About

How did Jason become a guitar builder?

"Schroeder started playing guitar at an early age and was introduced to luthiery when he convinced his father to buy him materials to construct a bass. After spending hours in the exotic-woods section of the lumber yard, Jason’s fascination with tone woods and desire to build guitars was born. Despite this budding passion to build guitars, Jason went on to earn a M.S. in Hydrogeology, started a family and worked as a Geologist. By 2005, Jason’s time spent moonlighting as a luthier reached a point when he decided to reach out to senior professionals in both fields to help him make an important career decision. Luckily for us, luthiery won out—thanks to the advice of Bob Benedetto, who told Jason to, 'Do what you love, the money will come.'"

   - Ben Friedman, Premier Guitar, November 2009

What is Jason's mission?

Jason is passionate about guitars.  He is constantly thinking of new ways to build, studying what has been done in the past and keeping a pulse on what guitarists are frustrated about.  He listens to his clients and tries his best to come up with solutions to these frustrations.  One thing you will realize in talking to him though is that he doesn't necessarily want to re-invent the wheel, he just wants to make it roll faster.  Jason's mission is simple:  Build the best guitars possible with the best available tonewoods.

Does Jason play in a band?  How does it influence his building?

Jason is in the band Clear Cut and plays 8-10 gigs a month in Northern California and Nevada.  Clear Cut has received some recognition (i.e. songs in regular rotation on Yahoo music) and Jason contributes roughly half of the song writing to the band.  However, performing live with Clear Cut is as much a testing ground for his guitars as it is a musical outlet for him.  Jason plays Schroeder guitars onstage exclusively.  He tweaks electronics and hardware to make the best possible live instrument.  It is a huge asset to have a builder who plays out regularly so that he knows first hand what works and what doesn't in a live situation.  Jason strives to build guitars with clarity and bite, that can growl when overdriven and have warm, full and clear cleans.  If a guitar doesn't stand up to a live situation, it is back to the drawing board.

How does Elizabeth Schroeder contribute to Schroeder Guitars?

Elizabeth is Jason's wife and business partner.  She has become the email "voice" of Schroeder Guitars handling most of the communication and also contributes to inlay services on nearly every guitar that goes out the door.  Elizabeth has a strong design sense and has come up with some amazing color schemes on guitars for the Summer NAMM show and Ready-to-Ship (RTS) guitars.  Elizabeth also works with new clients to nail down specs and cost estimates and updates the Schroeder Forum.