Founded 1833, Nazareth, Pa.

"We hired a gentleman from Bethlehem Steel to formalize our quality assurance program a couple of years ago. One day he came in and said, 'Chris, people work really hard here, and I keep telling them, "Hey, we're not trying to make the perfect guitar!"' And I said, 'Vince, we are trying to make the perfect guitar.'"

-- Chris Martin, 52, CEO, sixth generation