Custom Handmade Guitars


  • Acoustic guitar with a dark background, close-up of body and neck.

    Custom Handmade Acoustic Guitars

    From Deadnaughts to Jumbo Flattops to Classical, Schneider Acoustic Guitars vibrate the harmonics of your soul. All our guitars are handmade and customized to matching the tone of the wood to the instrument and the instrument to the player. Your fingers will appreciate the playability, your ears will appreciate the sound, and your soul will absorb the pure vibrations.

  • Custom Handmade Electric Guitars

    From archtop solid body guitars to the classic solid body cutaway, Schneider Electric Guitars are pure art for the musician. Always handmade and customized from head stock to tail piece, our electric series are made for the musician that appreciates the look, the feel, and the sound of a pure instrument made from the heart and soul of a true luthier. Our experience goes into every electric guitar.

  • Close-up of a sitar strings and decorative floral inlay

    Custom Handmade Indian Instruments

    Dave Schneider has extensive experience with custom built Indian Instruments - from custom Saraswati Veenas to the more humble Ectaras and Indian Door Harps to exquisite Swaramandalas, Dave's years of experience as a luthier shine with every touch. All will surely make your heart sing!

David's handmade, custom guitars are made from the finest quality tone woods available in the world. Each instrument is lovingly created without the mass production methods common today. Neither are they "handmade" in a factory by many individuals who each only work on one part. David feels that individual, luthier-handmade instruments are nearing extinction.

David handcrafts all his instruments using a soundboard bracing pattern based on one that Jim D'Aquisto taught him. This bracing pattern is never exactly the same, since small changes are often made to develop the tonal characteristics of a particular top. Each top is judged on the merits of its stiffness, graining, and tap tone response. With unique bracing patterns, his instruments have incredible sustain, brightness and clarity. David has been using and perfecting this bracing system since the 70's and has developed a "feel" for its limitless potential.

David uses wood binding on all of his instruments. He believes, as D'Aquisto did, that wood is alive, and that it should not be replaced by dead materials such as plastic or pearl. He likes to keep it simple and pure, though he will do whatever the customer desires on their particular instrument.

All of David's instruments are equipped with adjustable truss rods, and Schaller tuning machines with pearl handles and fully compensated bone saddles. Lacquer finishes are kept ultra-thin so as not to restrict the movement of the wood.

All instruments are guaranteed for life to the original purchaser against defects in materials and workmanship. Please call or email for price quotes on custom instruments.