Official Luthiers Forum!

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/tr ... ref=travel

A great article with interactive graphics in this morning's New York Times. Enjoy!

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Ken Bremer
Madison, Wisconsin
http://www.bremerguitar.blogspot.com

Cool article...thanks for posting, Ken. The interactive blocks are great.

Make sure you read the "Reader's Comments" block where they take a poll on who is the greatest guitarist of all time. The names are a lot different than I would have expected having just read an article about an acoustic guitar manufacturer.

That reminds me...it's been over a year since we conducted a similar poll!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Interesting to see them use clothespins for gluing on the liners like I do. Still haven’t come up with anything better.

Did anyone notice the “bookmatch” pics in the slideshow? Since when is bookmatching just taking to similar looking pieces of wood and using them for a back. Acceptable and unacceptable match? I’ll have to remember to look at this the next time I’m in a music store. I hope they only do this on the cheapy models.

I agree that the Acceptable Unacceptable Match thing was a bit weird... The back did look pretty cool, but I think I'm going to head to the music store to see if this is something they do regularly. Cool, but a bit strange..

Great article!

Here are my impressions:

1) What an amazing customer list Martin has

2) This is a company that knows how to leverage a very rich heritage

3) I wonder where they get their side tapes from. I'll bet Dick Bloat doesn't have to put on his shades and sneak around JoAnne Fabrics.......

4) Martin guitars are very simply built (said as praise) to get the job done

I was surprised to see how the x-brace lap joint was done, at 1:59 from the end of the slideshow. Unlike how most of us leave the x-braces unprofiled at the joint, their x-braces were apparently profiled in cross-section their entire length prior to cutting the notches, so that the up-facing notch had a small contact area with the sides of the other leg of the x-brace. Something we can't normally see because of the fabric cap they use.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to like Martin guitars... Maybe it's just the fact that they're so mainstream and universally praised, but the products that they put out onto the market just feel extremely overrated and overpriced. I speak in this case as a player, but the vast majority of Martin guitars I've played have really just not "wow"ed me.. Maybe it's just the fact that they're forced to push out so many guitar. Of course I respect them as a company and a pioneer in the industry, but why are they so popular? I'm really curious..

I noticed that too Pat and thought the same thing. My first build a Stew-Mac kit also had pre-profiled braces with a fabric patch. Perhaps this joint permits some flex at the joint by design - perhaps not - don't know.

Michael I have heard a lot of folks express your feelings as well. I think that this is why many of us and other companies such as Taylor exist - the Martin thing is not our bag/sound.

But Martin is to guitars, in a lot of folks minds, what Kleenex is to tissue. Nice positioning if you can earn it and Martin has clearly earned it.

Michael,
I'm with you on this, I have only played one Martin that I liked. It was a 1930 Martin OM that was worth $25,000. Yes, it played like butter, and had the best tone I've heard in a guitar, but there are new guitars that can sound just as good, and are a lot more reasonable in price. I think a lot of the hype with Martins come from the old timers who used to play the pre war Martins that did sound good. Once people have an impression on a brand/sound, it just sticks with them, and word of mouth starts. I knew a guy once who became a Martin dealer just to collect their high end limited editions as an investment. He would spend $10,000 every year, and the guitars would go in a vault to never be played. Although that may make good financial sense from a collector point of view, it makes no sense from a players point of view. To me a guitar is meant to be played, like a tool is to a guitar maker.

Anyway I've digressed. My point is that I agree, I don't like the new Martins at all.

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Here's a thing ...

Nice photography too.

Ahh, it's so, so easy to criticize... Let's see any of you can produce guitars of this quality for the wholesale prices that Martin gets for their instruments and stay in business for over 150 years.

Rick! Great to have you back from your trip!

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Mitch

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Dunno where this is coming from. All I said was that I think their guitars are overrated and overpriced... I think most people will agree that you pay a good premium for the Martin brand name when there are plenty of companies out there who produce equal or better guitars for a lower cost... Like I said, I'm speaking mostly from a player's perspective, but Martins don't play nearly as well as the $1000+ or $2000+ that they cost. But I can't really fault them simply because of the quantity of instruments that they have to push out so I'm sure that it costs them in care and quality control for each individual instrument. Martin is a great example of a company that has drilled their name into the minds of players so much that it has almost become synonymous with acoustic guitars. At this point, I feel that it's this reputation rather than the actual quality of their products that is driving the majority of their sales. Perhaps some people feel that they have earned and deserve their position on the market, but regardless of a company's history, I don't feel that any company at any time should be rewarded with complacency and I wish that players would look at value more than brand name. Companies should be forced to push their craft and produce better products to win sales rather than riding their reputation. But then again, that's just me... And once again, what do I know about mass producing guitars, right? ^^;; I'm just saying what I feel about the company and their products. I'm sure people over at Martin are working hard everyday, but when I go into a music store and play the product, sometimes I just don't feel that enough effort was put into it to warrant its price and prestige. That's all..

I tend to agree with the last poster ... people are so name brand fixated in this country .. it has become a delusion !I think martin co have become masters of marketing and is living on a reputation it built on guitars it made, many,many decades ago , ask anyone that knows anything about martins and isnt afraid to say it , the 1960's, where the last era of consistantly good guitars , ask any serious collector !. before I had a clue I fell into the trap also ... bought the best and oldest martin I could afford at the time , a 1975 D -28 ... couldnt tune the thing for a hill of beans ! took it to several luthiers " we cant do anything there's no truss rod in it" . I was lucky enough to eventualy find a master luthier 2 1/2 hours drive from home that knew what he was doing ! come to find out the bridge was glued on in the wrong position AT THE FACTORY.So now my guitar has an oversized bridge to compensate and hide the foot print of the original one ! since than I have been told by another very busy luthier ,almost every guitar that came out of the factory in the 1970's had this problem ! Now I find out my guitar was originaly built with an oversized bridge plate , which is probably why a previous owner found it neccessary to go inside and hack away at the braces ! How does a company that is selling quality and tone send guitars out of their factory like this for ten years? By RESTING ON THEIR LAURELS .
and now we have taylor guitars bringing martin " to their knees " how did that happen ?

Glorify Martin all you want to but , this wanker has "been there and done that" ! jody

No I have to agree, I haven't heard a decent Martin guitar from the post 1969 period. I like Martins, I've been playing them for the best part of 40 years. I've got four of them, three from the 30s and my personal favourite a 1963 00-18. Nowadays though they have to bear comparison with all of the other large guitar factories, and the top end Chinese factory guitars mostly seem to be superior now. Just because you had a good name doesn't mean that your product will always be that great, especially when the bean-counters rule. Quality and value for money can only be judged on current production, not on reputation, well earned though it may have been. That was then, this is now.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I don't care for most of the cheap cars produced in Asia, but that doesn't make the production process any less amazing. Respecting the company and personally disliking the product are two very different things; from what I've gathered here most people have nothing but the utmost respect for the innovations and heritage Martin brings to the table but that is totally independent of whether they like the product or not, and rightfully so.

I haven't played enough Martins to know whether I truly like them or not (Martins aren't the mainstay in Australia) but like many here I'd never buy one for the simple fact that it'd defeat the purpose of having a shop full of guitar building tools. I am however in awe of what I see whenever I get a glimpse into their factory like in this article and there's certainly a lot all of us can learn from how they run the place.

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Richard
http://www.guitarmaker.com