Jeffrey Elliot is a luthier based in Portland, Oregon, with a career spanning almost six decades. Born in Chicago and raised in Detroit, Michigan, he began playing classical guitar at the age of 16. Then, he turned to performing folk music while majoring in Fine Arts at Michigan State University. He discovered his passion for guitar making in 1964 when he visited the workshop of Richard Schneider. Just two years later, he started his six-year apprenticeship at Richard's workshop. In 1973, he moved to Portland where he lives with a fellow luthier, Cyndy Burton. Jeffrey Elliott is the author of The Handcrafted Classic Guitar (1975), a member of the Guild of American Luthiers, an author for American Lutherie magazine, an active lecturer, and the organizer of Portland's annual Handmade Musical Instrument Exhibition.
Jeffrey Eliott built guitars for some of the top guitarists, including Julian Bream, Ralph Towner, Marcelo Kayath, Leo Kottke, Jonathan Leathwood, Ekachai Jearakul, Frank Wallace, Michael Butten, Bryan Johanson, David Cullen, Paul Chasman, Dick Weissman, Earl Klugh, and Burl Ives. He also restored guitars made by Antonio de Torres, Francisco Gonzale, Manuel Ramirez, Santos Hernandez, and Hermann Hauser I and II.
