Ed Schaefer was born in Miami, Florida, in 1951, the son of a pianist who performed on a weekly radio show in Baltimore. By the age of nineteen he had traveled to Morroco, Portugal, Gibraltar, and Nova Scotia with the United States Coast Guard.

Ed studied classical guitar at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was taught by James Eddy, a disciple of the renowned Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia. He performed at master’s classes at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth with José Tomás and later worked at the Rhythm Band Instrument company where he began to develop his lutherie skills.

Ed worked for many years in Fort Worth as a painting contractor. Always striving for perfection, he took great care in his projects and even saw his work in the pages of Architectural Digest. It was during this time he enhanced his lacquering and finishing skills. Ed is quick to note his great-grandfather was a master finisher at the Steinway piano company in Queens, New York. Throughout this period Ed developed his fingerstyle jazz guitar stylings and nurtured the prospect of building instruments.

In 1995, Ed devoted himself fulltime to building archtop guitars, and there began Schaefer Guitars. He has built over 200 guitars and operated shops in Minnesota and Texas. Based in Austin, Texas, since 2007, Ed continues to build the finest guitars for celebrated players, including Houston jazz master Mike Nase, Texas Hill Country guitarist Big John Mills, and Noel Johnston, a professor of jazz guitar at the University of North Texas.

Known also for his skill on the guitar, Ed is an active player, performer, and teacher. He often works in guitar duos and trios, most notably his Jazz Roosters, a rotating cast of jazz and blues guitarists who are known to rehearse in the early hours of the morning.