Dan Erlewine

Dan Erlewine (born c. 1945) is an American luthier and the author of five books about guitar repair. He has made instructional videos about the luthier trade since 1983. He works for a luthier supply company, Stewart-Macdonald (StewMac).

Early life

He was born 1945 and he grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His mother was an artist, and his father's hobby was working with wood. In the 1960s he played lead guitar in a band called The Prime Movers. His brother Michael was also in the band. The band was prominent in Ann Arbor, Michigan but did not go on to headline in other areas of the country.

Career Albert King in 1978 with the second Lucy, made by Dan Erlewine. Note the inlay on the head ("Lucy") and his name on the neck (Albert King).

In 1969 Dan Erlewine and his brother opened their own music store in Ann Arbor which he named Erlewine Instruments.

In 1983, Dan began filming himself working on guitar; creating instructional videos about the luthier trade. The guitar he built for Albert King was named Lucy and it is in the style of a Gibson Flying V. Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa played Albert King's guitar Lucy and liked it so much that he had Dan Erlewine build him a copy. Bonamassa's name is inlaid on the fingerboard.

He built for American guitarist Jerry Garcia of the rock band the Grateful Dead. The guitar was named the "Stratishcaster". The guitar is a Fender Stratocaster which has been customized with a Gibson style stop tailpiece, and a rosewood pickguard. The guitar also has numbers which are inlaid as fret markers in the fingerboard. Vintage Guitar Magazine has said Dan Erlewine is a "world-class repair expert" and "Among the famous names in American guitar lore". Acoustic Guitar Magazine has said he "might be the most famous guitar repairperson on earth".

In 2021 he began a relationship with the Iris Guitar company to manufacture a version of an acoustic guitar which is similar to the 1937 Kalamazoo KG-11. The guitar features banjo-style guitar tuners, a long headstock and a built-in brass capo which screws into the guitar neck.

Books