Mariah Schneider with her 100th guitar assembled for Novo Guitars
Editor’s note: In our occasional series we call Gearing Up, we profile some of the people around town who make, repair or sell the instruments and other equipment that musicians use.
It’s only been a few years since Mariah Schneider built her first guitar, but you’d never know it. A Nashvillian by way of Germany, she began her professional lutherie career at Novo Guitars less than a year ago. Still, Schneider has hit milestones at breakneck speed, recently marking her 100th guitar assembly. One build she worked on went to My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero.
Schneider might be new to the craft, but she and guitars go way back. Fascinated with her grandfather’s woodwork, she developed an interest in building guitars before she learned how to play one.
“I think even as a kid I was like, ‘Yeah, he can just build me a guitar, right?’” Schneider tells the Scene. “You should have to kind of cut out the shape and put a string on there, I guess!”
She began playing around age 12, with lessons from a guitar teacher who made sure to show her how to care for and maintain the instrument as she learned to play it. In 2013, she moved to Tennessee from Germany with her family, attending Nashville School of the Arts and later Middle Tennessee State University. She also formed her own rock band, Slider, which has been active in the Nashville music scene since the mid-2010s and released its first album Gravity Waves in 2019.
But it wasn’t until after COVID lockdown that Schneider built her first instrument. One of her friends invited her to join in on a trial run of a guitar-building workshop, and within a few weeks, Schneider had finished her first guitar. Along with mentorship from other friends — including one who is a tech at Guitar Center and another who works for Fender — Schneider taught herself the fine art of turning a pile of parts into an instrument that’s ready to sing, hum, growl or anything else a player could ask of it.
Mariah Schneider
At the same time, she was busy touring the world, playing guitar in Julien Baker’s band during the album cycle for Baker’s 2021 record Little Oblivions (which included The Wild Hearts Tour’s stop at the Ryman in July 2022). As Baker’s tour came to a close late last year, Schneider began to consider what to do next. She reached out to a friend who worked as the production manager at Novo, a firm launched in 2014 by longtime boutique luthier Dennis Fano, who moved his production facility to Nashville circa 2018. Schneider asked about what it was like to work there, and expressed interest in joining the team if an opening ever came up. A few months later, that’s exactly what happened, and Schneider describes what happened next as a dream.
“I interviewed on Tuesday and had rehearsals Wednesday, Thursday,” she says. “On Thursday, found out I got the job and I would be starting the next Monday. So I rehearsed Thursday, we drove to Atlanta to play our last show of the year on Friday, came back Saturday, and I started my new job at Novo Monday. And there I was, in final assembly.”
Since the fall, Schneider has spent her work weeks putting together a fair share of Novo’s guitars. As one of two employees working in final assembly, she gathers custom-machined necks and bodies, electronics and other hardware for each instrument — which in most cases have been painted, finished and distressed to each customer’s specification — and turns them into a resonant, responsive instrument that’s thoroughly set up and ready to rock.
Mariah Schneider playing her own Novo guitar with Slider
In her precious spare time, Schneider is always looking for ways to give back to the communities that have given to her. In an industry dominated by men — often older, straight white men at that — Schneider credits much of her success to female and queer friends who eagerly shared their knowledge and expertise.
Inspired by her friends, other content creators and her own success sharing videos of her work on wiring up effects-pedal boards on Instagram, Schneider’s next goal is to create guitar- and board-building content with a group of queer friends. She’s eager to give others a chance to learn more about topics they are passionate about from people whose experiences reflect their own.
Schneider isn’t going to let making music fall by the wayside either. In the near future, she’s got a few shows with femme-centered Foo Fighters tribute band Fingernails Are Pretty. And there’s more to come from Slider: a new album, new shows and even a new band member.
“Without the queer music scene, I actually wouldn’t know my friend who works at Fender. So I think absolutely, that’s just brought me so much joy — whether I just hang out with friends on the side or I actually actively play music.”
