NGD - Edwinson Zephyr 13 Fret 00 Adi/Coco

[SprintBob]

Very happy to share a great NGD weekend with my new Edwinson Zephyr 00 13 fret built with a beautiful Adirondack top and Cocobolo top and sides by luthier Steve Sheriff who shares shop space with Joel Teel of Two Hands Guitar Company in beautiful Fairhope, AL on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. This guitar will replace my Santa Cruz Skye 00 in my collection. I love the combination of Adirondack and Cocobolo and I wanted to get an 00 with a cutaway as many arrangements I have been playing especially with the capo require access beyond the 12th fret.

After I learned about this guitar and being that I live in Covington, LA, I travelled to Steve and Joel's shop and brought my Skye 00 to A/B against the Edwinson. Steve has built nearly 140 guitars and his reputation is growing with most recently glowing reviews of both his and Joel's work at the BIG guitar gathering in Texas in April 2019. My mission was to see if the Zephyr was the equal of the SC Skye 00 in terms of build quality and details, fit, and of course what my ears heard. All criteria were well met. The build details on this guitar are extremely impressive and there's a lot of attention, passion, and love of their craft that Steve and Joel are applying to each guitar they produce. Both guitars were similar in the volume, sustain, and overtone production. The Zephyr seemed a touch fuller and “wetter” while the Skye was more direct, a bit more fundamental. It makes me wonder if the dual sound ports in the top of the body are contributing to that impression. I wish I could keep both of them!

Steve has a great thread about this guitar in the AGF Marketplace sub-forum that offers a lot of details on the build specifications so I won't repeat it all here. I will share that I gravitated towards 12 fret, short scale guitars 5-6 years ago and I was concerned ergonomically I might feel too stretched with the 13 fret, standard scale length of the Zephyr but I was pleased to find that was not the case. Here's a link to Steve's thread:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=577504

And here's pics of the Zephyr at home in Covington this morning:

[TomB'sox]

Congratulations Bob. I am very pleased this guitar has found you. A nicer guy you can not meet than Steve Sherriff. That was a great opportunity you had to try the two guitars out side by side like that. This one is a work of art for sure and the fact that it plays and sounds so good is a bonus!!!! I hope you had a great day picking it out, but how could you not?

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Congratulations Bob. I am very pleased this guitar has found you. A nicer guy you can not meet than Steve Sherriff. That was a great opportunity you had to try the two guitars out side by side like that. This one is a work of art for sure and the fact that it plays and sounds so good is a bonus!!!! I hope you had a great day picking it out, but how could you not?

Thanks Tom. It was great to meet both Steve and Joel. They have a great collaboration going in their shop environment. I’d like to work with them again in the future.

[mikealpine]

As an Edwinson owner, I know what you mean about how beautiful they are and how nice they sound. Both Joel and Steve are wonderful people. Glad you found this guitar and I hope it always makes you happy!

[billyg]

That is a beautiful instrument - standard for Edwinson. Congratulations.

[cigarfan]

Truly a beautiful instrument. Congrats!

[theEdwinson]

It was a real treat for me too, having Bob come over to the shop for some quality hang time with Joel and me. So many of my clients are hundreds, or thousands of miles away, the closest contact I have with them is via phone or email. Bob's first visit, with brother Scott, was about three hours long, as Bob and Scott did the A/B guitar comparisons, with plenty of free-ranging conversation flowing, and we all had a great time.

It was quite illuminating also to hear Bob's SCGC guitar and the Zephyr, in the same listening environment. The Santa Cruz is a really nice guitar-- loud and punchy, great sustain, and a vintage Double-0 vibe. The Santa Cruz has the perfect voice for blues and energetic jazz.

The Zephyr sounded very balanced, responsive to a light touch, lots of overtones and sustain...and, let's see if I can find the word...

mel·lif·lu·ous
/məˈliflo͞oəs/

adjective
adjective: mellifluous

(of a voice or words) sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.
"the voice was mellifluous and smooth"

It really suited Bob's playing style, which is graceful, sensitive, and with conversational, or song-like dynamics. Actually Bob can approach the guitar from a lot of stylistic angles, and I think the Zephyr will serve him quite well.

So, I placed a nice guitar in a good home, and made a new friend-- in person, this time. What could be better than that!

[theEdwinson]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

Thanks Tom. It was great to meet both Steve and Joel. They have a great collaboration going in their shop environment. I’d like to work with them again in the future.

Bob, I strongly recommend that your next guitar ought to be one of Joel's. They are extraordinary! You saw the fit and finish of the ones he's currently making. They sound even better than they look. Every one of Joel's guitars is world-class.

It's interesting that, even though Joel builds his guitars according to my methods and engineering concepts, his guitars don't really sound just like mine. They are closer in tone to Jason Kostal's work.

We'll let you know when the two he's working on now are strung and ready. If you get the chance to come back this way, you'll be astounded by how good they are! No hype, just straight-up truth!

[Diamondave]

Whoa....! Such nice details, very cool, congrats!

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

Bob, I strongly recommend that your next guitar ought to be one of Joel's. They are extraordinary! You saw the fit and finish of the ones he's currently making. They sound even better than they look. Every one of Joel's guitars is world-class.

It's interesting that, even though Joel builds his guitars according to my methods and engineering concepts, his guitars don't really sound just like mine. They are closer in tone to Jason Kostal's work.

We'll let you know when the two he's working on now are strung and ready. If you get the chance to come back this way, you'll be astounded by how good they are! No hype, just straight-up truth!

We have to be careful or my wife will ban me from visiting you two .

[Nemoman]

Congrats on acquiring one of Steve's creations!

Sounds like a wonderful experience at the shop, and as many have mentioned, Steve and Joel are both wonderful humans.

Enjoy!

[BlackKeys36]

Congratulations! That's stunning!

[Guitars44me]

How fun to get to visit Steve and Joel and audition your new guitar next to the SCGC!

They are both super nice and super talented, as well. I throughly enjoyed getting to meet them at B.I.G. And playing their instruments was eye opening as well as ear pleasing.

Have FUN with this and make Lots of Beautiful Music

Salud

Paul

[BrunoBlack]

That’s a very special guitar Bob. Looks like a museum piece. Enjoy.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Haasome

That’s a very special guitar Bob. Looks like a museum piece. Enjoy.

I promise I am not thinking of it as a museum piece in terms of playing it as much as I can !