lower bout, and I built it for maximum responsiveness and tone color, optimized for fingerstyle. The Malay Blackwood with the Sinker Redwood top proved to be an excellent combination for tone and response. This guitar has a wide dynamic range, a surprising amount of bass, clean, balanced mids, and crystalline trebles. I just love playing this one. Even with my rusty chops, it's a total joyride.

The headstock is a Pogoda style slotted design, outfitted with Schertler open-gear tuners. Swiss precision, and smart, modern styling. These are my new favorite slot-head tuners.

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_0047-1.jpg

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/IMG_0052.jpg

The neck is made from some beautifully figured Honduran Mahogany that came out of an estate sale last year in Seattle.
The bridge is a newer design called the "Element" that I'm using on about half of the guitars I build now. For a long time, the ninja-weapon style "Talon" bridge was my trademark, but at the urging of several of my clients, especially Ernie (Sage97 here on the Forum), I came up with this design, which is a little more conventional, but still modern looking. Functionally, it works the same as the Talon.

http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/a...3/IMG_0043.jpg

Looking forward to the Healdsburg, and reconnecting with my favorite colleagues and friends there. Stop by and say hi!

Excellent excellence.

Really looks like rich chocolatey fantastic instrument! Gonna go get a hot fudge sundae now...

Ok, if luthiers weren't so eternally broke, I'd buy that.
What a beauty.

Steve

Hi, Steve! What a beautiful guitar. I really like the rosette and the inlay on the bottom of the guitar. It almost has a stained glass look but with wood. Very nice! I love the new bridge design too. Very nice work on that. It's leaning more to the traditional while still maintaining lines from the Talon bridge. :up:

JR

Beautiful guitar! I'm looking forward to seeing it and hearing it at Healdsburg!

Thank you, Steve...Isn't that why we became luthiers in the first place? To feed that incessant hunger for fine guitars...?
I'm a big fan of your work too, brother. Maybe if we strike out with the buyers, we can work a trade!

In fact, I want one guitar from every luthier on this forum.

Hey, J.R.! Thanks for your kind comments. It seems that in the last year or so, it was time to take this thing to the next level. Every new guitar I make is showing up as a "Second Gen" iteration. This work never gets old. Always something new to discover.
Really looking forward to seeing you guys in a couple weeks. It's the absolute high point of the Festival!

-Steve

Thank you Larry! I haven't heard if you will be at the Healdsburg this time. I sure hope to see you there. It's been too long!

Wow! Your Zephyr builds are beautiful!

Wow. Will make sure I stop by and check it out. I too usually want to come home from the show with one guitar per builder. I need a bigger guitar rack :-)

Hey! I thought I heard someone say my name. :) I continue to enjoy my Bubinga/Redwood Element. Thanks Steve.

This Zephyr looks fantastic!

I'll be in the Napa area during Healdsburg. My schedule is so tight I doubt I will be able to swing by but......I will definitely give it my best ninja efforts. :) I want to come by and say hi to you and all my other luthier and AGF friends.

Hey, Ernie, it would be great to finally meet you in person. If you're gonna be close by anyway, how could you NOT come to the show? There will be hundreds of gorgeous, beautiful guitars there, and a whole lot of fairly plain-looking luthiers.

Please do stop by if you can. And, while we're on this page, Ernie, I want to thank you for influencing me to expand my design sensibilities when I built your EPC "Element" guitar. The asymmetric rosettes, and the new bridge style are directly a result of your input. I call the new bridge the "Element" style, thanks to you.

Hope to see you at the show!

Steve