It's been quite a busy year so far. Several boundary-pushing experiments on my workbench have been keeping me occupied six or seven days a week for the last five and a half months. In anticipation of attending Tom's B.I.G Show in New Braunfels, TX this September, I decided to get an early start so I could stretch out and explore some new design ideas in my guitars, without having to sweat a crushing deadline. I was able to square away enough time for self-generated projects to build five guitars on my dime (actually several truckloads of dimes). That's what I truly love to do- build the guitars I want to build, without restriction. What I've come up with so far is a passel of guitars that are each quite unique individually, but also having the Edwinson DNA fully evident. They're siblings, but each one goes its own way.
Like my workshop partner and best buddy,
Joel Teel, I have a tendency to be a hermit, and stay pretty much out of the ebb and flow of human society. Lots of luthiers are like that, I guess; it's a character trait you almost need to have do this kind of intensively focused work. You know, with two years of Covid lockdown, my life hardly changed at all! I just walked across the back yard every day to the shop, and made guitars.
I've been meaning to post this Edwinson 2022 thread for several months now, but I kept putting it off, because I wanted to have plenty of content ready to post. That content being, of course, GUITARS. One of the five I built did not make the cut for the show; I'm going to go back in and re-do the rosette sometime later. Maybe I'll post some pics of it and ask you guys for some advice on it.
I have finally gotten all four of my show guitars fully built; the final two are going into the paint room this weekend. In addition to my spec builds, I have a very pretty Falcon guitar to show you also, that is a commissioned build for one of my good friends who already owns an Edwinson. He wishes to remain anonymous, but the Falcon wants to be seen!
So, here we go with Edwinson 2022, better late than never...
The first guitar I'd like to show you is an Eclipse OMC, with Pernambuco back and sides, and an Adirondack Spruce top. All the trim work, plus the fingerboard, bridge, headstock plates, and rosette are highly figured Ziricote, one of my favorite woods. Here are some photos of the Eclipse, "in the white", before the lacquer work. They're kind of boring, compared to what happens when the lacquer goes on. Although, I have to say, this Pernambuco was a once-in-a-lifetime find- quartersawn, with lots of bee's-wing flash, and incredibly vibrant color. I save my best woods for the B.I.G. Show guitars!
My OMC guitar's shape was inspired by the thoroughly modern interpretations of the OM size class by the brilliant young luthiers, Joel Michaud and Simon Fay. I was just knocked out by the guitars those guys make when I saw them at several guitar shows. And the sound they make is out of this world!
This Eclipse features double inlaid side sound ports, hybrid-style arm and rib bevels, an Omega open headstock, and a 25.5" scale length. As with most of my guitars, it will be optimized for fingerstyle, but considering the awesome tone potential of Pernambuco and Adirondack spruce, I think it will have the headroom to support aggressive pick-style playing too.
The next guitar is coming up shortly. Thanks for looking!