Our Story

Steve's journey into Bluegrass Music began after meeting a new friend in college who’s family was steeped in the Appalachian lifestyle and, naturally, Bluegrass Music. Over the years Bluegrass would make its way into Steve's heart and soul too. Picking up the guitar in 1988, he devoted a lot of time, some would say too much, on learning and playing Bluegrass. Post-Clemson University graduation in 1991, Steve moved to South Carolina's Midlands, where he found his Bluegrass tribe and joined his first band, The Dalton Gang. 

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Steve honed his craft as he spent time living near bandmate Olin Davis, then an aspiring luthier, who launched “Rattlesnake Mandolins” in 1995. Living just a stone's throw from Olin, Steve spent countless hours in Olin’s basement workshop, absorbing the fine art of mandolin making. Immersed in Olin Davis' expert craft, with a top purchased from Mark Dalton, of newly-launched Huss and Dalton Guitars, Steve built his first guitar from scratch right in the Olin's basement shop and never looked back. 

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Around the same time he built his first guitar Steve married Deborah, for Steve, two foundations of his life would be forged in that auspicious year. A year later, the couple settled near her parents, where Steve built a modest 12’ x 24’ workshop. Here, he crafted about eight guitars.

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Over the next several years Steve's skills progressed and in 2004, Steve and Deborah purchased and moved to a nearby poultry farm, allowing Steve to expand his workshop and delve deeper into lutherie and stringed instrument repair. Based in the larger shop in Gilbert, South Carolina Steve built his reputation within the Southeastern US Bluegrass scene from 2005 to 2016, where Steve did extensive repair work, from refrets, neck resets, finish and crack repairs, and violin repairs and restorations, and particularly fret work for Olin Davis’s Rattlesnake Mandolins. He also crafted guitars for Bluegrass luminaries like Jamie Dailey, Shannon Slaughter, and Karl Shiflett.

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In this Gilbert workshop, Steve met Chris Brinson, an 18-year-old fresh from Atlanta Guitar School. Their instant friendship blossomed into a mutual learning experience. Chris, after running his own shop in Downtown Columbia, eventually joined forces with Steve in Gilbert. Chris would eventually have his own repair shop in the Five Points area of Downtown Columbia, South Carolina. After moving from there Chris would use Steve’s shop for a while before settling in a storefront right in the heart of the small Gilbert, South Carolina farm town.

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2016 brought another move for Steve to a larger Gilbert property, pausing guitar making to focus on their burgeoning agricultural chemical services business. In 2021, Steve built a massive shop for the business, and by late 2022, he added a 24’ x 60’ woodworking shop within it. Initially contemplating custom furniture, Steve and Chris, of Brinson Guitars, decided to launch Custom Vibrations, LLC. They acquired a property in Landrum, SC, in Fall 2022, setting up a shop capable of scaling from 6-8 to 30 electric guitars per month, demand permitting. Meanwhile, the Gilbert acoustic shop, under Steve's expert hand, consistently produces 6-8 guitars yearly, a number poised to increase as his son takes the reins of the Ag business. As you can see from Steve's story, his heart and soul are in each guitar Steve builds. 

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Looking ahead, Steve and Deborah are excited about edging towards semi-retirement, eager to further explore their artistic passions – Steve with his guitar building, Deborah with her drawing and painting. And, of course, they’re planning as many trips as possible, fly fishing for trout!