My name is Stephen Ziegenfuss. I derive a special peace in crafting each aspect of a custom guitar. I have a mind the never seems to rest, and I have learned that crafting instruments is a means to slow life down and provide margin. The simplicity of scraping and sanding and bending is a gentle reminder that the small things in life can generate the greatest fulfillment when pursued with intentionality. I am a full-time project engineer, working in a rigorous, fast-paced prototyping environment. I have a beautiful family with 4 crazy, beautiful children. And, I have a little shop in the basement of my home filled with the various tools needed to convert timber to a finished instrument.
I have always had a seemingly endless desire to create, which is reflected in both my job as an engineer, and my pursuits as a guitar maker. Having grown up with several artistic influences, I passionately pursued hobbies such as photography and bass guitar. When laboring through an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, I began to learn that engineering integrated beautifully with music and art in the form of crafting instruments. So I began building. First is was a hobby, then a consuming passion - driven by the desire to build an instrument that met my ever advancing expectation. I have not yet met this goal. Nor have I been able to explore all of the new materials and manufacturing methods that I want so greatly to bring from the world of cutting-edge engineering and manufacturing into my the world of my guitars. I will continue to drive toward this goal, placing care and attention on each instrument as it demands.
