Benedetto Guitars Inc.

How did the business of building world-class jazz guitars land in Savannah, Georgia? The story is a masterclass in economic development worthy of a globally known, high-quality business.

In 2006, world-renowned guitar maker Robert “Bob” Benedetto knew he wanted to partner with Savannah-based jazz guitarist Howard Paul to create a Benedetto Guitars workshop, but he was considering other cities for the new venture.

The two settled on Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Savannah as potential spots for the factory and scheduled overnight visits in each city. In Savannah, the deck was stacked in favor of the historic city with a rich arts and music culture.

During a tour with economic developers, a seemingly impromptu stop at a local woodworker’s shop piqued Benedetto’s interest, as the woodworker immediately recognized Benedetto and pulled out the luthier’s 1992 book, “Making an Archtop Guitar,” for him to sign.

A following visit to the workshop of a premier furniture restorationist also proved fruitful as he asked Benedetto for advice on a guitar he had been building for three years.

A stop at a Savannah Music Festival show was the tipping point: who was performing on stage but a Benedetto artist playing a Benedetto guitar.

“I don’t know how much of it was planned, but in the end, Bob Benedetto was completely seduced into Savannah. It’s a great lesson for recruiting new businesses, I think,” Paul said.

A guitar that’s worth the wait

Benedetto started making guitars in New York in 1968 and soon established his reputation as one of the most well-known bespoke luthiers. Paul is a former professional jazz guitar player who moved to Savannah in 1996 after serving in the Army. He quit his day job with Chatham Steel Corporation to start the venture with Benedetto, with whom he had struck up a friendship a decade earlier while purchasing his first Benedetto guitar. Back then, musicians had to wait between two and a half to five years for a hand-crafted Benedetto guitar.

Today, start to finish, it takes about a year for the workshop to make a guitar from scratch. Benedetto retired in 2014, and Paul runs the business while longtime Benedetto apprentice Damon Mailand oversees the guitar-making process. With about a dozen employees that specialize in different stages of guitar building, Benedetto Guitars Inc. makes around 100 instruments a year.

The painstaking process is essential for keeping quality high. Balancing modern technology and innovation with traditional, handmade methods is a pillar of the business – Paul says maintaining that balance is what makes the company so exceptional.

Buying a Benedetto

Benedetto Guitars Inc. crafts and sells both hand carved and laminate guitars. The high-end hand-carved archtop guitars are still carved and scraped by hand the same way Benedetto built them. The price of those guitars starts at $13,000 and can be as high as $60,000. But the reputation of the business and the high quality of the instruments keep people coming back for more: 50-60% of people who own a Benedetto guitar own more than one, and some own as many as 40 or 50, according to Paul.

Today, people from all around the world will order one of the guitars without ever having held one in their hands.

“In some cases, customers will travel to Savannah to select the wood,” Paul said about ordering a guitar. "They’ll tour our facility, they’ll play their way through our model catalogue, and in some cases, they’ll go in the back and we’ll let them pick out the wood for their instrument if it’s going to be a carved guitar.”

"It’s a very personal process,” Paul said.

Paul’s goal for this year is to build out ancillary aspects of the company. Buying, restoring, and reselling Benedetto Guitars that are currently out in the resale market is a priority.

That, and making sure the business and its legacy is still around in 100 years.

“There aren’t a lot of examples of makers of real boutique, highly refined instruments where the quality and the desirability has survived beyond the founder’s retirement or demise. And Benedetto is an exception to that.”

For these reasons and more, Benedetto Guitars is named a 2023 Small Business ROCK STAR.

Every year in honor of Georgia Small Business Week, the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) and the Georgia Economic Developers Association (GEDA) team up to present a few outstanding small businesses with the title of Small Business ROCK STARS. The awards salute the risks, innovations, outreach, and impact of the state’s small businesses. Each of this year’s winners have fewer than 300 full-time employees, make a positive impact in their community, and were founded in the State of Georgia. Learn more about the program and the rest of the 2023 ROCK STARS and nominate a company for the 2024 Small Business ROCK STAR Awards.