The former Hamer,
Washburn, and
Dean builder takes
boutique shred-
machine luthiery
to the extreme
with an approach
that prioritizes
local sourcing and
one-on-one client
engagement.
BY LINDSAY TUCKER
On an atypically warm, late-December Friday afternoon, Mike Sherman is scrambling to get the last of his holiday orders
out the door. The lone builder of custom extended-range guitars
has been working 12-hour days for the past five years to produce
the 60 or so one-off instruments he sells annually. In the coming
year, however, he says he’ll be scaling back his annual ambitions by
20 pieces in hopes of working shorter days: “The hours are just too
long,” he says with a sigh.
Although he was recently featured in Robert Shaw’s book
Electrified: The Art of the Contemporary Electric Guitar, Sherman
doesn’t consider himself a master builder. “When I was contacted
about doing it, I thought it was a joke,” he says. Still, he’s been
building since he was 14—when he suddenly found himself father-
less and with a garage full of carpentry equipment. “I always want-
ed to be a musician, and my father was a carpenter and a mason,”
he explains. When his father passed away, Sherman recalls, “my
mom was thinking about selling his equipment, but I said, ‘Y’know
what? Let me start dabbling.’” Tinkering away in the garage, armed
with dad’s tools, a few guitar-building books, and plenty of ambi-
tion, the teenager built what he now describes as a 7-string, Strat-
ish-looking thing that he was surprised even played. “I’ve been
hooked ever since.”
Before going full-time with his own company, Sherman had a
long career working for builders like Dean, Hamer, and Washburn.
