Ed Schaefer Guitars?

[bmw2002]

Glad to see Ed's guitars getting some attention here - used to run into him at guitar shows - he's a good builder and a very nice, down-to-earth guy.

It’s a bit strange to see a thread I started 13 years ago come back to life. Even stranger when I recall that I ultimately ended up selling the Schaefer to fund a build by Mark in 2016 (which I still have). Both great archtops from great builders.

[joman50]

Well. I'm going to meet up with Ed Schaefer later this month
at a Houston lumber yard to pull some planks for a 17" archtop
build. :-)

[deacon Mark]

Ed is a great guy and makes great guitars. He has helped me over the years with various ideas on repairing guitars. He is the real deal and his wife to and nice lady. You will get a great guitar.

[joman50]

Ed has one of his 15" archtop on sale for a really good deal.
I've played this instrument recently. It's definitely a Schaefer.

[joman50]

Ed is turning out to be good friend! We have lengthy conversations
just shooting the breeze and talking about the Texas music scene.
He studied with Tom Ribbecke you know.

[skykomishone]

Hard to get a better recommendation as a builder than from MC, IMHO! That's for sure.

[joman50]

[QUOTE=joman50;1447069]Well. I'm going to meet up with Ed Schaefer later this month
at a Houston lumber yard to pull some planks for a 17" archtop
build. :-)

It begins now! lol. Two necks are being constructed. The second neck can be yours.

[joman50]

[QUOTE=joman50;1451756][QUOTE=joman50;1447069]Well. I'm going to meet up with Ed Schaefer later this month
at a Houston lumber yard to pull some planks for a 17" archtop
build. :-)

It begins now! lol. Two necks are being constructed. The second neck can be yours
[/

tytt

[Palomorado]

Enjoy the process!
I have my 15in from earlier in the thread and love it to bits.
I also have an 18in total acoustic he made for me back in 2021. No pickup or cutaway...absolutely amazing.
The entire build process was a blast and Ed is fantastic to chat with and visit!

Can't wait to see how your build goes!

[Palomorado]

Here's the 18inch Ed made for me five years ago. First of this style for him. I believe he's made a few more since. I have a ton of photos going through the process I can put in a thread if there is interest.

The guitar is just fantastic. It came with a very fancy tortoise-shell guard that I took off for pure acoustic playing. I'm contemplating sending to Ed to duplicate and put a floater on. Could be nice to have both options.

[joman50]

Ed still has the template

[joman50]

Ed is partial to those KA 12 pole pickguard mounted pups.
He's mounted a gold pup for mine

[joman50]

He's going to mount a gold pup on the pickguard. lol

[joman50]

Another interesting thing, along with using a grinder to carve the top and back, is how Ed uses buckshot for counter-balancing the body with the neck.
I call it "buckshot balancing." So suitable for a Texas luthier lol. Also, he installs several shunts to connect the top kerfling to the bottom
kerfling. He says this increases a guitar's resonance and overall stability. He is very meticulous/ "attention to detail" oriented.

He truly enjoys his craft, including driving to Houston to pick out the best figured woods. Same with the hardware, he's installing those
gold Waverly big butterbean open back tuners for mine. His guitars are special needless to say.

[pablop]

Enjoy the process!
I have two guitars made by Ed, a Casanova and an ES-175 ish that will stay with me for as long as I can play.
I had them made to my ideal specs and fit me like a glove.
After getting these two I started neglecting some other guitars from a biG name brand. As good as those are the Schaefers just do it better.
Fit, action, resonance, weight, tone and looks, whats not to like!

[Palomorado]

I would love to see the 175!
Please post a pic!

[pablop]

Here some photos of the ES175.
goldtop, translucent cherry B&S

[pablop]

And here some of the casanova, hence my es347 is for sale

[Palomorado]

Awesome.
im assuming the 175 is a solid top. When I was at Ed's he had a similar one that was solid, not laminate. Sounded incredible

[pablop]

Yeah solid top, back and sides on this one.
Ed sourced the p90s on this one from Rio Grande pickups, they are so creamy it should be ilegal.

[joman50]

I played that guitar and all of his guitars are incredible. Interestingly, that 175
is actually a build of a ES-295 because that's one of the guitars Scotty Moore
played

[pablop]

Right, and that is why this one is called elvis,
what is special about both for me is that I had Ed make them with fingerstyle string spacing.
44.5mm at the nut, 2 5/16" at the bridge.

[joman50]

Completed box

[joman50]

I'll post pics with the grinder later. Ed is very particular when it comes with the details. I had this new KA JS neck pickup for him to install, but he insists on a KA pick up mounted 12 pole model. That's his preferred pickup for his big bodied archtops. He says his guitars sound the best with a 12 pole.


This 18" Swingmaster was on sale at the Dallas Guitar Show.

[Palomorado]

That Swingmaster is a beauty!

I was talking to Ed the other day and he was telling me about your build...Should be very cool! I'm moving back east so my extra cash is all tied up but damn watching your progress is making me itch to commission a new one!