ARTS • Zoe Guitars

from The November/December issue of The Osider Magazine 2022

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THE OSIDER NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022

True craftsmanship is hard to ignore. It awes and amazes at first sight, and Zoe Guitars is no exception.

Nestled on Copperwood Way off Mission Avenue, Shawn Weimer’s studio and showroom offers musicians a completely unique experience— both when they play their Zoe and shop for it.

While Shawn has been building under the name Zoe Guitars for sometime, between seven to nine years, he’s been putting in the hours as a if Shawn lives in a parallel universe where more than twenty-four hours exist in a day.

Each Zoe Guitar is of heirloom quality and is a truly one-of-a-kind piece of art, requiring meticulous design and planning. Before he even starts building, Shawn learns his client’s musical ambitions and strumming style, and goes through what seems like an endless list of possibilities.

“A lot of people who buy or order, they want something that no one else has. So, we really start from the ground up and over the period of seven days to four, five, or even six weeks, we go through the process of what we’re going to build. And that’s before we even get started,” Shawn said.

Each one of Shawn’s guitars is built to order with the highest quality of wood and customized to each client’s preference. So, there’s little wonder as to why people who want a truly unique and never-before-seen piece call up Shawn.

Before even thinking about building, Shawn walks his client through a process where they survey different types of woods for their tonal quality, color, and durability. It always goes back to the client and what they want, but such a detailed process can often be jarring.

“When they start seeing the possibilities, it overwhelms them a lot of times,” Shawn said. “So we make it a fun process and what we end up doing is finally making something with really unique and one-of-a-kind woods,” Shawn said. “Even if there’s a similar model, it’s not going to be the same. There’s no way. Just the woods itself are going to be so unique.”

It’s all in the tonewood, and choosing the right tonewoods cannot be stressed enough. Going into detail on his website, Shawn writes,

ZOE GUITARS

WORDS: SHELBY ROWE PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

luthier for the past thirty years, specializing specifically in acoustic guitars.

“All these things are such completely different beasts and it takes completely different toolings and time. So, yeah, just building acoustic guitars is enough,” Shawn said. “I used to have hair.”

If losing hair is a testament to hard work, then Shawn takes gold. When he first started Zoe Guitars, he was building around eight guitars per month. After learning his process, you’ll wonder

“tonewoods are at the very core and identity of what an acoustic guitar is. The choices here not only have an aesthetic impact, but the guitar’s very voice depends on the combination chosen for the soundboard (top) and tonewood (back and sides).”

Shawn’s selection of exotic woods is unmatched, providing his clients with options from Mahogany, East Indian Redwood, Lutz Spruce, and Walnut—just to name a small handful of his expansive inventory.

With a past life in woodworking, Shawn’s knowledge for woods is abundant, which is why he’s there to help his client’s every step of the way. Even the most experienced musicians aren’t well-versed in the different types of tonewoods that are responsible for their sound. So, Shawn has created an educational process so they can make informed decisions about the details of their custom guitar.

“Going through that process with them is such a blast. It’s the funnest part, to see them discover the possibilities, then finally handing it over to them and letting them see it and play it,” Shawn said.

It’s clear the lengths Shawn will go for his clients and his dedication to his craftsmanship. Each Zoe is built with a deep love and passion, a drive Shawn says wasn’t always there. Zoe Guitars served as a rebirth for Shawn’s purpose, birthing from an unfortunate tragedy.

In 2008, Shawn’s son unexpectedly passed away, uprooting an unfathomable grief only those having experienced would understand. It wasn’t until Shawn’s granddaughter, Zoe, was born—her name meaning life and abundant living in Greek— that he found a second wind for life, his craft, and the name for his next business.

“Seeing the incredible beauty of this tiny new life seems to renew our desire to want to live again. But, not just live, but to actually thrive,” Shawn writes on his website. “The renewed energy

Owner, Shawn Weimer

and desire inflamed my continuing passion to build high-end, quality acoustic guitars. In many ways, Zoe Guitars is a symbolic statement to breathe and live again.”

This passion is clear in Shawn’s craftsmanship and caught the eye of one particular client who contacted him for a truly unique heirloom piece to commemorate his son’s passing.

The client wanted his guitar to be built with Kauri wood from New Zealand that’s carbon-dated at 52,000 years old. Originally, Shawn tried to talk him out of it, but the client was persistent given the significance of the wood in his family.

“It was scary [to work with the wood]. I asked my supplier for extra pieces because I wasn’t sure how it was going to bend,” Shawn said. “I did a test bend on it just to make sure and it’s so brittle, but man it bends like butter. It actually worked out pretty well on the first try with that wood.”

The details on the guitar are inarguably stunning, garnished with eye-catching abalone inlay and binding. It’s more on the gaudy size of what Shawn usually makes, he says, but one of his favorite projects to date. Sharing a similar story with his client, Shawn’s connection to this guitar—just like all his others—runs deep.

“I know it’s going to be a rough one when I deliver it because he lost his son and it rocked their world, and I relate to that part,” Shawn said. “Some tears are going to be shed. But, that’s the part I really like. I like creating something for someone that I know they’re going to appreciate.”

If you’d like to get your hands on a Zoe Guitar, you can contact Shawn directly through his website.