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Originally Posted by Acousticado
Alistair seems to have figured out a proprietary method to economically produce molds and forming/injection of materials and finishing that other composite guitar builders have not. This has to give him a big leg-up on the competition.
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How can you tell? How does that effect the guitar, or price, or availability?
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Combine this with the new direct sales, road trip business model and the sky appears to be the limit.
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Acousticado, I don't see this. The direct-sales method seems to be a retreat, making Emerald Guitars
less available, not more. I can drive over to Guitar Center and see a Composite Acoustics guitar. I can drive to the Music Emporium and see a Blackbird. I have never seen an Emerald.
How many Emerald guitars exist in the world? Hundreds? Last February I posted here, asking if anyone in the Boston area had an Emerald X7 I could demo. I did not get one reply of any kind. I guess with the road-trip model, I might eventually get to play one. But this does not seem to be a market-leading business model. Carbon fiber guitars are a niche in the guitar market, and Emerald is a niche within that.
This is not to knock Emerald. I'd like to own (pending an audition) one of the new X10s with a woody top and headstock in green, thanks. I think these guitars are artwork, and are unique in the guitar world. But artwork has never been a sky's-the-limit business. And with a 4-month or more wait for a guitar, Emerald seems much closer to a boutique business.