Steve Porter

Mendocino, California

Steve Porter's path to the guitar runs through a lifetime of fine woodworking. He began at seventeen in Orange, California, apprenticed with English cabinetmaker John Ellison, and became his partner at Foxwood Cabinets. After moving to the Mendocino coast in 1984 he studied under James Krenov in the Fine Woodworking program at College of the Redwoods. He took up classical guitar in 1994, built his first guitar at the American School of Lutherie in 1996, and studied French polishing with Jeff Elliott and Cindy Burton. He now divides his time between guitars, furniture, and cabinetry in his Mendocino studio.

Porter's concert guitars bring a cabinetmaker's joinery and hand plane discipline to modern design. His recent work centers on cedar tops with lattice bracing and thin carbon reinforcement, paired with raised fingerboards in the style of Thomas Humphrey that let the top float freely. Large Ruck style soundports, Friederich inspired rosettes and tie blocks, carved wheat motif headstocks, and gold Sloan tuners round out instruments that are bold and modern in design yet unmistakably musical in voice, with deep resonant basses and full, expressive trebles.

We knew Porter's guitars for years before carrying one: a longtime student of ours played one in every lesson, and even then its refinement and power were hard to miss. In 2025 Steve built a cedar lattice braced guitar specifically for our shop, and its first string stopped us cold, with a presence and crystalline warmth we rarely encounter. The whole instrument had a huge, bold sound with remarkable sustain and an abundance of overtones. That guitar found its home quickly, and our expert team is glad to talk with players about the next one.