S
COVER
A Photo Essay
The Association Of Stringed Instrument Arts
by Sylvan Wells
Symposium ‘95
photos by Brian Pickell
ASIA Marketing Panel
Keynote Address
by Walter Carter
and more.
Ultarmaker
THE ASSOCIATION OF STRINGED INSTRUMENT ARTISANS
STORY
NUMBER TWENTY-NINE
ans
American Acoustech —
A Domestic Builder Fills a Niche
The Guitarmaker Tour Visits Amer
few York
rican Acoustech in Rochesie
Current figures are 25 guitars a mi
Article
by
J. Arif Verner
In this day and age
what about someone with onl
jonth, with plans for increased production.
, a guitarist with $5000 can purchase a very
only of excellent guitars in this price range. But
ly $500 to spend? Do these folks still have to go to
the local discount mart and pick out their guitar in the toy department? Not any
more. American Acoustech In
guilars to address this neglect
the market for medium-price
corporated in Rochester, New York, are making
ed market. Their goal is a simple one — to reclaim
instruments.
American Acoustech is owned by David Stutzman and his partner, Tom
Lockwood. As Dave states,
‘e thought long and hard about where we could fit
10
The Association Of Stringed Instrument Artisans
into the guitar making market, There are an
awful lot of people making high-end guitars —
just beautiful instruments. If we wanted to be in
that end of the market, there would be a lot of
competition. So we looked at it the other
What about the other end? These instruments
have always bee 1
foreign: Japan, Kore
Indonesia. So, we finally decided on that
approach to the market. Our goal is to make an
instrument that sounds like a low-end version
from one of the highly regarded instrument
make But at a fraction of th
ir cost. However,
Wwe are not trying to makes clones of other
guitars. We're trying to ma
instrument th
inctive
at's really our own, So far, the
response from the dealers and users has been
very good
But the story actually began in the 1950s.
David's dad had 2 day job with an insurance
company and repaired stringed instruments on
the side, In addition, he also collected old
insrume
is. As David puts it, “Before my father
tore, he had over 800 guitars in our
Tom and Dave in their factory, bolding dreadnoughts
built with cherry bac and sides
basement, My mother suggested that he might
want to sell a few of them! So we opened one
day a week. On the first day, we sold 44 guitars
People would wait all week and then flood the
store on Saturday. It was a retailer's dream. In
the last 40 years, many of those old guitars have
since become vintage instruments.
In 1977, David took over the family business,
the Stutzman Guit
refurb
Center, and moved it toa
hed 100-year-old farmhouse. As.a second
ul
generation of instrament deale
store offers a full line of new and used acoustic.
electric, and vintage instruments - including
banjos and mz . In fact, there are many
specialty guita he turn of the century and
4 collection of unique instruments like harp
guitars, mando-basses and pocket mandolins
‘The store also does expert repairs and custom
work in addition to offering music lessons.
David and Tom grew up in the same
neighborhood and have known each other since
they were kids. When Tom was 14, his dad took
him to Stutzman’s store to buy a guitar, And the
rest is history. Tom went on to study mechanical
enginecring in college. He then landed a job as
plant manager at Guild Instruments in Rhode
Island. This was during their “golden years,”
between 1971 to 1983. During 1978, Guild made
about 26,000 guitars. The D-25, D-35 and D-40
models were the standard for mid-range
Stutzman’s
‘Sides are clamped into a form immediately after bending. They
‘are allowed to cool to maintain shape
The Association Of Stringed Instrument Artisans
A rower iste with a saw Made and run at a sow speed
(saw the rims at the correct thickness
The hea black extension & machined tothe
correct angle establishing a consinuotely
Siralgh fingerboard onto tbe body
American steel string guitars. Over the years,
Lockwood and Stutzman uussed many design
ideas for guitars. These ideas eventually formed
into a partnership and American Acoustech
Incorporated was born,
Lockwood and St
n decided to employ
new technology and materials to manufacture
their instruments. Their first stop was the
Rochester Institute of Technology's Mecha
Engineering Department. There they tested
different top designs
numerous guitars. This was done with computer
ssis of acoustic signal patterns, The results
\d to a variety of prototype designs. "We are
convinced that 90% of a guitar's performane
comes from the top. This is where we place a lot
of emphasis. The top reflects the performance of
ical
cing patterns of
The Assi
Adjustabate neck-angle ji
furniture builders, but i's not often used in
guitar construction. However, the owners found
itto be strong and acoustically resonant —
excellent for guitars. Bookmatched solid Sitka
spruce is used on the top with scalloped bracing
Rosewood is used on the fingerboards and
bridges, but they may go with ebony
1
‘The Association Of Stringed Instrument Artisar
Pros are
fnstaled with
the neck off
the guitar
Fingerboard
10 the neck
One of the secrets to making an affordable
guilar is to Keep costs down, American
Acoustech is the opposite of many large
companies. “here are no large fancy offices here
with highly paid executives. The 3,000 square
foot building we're in was constructed in the
1920s as an iron factory. The hardest part of
the guitar — the action and playability with good
bracing’ states Lockwood.
American Acoustech has been in the guitar
business for about four years. However, the first
year was devoted to developing jigs and fixtures.
‘The factory currently produces 25 guitars per
month, This is on a part-time basis (although
Tom and Dave readily admit they are putting in
full-time hours). Their goal is to make three
thousand instruments a year within the next two
to three years, Three thousand is the magic
umber. This will enable them to stay small and
Collars are macto by bending 16 gauge
sheetmetal to a plywood form.
m in quality. Any more production than this
nd overhead expense would increase
dramatically. To compensate for the increased
overhead, they would have to make many more
guitars to maintain the same profit. "We want 10
maximize profit and m
Stutzman,
‘hree traditional dreadnought models are
currently available: a native American cherry
model (ESVL-D) lists at $599, an East Indi:
rosewood model CESVL-1R) at $799, and a
walnut model (ESVL-1W) also at $799.
