Donegal man Alistair Hay has had a lifelong fascination with guitars. Before he could even play a chord, he had a photographic memory of every guitar he had ever seen since early childhood. “I don’t know why but guitars have been the one thing in my life that just captivated me,” he says.
His musical hero is Steve Vai, the singer, composer and guitar virtuoso. But it wasn’t until Hay was studying engineering at university that he finally taught himself to play.
Though humble about his prowess as a musician, what he can’t be modest about is his success designing and custom building iconic guitars, for some of the world’s best-known guitarists. His business, Emerald Guitars, has gone from strength to strength, demonstrating resilience and creativity in the face of adversity, with the support of AIB.
This success also started humbly. Hay grew up helping in his father’s manufacturing business, making fibre glass swings and slides for children’s playgrounds, and studied polymer engineering at what was Athlone IT.
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It landed him a dream job working for US Formula One Powerboat racing team, Seebold Sports, whose record-breaking craft was made of carbon fibre, Hay’s area of expertise.
His boss, multiple-times world champion powerboat racer, Bill Seebold, became an inspirational mentor to him. It was he who encouraged Hay to combine his opportunities, skill and passion to create the business of his dreams, no matter how impossible it seemed, just as the Seebold family had.
Having come home to work in his father’s factory, sadly it was the loss of his mother that prompted Hay to do just that. By combining his engineering skills with his innate creativity, he spent months designing and building his first ever carbon fibre guitar, as a way of coping with his grief.
It was an enormous engineering challenge to replicate the acoustic and tonal qualities of a traditional wooden guitar in carbon fibre. Through trial, error and dogged persistence, he finally achieved it. He then immediately started again, and again, honing his skill and craft with each iteration.
He quickly realised the value carbon fibre guitars offered to musicians.
“Wood has certain frailties in relation to temperature and humidity, it can warp and move and be fragile and break,” he explains. Carbon fibre, by contrast, allows for a much more resilient instrument with a reliable and consistent sound.
In 1998, building carbon fibre guitars was his hobby. By the following year, it had become his business and Emerald Guitars was born.
Not only could he mimic the structure of wood to make an instrument that was much more stable, but he could mould them ergonomically to make them “more playable”, he explains. He could also let his artistry run wild and develop fantastical instruments.
That includes one he went on to build for his musical hero Vai, for whom he designed an alien-like guitar in line with a concept album. Hay’s best-known guitar has, like a medieval sword, its own name – Bahamut – a stunning dragon shaped piece he made for singer-songwriter and global superstar Wang Leehom.
Initially Hay worked on Emerald Guitars while also running his father’s business. But a combination of recession and difficulties competing with playground makers in China saw him ultimately decide to focus on Emerald Guitars, growing the nascent guitar business slowly but surely instead.
It has been a virtuoso performance. Today Emerald Guitars employs 31 people and from its rural base in Donegal sells to clients around the world, from beginners to stadium-packing acts such as Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams.
As with any business there have been ups and downs, from the impact of Brexit on the company’s supply chain to the impact of Covid on production – the business closed entirely during lockdowns.
But Hay used the lull to invest in new kit, including computer-based design and manufacturing equipment. As the pandemic wore on, demand for guitars grew as people made the most of extra time to pursue hobbies, including learning to play an instrument.
The business has continued to grow ever since and, with backing from AIB, Hay recently undertook a redevelopment of its factory. No longer limited by capacity, the new factory allows Emerald Guitars to go from making 1,000 guitars a year to 5,000.
The relationship Emerald Guitars has with its customers, like Hay has with his bank, has always been vital to its success, says Hay. It’s why the new factory includes a gallery and visitor experience, allowing music aficionados from around the world an opportunity to see its creations up close.
That has allowed him to add new revenue streams from tourism, including self-contained accommodation for visitors and a traditional thatched cottage repurposed for concerts.
Emerald Guitars now also runs musical tours that include visits to some of Donegal’s most iconic tourism sites, from the Slieve League sea cliffs to the megalithic ringfort Grianán of Aileach, travelling with a mobile stage for unique performances.
“It’s amazing to think that here, on a little hill in Donegal, you’ll find the world’s most technologically advanced guitar maker. It’s a very unlikely story but one that people have really connected with and it’s just great to be able to bring people from all around the world to this corner of Donegal to see our guitars,” says Hay.
If Hay has a support act, it’s his bank. “We do all our day-to-day banking with AIB, including foreign exchange dealings which is important to us because so much of our business is in the USA. That helps us to manage our cash flow,” he explains.
AIB’s team of business advisers also provide a full range of products online, over the phone and through its branch network in communities across the country.
Supports include AIB’s iBusiness Banking (iBB) app, which customers can use to view transactions, make payments and manage their day-to-day business banking.
Its PromptPay service allows businesses to plan their cash flow and conserve cash for unexpected expenses by spreading large one-off expenses such as their annual tax bill across six to 11 months.
It also offers support for longer-term financial planning, including tailored advice on succession and retirement planning, as well as support for sustainability through its Steps to Sustainability programme, and lower cost finance options to support businesses to make sustainable changes that can reduce costs and save money.
“SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy and as part of our Customer First strategy, AIB is committed to ensuring we offer the best products and services, in the most convenient way possible, so customers can focus on what matters most to them by investing in the future of their business and by extension, their communities,” explains AIB’s business adviser in the northwest, David McHale.
“Working with businesses such as Emerald Guitars provides AIB with real insights into how it can support businesses on a day-to-day basis – and with their more long-term strategic goals.”
More than anything Alistair Hay appreciates dealing with bank staff who don’t just know his business, they understand it.
To him it is the epitome of relationship banking. “Everything we do at Emerald Guitars is about building relationships and meeting customers,” says Hay. “With AIB I’ve a banking partner that does the same.”
