Starting A UK Jazz Guitar Manufacturing Business.

[Archie]

Hello one and all.

I'm starting a jazz guitar manufacturing business in the UK and have been documenting my journey via daily vlogs.
As with all things, finding the time to learn how to take good video, edit said video and upload the result, has been a rather time consuming endeavour.
This is why my vlogs are a little backed up and running about 7 months behind (cough).

I am making an effort however to record the journey and have been doing so on my YouTube channel 'Archtop Heaven'.

I have a thread over the JGF documenting the same journey but thought I would also share it here too. In truth because the exposure would be nice (if there's any to be had) but also because I'm a known massive Guild fan and hence why I'm here in the first place.

One of my goals is to recreate archtops inspired by the vintage Guilds of Hoboken and Westerly, hence why I went out and bought a 1961 Johnny Smith Award, an X500 and a DE-400. I will also be reverse engineering a 50's A500 in the next few weeks and a Westerly Artist Award.

The business is going to be very difficult to get off the ground an I'm not entirely sure how to do it but better to fail in public than in silence. My main concern is quality and to achieve that I have bought some very precise equipment, that should help me achieve the best results possible.

My mission statement is to produce the highest quality European Archtops for a sensible price. Somewhere around £3K

Onwards & Upwards.

Rich

The two videos below are episode 1 & 2 of my series 'Starting A UK Guitar Manufacturing Business: The New Workshop:' Follow me over on YouTube if this content is of any interest or you want to support a fellow guitar nerd on his somewhat reckless journey.

 

[GGJaguar]

Wow, very cool! It's certainly a niche market, and if there are fewer archtop builders in Europe (compared to the US) there should be less competition for you. And I don't know of any builder who has blueprinted and cloned Guild archtops so that's novel. Most builders seem to clone Gibson, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto, Stromberg and Benedetto along with their own unique designs, of course. Best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!

 

[Cougar]

Wow is right! Best of luck!

 

[walrus]

Very cool! Good luck!

walrus

 

[Archie]

Wow, very cool! It's certainly a niche market, and if there are fewer archtop builders in Europe (compared to the US) there should be less competition for you. And I don't know of any builder who has blueprinted and cloned Guild archtops so that's novel. Most builders seem to clone Gibson, D'Angelico, D'Aquisto, Stromberg and Benedetto along with their own unique designs, of course. Best of luck and I hope it all works out for you!

I have an extensive list of reputable archtop scans including by the companies you mention.

All of this will hopefully help me rapidly learn the technical aspects of what made the greatest jazz guitars sound and play, the way they did.

I will specialise in laminate first and go from there; hopefully.

In my mind Gibsons sound great but Guilds play better. Imagine having the best of both worlds?

Plus you’ll be able to chose any neck you want, neck angle, scale length, body size, depth, pickup position and type. You can even have your name on the headstock.

I’m going to try and pioneer ‘bespoke on demand’.

You essentially design the guitar from some understood variables and I build it in roughly 3 weeks?

 

[GGJaguar]

You essentially design the guitar from some understood variables and I build it in roughly 3 weeks?

Wow, very ambitious! It's a new paradigm that hopefully catches on and is successful.

 

[davismanLV]

Wow!! So much work. I'm exhausted just watching the vids!!

 

[jp]

Good for you, Rich! It gutsy to pursue something you obviously love, and I commend you.

Even though you got dumped with remnants, it seems you scored some useful things. A finished installed spray booth is costly, as well as a lot of the office and industrial furniture. I know what you're up against, though. I moved a growing manufacturing business three times to newer spaces, which included heavy machinery, fabrication gear, metal shop, wood shop, material storage, etc. -- the entire PPE deal -- ooof!

Best of luck on your venture. I'll be rooting for you, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results when you're up and running. :C)

 

[Archie]

Good for you, Rich! It gutsy to pursue something you obviously love, and I commend you.

Even though you got dumped with remnants, it seems you scored some useful things. A finished installed spray booth is costly, as well as a lot of the office and industrial furniture. I know what you're up against, though. I moved a growing manufacturing business three times to newer spaces, which included heavy machinery, fabrication gear, metal shop, wood shop, material storage, etc. -- the entire PPE deal -- ooof!

Best of luck on your venture. I'll be rooting for you, and I'm looking forward to seeing the results when you're up and running. :C)

Thanks jp

You're right about looking on the plus side of things. As I like to say 'onwards and upwards'.
Good to hear a little about your story. I did have a workshop and was just getting into making formas and pressing veneers when the plug got pulled. Felt like a gut punch but what are you going to do?
The workshop I'm in now is not suitable and I know the tenants either side, are going to moan to the owner as soon as I turn my CNC machine on. I might have to move out west where it's cheaper but until then, I'll carry on as planned.
I need to get into production and see what the market is like before constantly moving but you play the hand you're dealt, until you can deal your own

Thanks once again; sincerely.

 

[Archie]

New episode of the workshop move up on YouTube.

 

[GGJaguar]

After you have the new shop organized and situated to your liking, how long before you actually start building a guitar(s)?

 

[Archie]

After you have the new shop organized and situated to your liking, how long before you actually start building a guitar(s)?

I'm hoping to start production in about 3 weeks but it's more like, back to machining parts and testing for production for the next couple of months.
This is a really R&D intensive project. Once that is done it should be a case of securing suppliers and manoeuvring in the market to something suitable.
Real production in the sense of making a guitar is likely 6 months.

 

[GGJaguar]

It sounds like you have a good (and realistic) plan in place. Looking forward to your future updates!

 

[Archie]

It sounds like you have a good (and realistic) plan in place. Looking forward to your future updates!

Thanks GG. I sure hope so!

 

[Jeff Haddad]

This is certainly an admirable and ambitious undertaking. Best of luck with the plans and I look forward to watching the videos and also seeing the finished product!

 

[Canard]

The very best of good fortune to you with this enterprise!!!

And don't forget .... according to a gobsmacking Fender survey a few years back 50% of new guitar buyers are women--look at ads and feature stories in guitar mags now. Designing an archtop that is of a size and shape that is a comfortable fit for a woman's size and shape might not be a bad idea.

 

[Archie]

The very best of good fortune to you with this enterprise!!!

And don't forget .... according to a gobsmacking Fender survey a few years back 50% of new guitar buyers are women--look at ads and feature stories in guitar mags now. Designing an archtop that is of a size and shape that is a comfortable fit for a woman's size and shape might not be a bad idea.

Canard I'm already with you. I have a great artist friend who will be doing finishes that appeal to the farrier sex.
Thanks for the advice; much appreciated.

 

[GGJaguar]

I have a great artist friend who will be doing finishes that appeal to the farrier sex.

 

[Archie]

Ha! My artist friend is definitely more ‘masculine’ than me.
And she rides horses.

The problem is she talks to me like I’m a horse too

Point taken though and well made

 

[Walter Broes]

Very interesting!!!