Things I would like to know

[sxracer193]

I have read the "About" tab on the Home Page a couple of times but it doesn't tell me everything I would like to know so I thought I would ask a few questions about you and your business that I would like to know and I am sure others would enjoy hearing. Here goes:

1) When did you sell your first Guitar?
2) How many have you made to date?
3) How big do you want to get? (Seems like you have the talent to take it a long ways)
4) Whats the best thing about being a Guitar builder?

Just a couple of fun questions.

[Schroeder]

Hey Dave/Ryan!

OK, I apologize in advance if this sounds like a Miss America answer!

I sold my very first guitar in about 1996. I actually tried to sell my main yellow guitar in about 1995!! SO glad I didn't. That guitar gre on me like a wart! It took a while for me to bond with it because I loved the red one so much that I made right before yellow. I had it hanging in a local music store while I was attending Chico State. it was up for $1400 which was about what a used PRS Custom was going for at the time. It did not sell after a month or so so I took it back. I actually had a cheesy website up at the time. My motto was "You Dream It, I'll Build It." So a guy from Little Rock Arkansas contacted me to make him a purpleheart Strat body that was 7/8 size. No one would make him that body so I did!! I sold it for $250 I think. The guy was really cool. I would love to know what happened to that guitar.

I have completed around 20 guitars but ask me in a couple months!!! We have aout 15 more in the pipeline and more orders coming in.

How big do I want to get? That is a very tough question. I think that I am enough of a control freak to want to always have a say in what kind of guitars I build! :) I am currently seeking the wisdom and mentorship from some very well known builders who will help me answer that. I have always said that there are two things you can learn from anybody - how to be, and how NOT to be. I watch the industry as much as I can and I watch builders who come and go. I try to extract what I can from them and learn from their mistakes and emulate their successes. Two industry guys who I have recently spoken to independently proposed that I let the Schroeder Guitars grow itself. Don't let it get away from me. That seems to be very sound advice! So if the guitars are good and I can maintain quality and still feel like I am contributing to the art (and make a living doing so!), I will be right here building!! I could definitely see myself designing a "student line" someday though too.

The best thing about being a guitar builder is meeting incredible people with the same passion for music and the art and science of the guitar as I do! I mean, Schroeder Guitars literally is becoming its own little community!! We are planning to have our first Schroeder Jam this summer back east. That is very cool. Also, the adrenaline of delivering a guitar and then receiving feedback on something that you have literally lived with for months (or more! No comments from the Peanut Gallery!!!! ;) ) To have worked through challenges with the client and come to create something that is better than they expected and better than I thought I could build - that is what it is all about. My clients (you guys) are as much a part of this as me. That is what I hope makes this experience different than so many other things that you could spend your money on! And I hope that a guitar that I build can inspire you to be a better player or address a personal playing issue that allows you to play more or just more comfortably. After all, that was one of the biggest inspirations for me building a guitar.

Thanks so much for asking those questions. And thanks for your trust in Schroeder Guitars!!

Jason

[bsic]

"... I like walks on the beach, parasailing, backgammon, and men that arent afraid to cry."

:)

Great answer Jason. Sxracer, this is the attitude that attracted me to placing a Schroeder order. Getting a custom, great guitar is one thing. But great product coupled with great attitude and customer orientation is something even harder to find. jason seems more interested in making his customers happy and improving his craft than developing a huge impersonal guitar business.

[t_hamill]

It always seems like a bit of a contradiction in terms but its rare for someone to set out with the intention of creating a huge business in high end manufacture will ever succeed, the focus is in the wrong place. I think J & Co. have the best attitude, keep customers happy and a business will grow organically.

All the best.

[vangit]

It sure is a tight knit bunch of guys around here. Many guys with builds in the que e-mail me since I was the first to get my Schroeder (after Bryan G's proto). We are all excited for each other as the builds get close. Great to be a part of the Schroeder revolution!