Interestingly, cherry is a popular wood with
ation Of Stringed Instrument Artisans
fingerboards in the future (the company does not
make their own fingerboards —
s cheaper to
buy them). The spruce comes from the West
Coast, while the cherry and walnut are pure
locally. Bass response, sustain, and power are the
dynamics they are striving for in their guitars,
Lockwood and Stutzman believe that the design
and bracing of the instrument are much more
important than the materials used
Dimensions of the American Acoustech
instruments are as follows: the scale length is
25.5 inches, the body length is 20 inches, with an
upper bout body width of 13 inches with a 15.75
The final neck sanding and shaping ts mestly hand work
inch lower bout. An adjustable truss rod can be
accessed through the sound hole, and all 1
have enclosed tuning machines, Silkscreened on
the guitar's head is the American Acoustech
odels
‘The owners personally inspect
every instrument before shipment. As can be
imagined, beginners and intermediate players
purchase American Acoustech because they are
affordable. However, the company is now geuing
requests from experienced pl
looking for a “second” guitar.
“We were very pleased with the response to
‘our instruments at the A.S.I.A. conference. But,
‘everyone wanted to know how we can do it so
cheap,” says David.
nd shop-test
3
ns =
setting up the production was
designing the jigs and fixtures.
Ittook a Jong time. For
example, our vacuum fixture
was built for about $100. Most
‘others cost many times that
mount. And one of the jigs we
use to scrape the binding has
the base of a dentist's chair. It
weighs a couple of hundred
pounds, goes up and dow!
swivels around and works
aper — and cost virtually
nothing! We don’t have a lot of
expensive things. In fact, not
having a lot of money makes
you more resourceful - and
keeps costs down.
In addition to David and
‘Tom, American Acoustech has
five part-time employees. Each
person has an area or range of
operations they work in— but,
this keeps expanding all the
time. Tom estimates there might
be as many as 250 steps to
building an instrument. To
simplify this process, the
company tries to standardize
the different production steps.
Ideally, any employee could do
whatever needs to be done. By
keeping each step as simple as
possible, there will be a shorter
learning curve,
“We want to train new
employees as quickly as
possible without any down
time” says Tom. Surprisingly,
the employees at American
Acoustech are not guitar
picking aficionados. But rather people from
different walks of life who just enjoy the
atmosphere of building the instruments. ‘The
company takes pride in creating a conducive and
interesting work environment while keeping
things as flexible as possible.
Marketi
ng and distribution of the instruments
An obsolete dentist's chair serves as a fixture
“for scraping sides.
is done primarily through a network of retail
stores. Currently there are 25. The company
figures it will increase to 45 stores in the next
couple of months. “We are very particular about
the dealers we work with, We are looking for
specialty guitar shops. Our approach is to
provide hands-on orientation of our
14
The Association Of Stringed Instrument Artisans
Guitars are nested into a gluing playform and masking tape is
put aronend the sides.
The binding is fsb -sanded on a stroke
instruments,” says Stutzman,
‘The company does not sell direct to
customers unless there is no local dealer in their
area. As the number of dealers continues to
increase, s0 does the guitar production, While it’s
important to meet supply
producing too many unsold instruments will put
The Association Of Stringed Instrument Artisans
‘An air router fs sed to machine to gluing surfaces
for the bridge and the neck.
Necks ready for attaching to guitar body. The bolt-on
inocks tse three brass inserts
in on cash flow. “It’s a delicate balance of
calculated growth. As business increases, guitar
production will become a full-time operation, in
fact, the factory is already set up to
accommodate a production of 50 guitars
week,” states Stutzman,
What does the future hold for American
Nearly done — puting on the tuners.
Dave Stutzman with one ofthe three dreadnought
‘models ready for srings and turers, The customer
‘can choose among sides and bach of cherry
walt, or Kast Indian rosewood.
16
The Association Of Stringed |
nstrument Artisans
The finishing process does not
Iinchide staiss oF filler. A subcoat
with a polyester base cout fs
applied. Sanding dime and then
@ modified clear polyester top coat
is added. Our finish i off the guns
fe, there is a polishing after the
JSinishinng process, This brings out
the natural color and grain of the
tweod. Our big problem is
cleantiness — hevping dust off te
instruments during this process
We wear Tyeak suits for the final
coat, avd the spray ares i sextet
down. The process s sill difficult,
because dust 18 alwaysa problem,
Acoustech? Specifically, they would like to
increase the dealerships and sales to support
3,000 units per year. The company also gets
requests for a smaller concert-size body and a
twelve- string model. This could happen in the
future. Eventually the company also will offera
Fishman pickup as an option,
‘There are a lot of possibilities. Yet having
quality product does not gu
There are many obstacles that American
Acoustech must overcome: name recognition,
solid distribution through their dealer nevwork,
slow calculated growth, and maintaining @ line of
quality instruments. The company believes that
simplicity, rigorous testing and complete
dedication to quality is the name of the game.
As David Stutzman states, “I used to think
that a great luthier was someone who built a
great guitar. Now my perspective has changed —
a great luthier is someone who can build
hundreds of guitars ve them all come out
very good. Thav’sa lot harder than building one
great instrument. We believe that a quality, no-
frills instrument like American Acoustech can
compete with imports and with the established
domestic makers at a fraction of their cost
So can David (or should I say David
Tom) take on the multi-natior
dominating the mid-priced guitar market
seem to think so, and that’s all that really matters,
a
intee a free lunch.
nd
1 Goliaths