2001 Eric Sahlin SP/CSAR

Built by Eric Sahlin in 2001, this classical guitar pairs a European spruce soundboard with aged CSA rosewood back and sides.

It can be heard in two videos above: Nejc Kuhar plays "Corfu", and Olivia Chiang plays Daniel Bacheler's "Monsieur's Almaine".

Eric Sahlin 2001: Woods and Tone

Here Eric paired a European spruce top with aged and gorgeous CSA rosewood back and sides. Its sound is punchy and bright, with excellent depth and a balance that holds across all registers. The tone is full-bodied and extremely clear.

Workmanship and Trim

Every detail shows phenomenal workmanship; to truly appreciate the perfection of it, one almost needs a microscope. The aesthetic is unique and beautiful, thanks to an elegant and minimalistic use of mother-of-pearl in the headstock, rosette and tie-block. It has Rodgers tuners. Although used, it is in excellent condition, with only some aesthetic wear in the finish on the soundboard.

Read more: Orfeo Magazine No. 10 – West Coast Luthiers

Eric Sahlin: American Classical Guitar Maker

Eric Sahlin is one of the great American luthiers who has achieved world-class status, with a waiting list of over a decade and significant demand in the US, Europe and Japan. Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, he is self-taught and builds in Valleyford, just outside the city.

From UC Santa Barbara to a Full-Time Workshop

His first exposure to the classical guitar came in his teens, when his brother took up the instrument – and with it came the great guitar recordings on his brother's Musical Heritage Society LPs. At UC Santa Barbara, with its strong classical guitar program, Eric decided in 1975, his first year, to build a guitar of his own: a love of woodworking since early childhood and an interest in acoustical physics made it seem like a wonderful adventure. He studied the books, bought his first woods that spring and finished the guitar that summer. By the time a second one was done, his career was decided.

He set up shop building custom furniture while honing his guitar making on the side, and by 1978/79 he was building guitars full-time – helped by a chance connection with George Dauphinais of the Dauphin Company, a mail-order business that marketed Eric's 7-, 8- and 10-string guitars as a less expensive alternative to the multi-string instruments then on offer.

Lutes, Then Classical Guitars Only

In the early 1980s a lutenist friend asked Eric for a lute. He enjoyed the project so much that he studied these instruments in depth and built various lute models alongside his guitars. By the end of the decade, with the guitar market strengthening and his reputation established, he turned exclusively to his first love, the classical guitar.

Players and Design

Sahlin guitars have been played by Scott Tennant, Andrew York, Ottmar Liebert (flamenco), Carsten Pedersen and other top players worldwide. They are known for precise, restrained mother-of-pearl trim and for Eric's innovative "twisted" fingerboard, which he talked about when Orfeo Magazine visited his Spokane-area workshop for its West Coast issue (No. 10, 2017).