datamusicata

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of touring the CF Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, Pa with my pal, John Batdorf (www.johnbatdorfmusic.com)

Anyone who plays acoustic guitar owes it to their self to make the journey to eastern Pennsylvania and experience this commitment to excellence. (www.martinguitar.com)

I was lucky enough to go there with John, who has a life long admirer in Dick Boak, the Director of Artists Relations for Martin, so we got the most amazing tour.

From the place where they store the wood (millions of dollars worth of precious rosewood, koa, flame maple, etc), to the inlay around the sound hole to the ledgers wherein CF Martin himself entered data, it was thrilling

Since 1833, Martin has been making remarkable acoustic guitars and all the best players in the world seem to agree that Martin is one of the finest instruments being made today.

And they seem to have broken it down into areas where each person contributes their expertise to the overall product. While it was a factory, it didn’t exactly seem like one.

Most everything still seems to be done by hand, tho they do have some robotics in place to spray the lacquer evenly and to do the rough buffing out of the guitars. The final touches are always applied personally by us humans.

Since I saw the first Kingston Trio album at the age of 12, I have thought that the D-28, played by Bob Shane, was the most elegant guitar I had ever seen. It still looks like a piece of art to me and I am delighted to have one--mine also has the herringbone inlay around the body which is my favorite.

I could hang it on the wall and just look at it. But these guitars must be played and that’s what we also got to do while we were there.

Dick took us into the museum where guitars are on display dating from 1833 to the present. And for us, the most amazing and gracious thing was that Dick let us play them. This is obviously a very rare and precious permission that doesn’t happen often.

We were fortunate in that Dick is such an admirer of John’s work, so we played a half a dozen instruments that sounded just like a great guitar should sound. One 1942 D-45 we played was worth more than my house. Don’t you know I was careful with that one.

If you play guitar then you  must check it out. Make the time and go see where the acoustic guitar began here in the United States. What a fun and informative visit it was, and Dick Boak was so passionate about the guitars and there was no question that we asked that he couldn’t give a fascinating answer to. It was a great day. We thought we’d be there an hour. We were there six and a half hours. Go!