We build guitars. It’s simple on the surface. Yet, the journey to this point, for me, Evan Coley, and for Emton Guitars, is anything but.

I come from a place of books and ideas, more at home in academic halls than in workshops. My father and I, we were not craftsmen. He tended our lawn, a chore that marked the extent of his physical labor. I sought more. I needed to shape, to create, to turn intangible effort into tangible result.

Launching Emton was a step away from theories and numbers. I was fresh from my MBA, a guitarist for over two decades. I understood the essence of quality in instruments – what sets a superior guitar apart from a prop. My guitars, I decided, would not just be objects. They would carry a piece of me, a piece of us.

My father's death marked a turning point. Our shared love for music, our most real bridge, became the cornerstone of Emton. I aimed to root my work in my heritage, in the soul of Memphis, diverging from the youthful days when only Metallica reigned supreme in my heart.

Starting Emton, I held naive notions of guitar making – an assembly of parts, a distant oversight. Yet, such detachment felt hollow. The last two years have seen me dive into the craft – from woodworking to finishing, learning, failing, refining. Each guitar now stands as a testament to this journey, imperfect but genuine, a narrative in wood and string.

The early models – flawed, unique – will soon find their way to others. Priced lower, valued deeply, they represent my learning, my evolution. Yet, every guitar from Emton carries a story, a connection – to me, to music, to a lineage of sound and sentiment.

I make guitars not just for the sake of creation, but for the joy it brings to others, the unity it fosters among musicians, the vibrancy it injects into our community. If this resonates, maybe an Emton Guitar is waiting for you. Our story is complex, shaped by countless factors, as is every story. But at its core, it’s about crafting not just instruments, but connections – to our past, to each other, to the music that moves us all.