American Acoustech started as a project between a group of luthiers and the Mechanical Engineering department at the Rochester Institute of Technology, American Acoustech produced steel string Dreadnought guitars from the mid 90s until the early 2000s. The founders were Tom Lockwood, who worked over 10 years as Plant Manager at Guild Guitars, and Dave Stutzman, owner of the Rochester-based guitar shop, Stutzman's Guitar Center.