JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Musician Message Forum Article On Martin Guitars + Interesting Comments

There's an article on Martin Guitars at The American Spectator Online. It's written by Christopher Orlet and called "Martin And Me."

I can't get it to link but going to http://spectator.org would work.

Many of the comments are by musicians who play Martins "on the job."

Lee, I play nothing but Martin guitars. I went through bad times and had to use other guitars, but the money is well worth it to buy a Martin. The last Martin that I bought will be the last Martin that I'll need.

An intresting story. I bought a D-18 in the summer if 1961. Still have it but haven't broke it out in a while. I went to see the factory in 1994 I think it was. Wow! All those Martin's in various stages of manufacture. It takes about 3 months for a guitar to be finished for sale. The whole story may be posted on line, I'm not sure.

When Neil Young appeared on Conan's last show to sing "Long May You Run", he was playing Hank Williams' old Martin.

Thanks for the read, Lee. Way back in my previous musical life decades ago, a partner and I had a duet. He had an old - probably from the 40's D-18, and I had a Gibson. But like the writer I'd always wanted a Martin. Just the sound was so incredible. Fast forward to about 7 years ago when I returned to music, still have the old Gibson (and it's real nice too, but....). Anyway now have two Martins, one of which is my go to an HD28 purchased about 2 years ago. Most of my work is studio- not live so I don't show her off much but the sound is sooo unbelievable, so unique...all I expected and more. Once I learned how to mic it, the tonality and it's personality really began to shine. And on those occasions when I am live, no problem bringing the volume up when I need to. I thought it would take a few years to season-up, but I'd say after a few months the richness began to show through and the sounds began to sweeten.

Paul Ryan
www.ryantunes.com

I thought some of the folks here would have their own Martin stories.

In Chicago, while teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music, I used to play an old 000-28 herringbone that belonged to blues legend Big Bill Broonzy. Here's a picture of it, as well as a website concerning Mr. Broonzy: http://www.broonzy.com/ What a wonderful old instrument. I played it while teaching classes and for performances at and for the school. It is now in a glass case on the wall at the school...sad.

As part of Red, White and Blue(grass) I used to play a Martin D-45, the last one made before the hiatus, they make them again now. It was on loan from the Martin corporation by Mike Longworth. Red, White and Blue(grass)'s last album cover's background was made by the Martin corporation, the only one of its kind:

http://www.ibiblio.org/hillwilliam/BGdiscography/lp/images/Mercury11165.jpg

I joined the band after this picture.

I've personally owned two Martins, a D-28 with a french finish and an old 000-18. When selling those, I thought I'd always own an old Martin, never knew their price would go so high.

Love them Martins!

I bought my first new Martin in 1981. An HD-28 $1200. The price of a 5 year old used car. The music store owner was a friend and he let me make payments. Took two years to pay it off.

I also bought the book "Martin Guitars A History" by Mike Longworth first published in 1975. This was a revised version. the book had serial numbers of all the Martins ever made with the year it was built. You can find that info on the net now.

CF Martin III (I think), held a seminar at the same music store soon after I bought my Martin. He autographed guitars after the lecture (the inside back, from the sound hole on the Martin tag). I didn't bring mine with me.

I sold it to a friend in 1993 when I needed money. I now have a used Martin DM that I got for $600. I'm satisfied with it.

I think they are German ancestry, but CF Martin & Co. is as American as Harley Davidson. I may be wrong, but I believe that Martin has never given away guitars to big stars for promotion. They have to buy it.

I can go downtown Fort Worth and find really bad and really good Martin guitars both new. On the same rack, I can pay $500 or $7500. The cheap Martin sounds worse than my no name $75.00 pawn shop guitar. the $7500 guitar plays about the same as a $2000 Martin but it was pretty. But the Taylors sounded better- a real difference in the amount of sound projection-almost sounded like it was amplified. Maybe an OLD Marin is what we want. How much magic is there in a name?

Joe,

There's a lot of magic in a name, when it comes time to re-sell it. The old Martins can be amazingly good, but not all of them. I had a 000-28 that I sold when I was broke, and regret to this day. It had the most beautiful focused sound. It recorded like a dream. The fact is, a good sounding guitar is a good sounding guitar. I've got an old Yamaha that I'll put up against most Taylors and Martins. It's got a deep, rich sound with plenty of hights. Not a good recording guitar but a great guitar for playing in a room unplugged. Then, I have a new Seagull that is one of the best sounding fingerpickers I've heard. Neither are exensive guitars. But , neither get that "D-18 Bluegrass" sound that old Martins get. A friend of mine has a 1957 D-18 that would bring Lester Flatt back from the dead, just so he could shed a tear.

So yes, there's magic in the names Martin, Fender, Gibson, Steinway, Neumann, Stradivarius, Ford, Chevy, all for a reason. Some of their products became the benchmarks against which Taylors, Parker, Breedlove, PRS, Bosendorfer, Yamaha, Toyota, and Audi are measured.

I love my Seagull! You can see part of it on my avatar photo. It's the s6+ with a cedar top. It's so warm you just want to curl up in it!

The Dreadnaught style D-18, D-28, same style, different wood, was developed by Martin in the 30's. Now everyone makes that style. You should play an Acoustic Guitar before you buy it because not everyone will sound the same because of the wood.

I bought my D-28 in 1969, after 40 years of playing it finally needed a little work ... Martin paid for the repairs 100% except for the 7 bucks for the new strings (lifetime warranty)... In 1969 I paid 400 dollars for the guitar, today one like it sold for over 5K at a local shop.. Not only a beautiful sounding guitar but one that will only get more valuable. I don't think you can go wrong with one.

I have a D-10. Did a stupid thing...oiled it, went to China. When I came back, it played like a dud!

Is there anything I can do to make the old sound come back?

Wow,
What do you mean, you Oiled it? I hope you didn't put some foreign substance inside the Guitar. If so it may take years for it to come back to normal. If you just applied something to the outside such as furniture polish it won't hurt it any. If you used something like Linseed Oil on the outside, (Not Recommended!) it probably will wear off in a short time. Maybe you just need new strings.

Stan, I have a friend who did the same thing. He oiled a guitar after stripping the finish. It sounded terrible. He hung it up in his garage and forgot about it. After a coulple of years, he looked at it and it looked dry. After stringing it up, it sounded ok.

If you oiled the outside, it may, as ray said, wear off after a while. If you oiled the inside, or if the wood didn't have a finish on it, it may leach out in time. Keep it out of the case. Good luck on it.

I wipe my guitars with cotton fabric, either an old white t-shirt or a cloth diaper (unused LOL). Once a year or so, I might give them some lemon oil on the finished part of the wood, not a lot. I try to wash my hands before playing every time. In the winter, I'll put a damp sponge in the case. If they get dirty, a damp cloth rubdown, then a dry cloth. That's about it.

I know in advance this will sound like heresy, but I also have a a Martin - one of their laminate ones. For me it is good but I have no pretensions that it is what people really call a "Martin".

Tom