[Robin, Wales]

What would it take?

Probably less than you are imagining. I would estimate that a $25,000 investment would give you a run of 50+ guitars. And you could expect a 20% ROI - but that includes all the time you would have to put into the project.

The reason that I say that is because I have done it. I ran Busker Guitars for 8 years. The concept was simple - get reso guitars OEM built that then came to me to be completed and set-up. And do it at the budget end of the market. I ran my brand and worked with Michael Messer on his. It was a lot of work to get everything built as we wanted, but we did have a LOT of expertise on hand from the most knowledgeable reso makers/collectors around the world.

And I did it again with mountain dulcimers: having them made to my specs by a small workshop in Branson, Missouri and selling them into Europe.

In this case, I would go to Godin in Canada for the OEM build. They don't have a custom shop for one-off guitars, but I know that they have done larger runs for distributors/sellers own brands in other countries in the past. And as an acoustic archtop is not something that they are considering themselves, an OEM production run would not be "competition".

I did write a concept letter to Godin asking if they would be building an acoustic archtop guitar themselves. Here's the gist of the text from my letter:

Has Godin thought about making a purely acoustic version of the 5th Avenue Jumbo archtop? I have the acoustic version of the standard body depth and love using it for roots Americana song accompaniment. I gig with the instrument just using a mic’ on stage, and it works perfectly, even when playing with a band. But I note that the acoustic 5th Avenue is no longer in production – perhaps there was simply a marketing problem.

There is a resurgence in roots music amongst the younger generation of folk musicians at present, and a number of artists are using older 40s/50s pressed birch acoustic archtops to play Carter style backing to their songs.

I think that, with the correct marketing, Godin has a hidden gem already in its grasp.

You have the Jumbo archtop bodies and the bolt on necks already in production – so there would be no additional tooling costs. I would be inclined to market such a guitar under the Art & Lutherie brand as the “Roots” model. It would fit well into the A&L line-up, and the marketing vibe already associated with the brand. I’d use the same colour schemes already used on the Americana line (faded black and bourbon burst).

I would set up the jumbo archtop acoustic guitars in the factory with D’Addario Pure Nickel EPN22 strings 13-56. As you already have a contract with D’Addario these could be branded as Godin.

Importantly, I would use an adjustable rosewood bridge rather than the Tusq version fitted to the 5th Avenues. The Tusq bridge is great for an electric p/u version but for purely acoustic playing then medium roundwound nickel (or monel) strings and a rosewood bridge gives the bottom end growl and punch that the deeper jumbo body will make really rich.

Fitting a rosewood bridge is the only part of the build process that would be a new process – everything else you are doing already.

I have seen Robert Godin in a video talking about how his first guitar was a cheap pressed acoustic archtop and that led him to want to produce the 5th Avenue. I can understand why the original 5th Avenue acoustic version didn’t sell that well – the line was advertised towards jazz players. However, putting an acoustic version of the Jumbo archtop into the Art and Lutherie line could work. As virtually all the production processes are already in operation, it wouldn’t be a big risk to try.

If you did decide to make an A&L version then on the website page I would have someone singing something like Wildwood Flower with the guitar – not just playing the instrument. This guitar should be advertised primarily for roots music song accompaniment. 90% of the purchasers who look towards the A&L line are going to sing with the guitar, be that bedroom players or gigging musicians – so make the marketing relevant.

If you do decide to go ahead with such a project and make an Art & Lutherie Roots model then put me down to buy one!!! I love the acoustic 5th Avenue I already have, but a slightly deeper body would give it just a shade more bass and round out the guitar timbre for more general acoustic guitar playing.

Their response was that they are not considering making an acoustic version of the 5th Avenue or 5th Avenue Jumbo.

So, if I was going to follow this up, then I would write asking what the minimum production run would be for them to build such a guitar for me. I would want them all the same colour - probably Bourbon Burst or Faded Black as they are two colour schemes they already use with the A&L guitars but not with the present 5th Avenues - so it would set this model apart. I would have them dispatched without bridges or strings. This would save a lot of production hours for them - and I wouldn't want the Tusq bridges or standard light strings anyway.

What goes on the headstock would be up for negotiation. Ideally I would want them to be the Busker Guitars "Roots" model. I know that anything I branded as Busker Guitars would have a market - and I think that the name "Roots" for the guitar is pretty appropriate. But I would have no problem with "by Godin" being added to whatever was on the headstock.

I would do all the set-ups myself (rosewood bridges and monel 13-56 strings) and sell the guitars direct to musicians via an on-line shop. I know that once the word got out that the first batch of 50 would go very quickly. I would be looking at <$650 in the US <£650 in the UK and <650 Euro in the EU as the direct selling price. Hopefully, I could get each instrument down below that.

I expect that Godin may come back with a 25 to 50 guitar minimum run for such a project - hence you would need around $25,000 spare cash to invest (at some risk - but really not that bad a risk). And you can expect that once you add up all the hours you would need to give to such a project that you would be working at below minimum wage. But you work when you want and have full control of the whole project. I saw the projects that I did not as being waged employment but as a way of getting a far higher return on my savings than putting the money in the bank.

OK, so there is no way I'm going to take on such a project again as I'm well and truly retired. But if anyone fancies having a go, please put me down for one of the guitars!!!!