Martin Guitar factory tour

[Mark Yundt]

I normally post in the woodcarvers forum but I happened to visit the C.F. Martin Guitar factory today. What a fascinating tour! I took 127 shots but figured I'd post some of the more interesting pics here. Several are shots around the factory as well as the one millionth guitar and their 180th anniversary guitar. Their museum is just staggering as well.
Hope you enjoy them.

[Mark Yundt]

Necks and soundboards anyone?

[Mark Yundt]

And some crazy inlay work.

[Mark Yundt]

And a bit more if you don't mind.262334262333262335262336262337262338262339262 340

[Mark Yundt]

How about these and that buffing wheel?

[Mark Yundt]

Plus I just liked this guys expression from the restoration department. He was talking to someone and I happened to catch this look.

They turn out 250 guitars a day, 50 weeks a year. They showed the new John Mayer edition guitar which starts at $11,000.00. Some models they have run up to $114,000.000,, several in the $60,000.00 range and many below that of course.

[Doug Ladendorf]

Wow! How awesome is that! Where is the factory?

[Mark Yundt]

In Nazareth Pa. About 15 minutes north of the Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area.

[Dale Coons]

thanks for sharing!

[Doug Ladendorf]

In Nazareth Pa. About 15 minutes north of the Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area.

Hmmm...I could do that and hit Woodcraft in the same trip. :D That looks too cool. It'd be nice if they had free samples!

[John Coloccia]

Did you get a sound hole?

[Bruce Volden]

Did you get a sound hole?

Now THAT's funny right there!!

[John Coloccia]

Now THAT's funny right there!!

Looking at it now, it does look funny, doesn't it? LOL. They laser cut their tops now, I believe, and you can get the cutout part of the soundhole on the tour. :)

[Mark Yundt]

Yes John I did. Sounds like you're familiar with the tour. The tops and sides are indeed laser cut and the sound hole cut out is then laser engraved maybe a couple dozen at a time and given out at the end of the tour. The hole in the center of it, making it look like a wooden CD is part of the locating jig the tops are put into prior to cutting.
We watched the laser etch ( burn ?) both the sound hole and the makers mark for inside the guitars. Pictured here is the piece that gets fitted inside the guitar which is also done quite a few at a time. And though it looks like the same piece, the sound holes in the laser in the third picture are getting done for Guitar Aficionado magazine. Same thing only different. That blurred pink thing is the laser head zipping back and forth adding line by line the script just like a regular printer does.
Interestingly the edges on the cut out tops and sides are feel as though they have been sanded. Perfectly smooth.

[John Coloccia]

A friend went on the tour a couple of years ago. I keep meaning to get out there and check it out, but I never get around to it. I do know that for all the modern machinery they've brought it, building a martin is still somewhat of a touchy-feely process....a bit more so than others. I'm so glad that they're pumping out great guitars again. They went through some dark years with very poor leadership and basically cranked out junk for a while.

[Mark Yundt]

Oh yes, don't let the high tech fool anyone. Further into the tour it's nothing but hands on work.
Since I'm on the "Martin " theme here is a link you may enjoy that is totally hands on work.
Willard Martin ( not related to the Martin guitar family) is quite well known for his custom harpsichords and lives nearly next door to me in Bethlehem, Pa. At one time I made strings ( like I said, all hand made ) for his instruments. He builds everything from the cases, to the soundboards, keys,,, well,, everything by hand. Beautiful stuff and a very interesting and smart guy. Check out the link.

The closest I've come to building an instrument is a Hammered Dulcimer. But this guys stuff is mind boggling.

https://www.google.com/search?q=willard+martin+harpsichord&client=firefox-a&hs=sUL&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P_CUUbbqEpHC9QTr84GIAw&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1161&bih=620




(https://www.google.com/search?q=willard+martin+harpsichord&client=firefox-a&hs=sUL&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P_CUUbbqEpHC9QTr84GIAw&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1161&bih=620)

[brian c miller]

You probally saw my guitar there... it was in the repair shop recently (about 6 month turn around time).

It is pretty amazing, there is a lot of work that gets done on CNC's both all the critical work seems to be done by hand still. One of the guys show me the sharpening stations on the tour (Tormek and water stones).

[Mark Yundt]

Was yours the one the guy was holding that looked like it was left out in the rain and shrank?

I saw a number of whet stones and watched one woman sharpen up her chisel to carve the support ribs. Gotta' say, she got it sharp! Sliced like the wood was butter.

[Bruce Page]

Great post Mark. Thanks for posting it!

[george wilson]

Martin makes fine guitars,but I have to say that some of that fancy inlay is just tasteless. Not in the amount applied,but in the designs and themes. Learning how to do inlay is one thing,but,as in most things,knowing what to inlay is the hard part.

Never the less,an interesting post. Thank you for putting it up. Back in the 60's I was a factory authorized Gibson repair man. Meaning that if a Gibson in my area needed repairing,they'd send it to me instead of sending it all the way to Kalamazoo(which its where Gibson was located until relatively recent years,when they moved to Nashville. At first that was a disaster.)

[Mark Yundt]

Like anything, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Then too after I would build my one millionth guitar, or be in business for 180 yrs. I might tend to throw caution to the wind. Also , as it is in my own business, if a customer wants something done and is willing to pay for it and has a design in mind who am I to say no to their request. I generally don't say no simply because it isn't my taste. I have a lot of work out there that wouldn't be in my home,, but the customers are in love with it.

[David Weaver]

I agree with george. I grew up wanting to get a martin guitar like nothing else. When I got out of college, I did get a brand new D-28, and the store near me had an HD-28V. It took little time for me to realize that I had made a mistake selling off a US made washburn (that was probably made by Tacoma) that was a lot stronger and cost about half as much. My D-28 was kind of dead sounding and very mass produced in feel (there wasn't anything "bad" about it, there just wasn't anything good either), the HD-28V at the shop down the street was dead compared to the washburn, too.

That said, they're an icon. Watch any bluegrass, and you'll find a vintage martin (Lester Flatt, just to start). Clapton - martin. Jimmy Page early on - martin. I understand the need to put lavish inlay on the guitars, but I have the same thought about them as George. Martin gets (asks) more for their custom touches than anyone else I've seen, except maybe gibson.

A local shop here mentioned that it's a shame that most of his finest instruments go to people who will never learn to play anything harder than cripple creek, because they're finance professionals, doctors, etc. When I asked him what he did before he opened up a music shop......he said ...."finance professional". :) Gotta sell to the people who have money, and the earlier on they are in the process (before they have a chance to get their fingers on too many vintage instruments) the better.

[Mark Yundt]

Pretty much my point. I sell to the people with the cash. Who doesn't? It's pretty hard to make a living trying to sell to people who can't afford it.

[David Weaver]

Pretty much my point. I sell to the people with the cash. Who doesn't? It's pretty hard to make a living trying to sell to people who can't afford it.

Yeah, I don't slight them one bit for that. The same shop that I mentioned having the HD-28V was always trying to please the enthusiasts, offering deals, buying back guitars on trade for what people paid for them from him. He went out of business (as have a lot of small guitar makers who made superb guitars for peanuts, but who had no branding and who killed their business trying to offer what they thought they'd have wanted for a price they'd have wanted to pay - instead of one that kept their doors open).