Wall Street Journal on Martin Guitar

Tomorrow's (Monday) Wall Street Journal will include an article on the Martin Guitar Company's decision to produce a new guitar in the sub $1000 price bracket in response to the current ecomony (read the article here).

The article notes that the new 1 Series, introduced in April has sold out its 8000 production run for this year. The goal was to keep employees from being laid off by introducing a lower cost, yet quality guitar. The article notes that sales were down 20% and retiring workers were not being replaced in most cases.

Seems to be a good strategy the company has employed, let's hope there are no lay-offs.

A Musician's Visit to Martin Guitar

Musician James Lee Stanley (visit his site) recently visited the Martin Guitar Company and made a post on his blog about the experience that stretched from one to six and a half hours (read it here).

Acoustic Guitar Mag Features Martin History

Acoustic Guitar magazine has a great article on Martin History Revisited (read it here).

The author's of the article take a look at Mike Longworth's book Martin Guitars: A History and explore Martin archives to update each era.

There are photos of some of the instruments as well as one from 1912 showing workers at the plant on North Street.

CF Martin Tour Video

Got a tweet from LehighValleyPA containing information on tours of Martin Guitar, followed by a link to view a tour of the plant on YouTube.

To watch the tour - click here.

Martin on Main Update

From all accounts the Martin on Main Festival was a huge success despite the early Saturday thunderstorm.

The Morning Call had this report and the Express-Times had this one and a follow-up.

Congrats to all parties for putting together such a wonderful new community event.

175th Anniversary of Martin Guitar

Came across a post on Harmony Central (read it here) about the Martin enthusiasts 3rd annual tour of Nazareth.

They are expecting about a 1000 Martin Guitar fans to visit the factory and community on Friday, August 1, to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the company.

Accompanying the events at the factory, will be a festival in downtown Nazareth sponsored by the Nazareth Downtown Association and Nazareth Chamber of Commerce. This event will be on August 2 from noon until 9:00 p.m. and will feature food, music and the arts.

Washington Post Travels to Nazareth

The Washington Post has an article today on the CF Martin Museum in its travel section (read the article here).

Touring Martin Guitar

The International Herald Tribune has a story on touring the Martin Guitar Factory in Upper Nazareth. There is also an interactive tour (read the story here).

Martin to Keynote Winter Commencement

The Express-Times reports that Chris Martin will be the commencement speaker at the first ever winter graduation for Northampton Community College (read it here).

Martin Guitar - Company of the Year

Both the Express-Times (read the article here) and Morning Call (read the article here) report that the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce named C.F. Martin Guitar Co. its Business of the Year at its annual luncheon at Stabler Arena yesterday.

When a Martin Isn't Quite a Martin

When is a Martin Guitar not quite a Martin Guitar? When it is an Artinger.

JD Malone of the Express-Times has an interesting article on local independent guitar maker Matt Artinger of Emmaus and Nazareth's CF Martin Guitar Company, which has produced one of Artinger's models (read it here).

The article speaks of one's man's love of guitar making and the art of the work as well as a company's recognition of the same. Seems the partnership between this individual and this particular company was meant to be.

Pride in One's Work and Company

There is a very nice article in the Express-Times today (read it here) by JD Malone about David Bosich and Virgil Remaly, two guitar makers employed by Martin Guitar.

I think it is very easy having grown up here to take for granted the world renown of Martin Guitar. Most places aren't known world wide. Nazareth is and for more than one reason. There is Mario Andretti and there are Martin Guitars. You could also argue a few others like the Speedway, Cement, etc., but those are the two if you are traveling anywhere you are likely to find people who know them.

I was glad to have had the opportunity to work there in HS and college, making guitar strings, and getting the chance every once in a while to take walk through the plant to see actual guitar making and those guitars sent back for repairs, whose tag most likely was from an unknown owner, but could have been a world famous musician.

I liked a lot of things about the company. Beyond the skill and craft of the workers, I liked the fact that people had opportunities. You could start making or packaging strings and have a chance at a job making the guitars if you wanted. The Martin's have kept a sense of family, pride, and craftsmanship alive and in more recent years the efforts to tell the Martin story seems to have really paid off.

Anyone who attended the fundraiser for Chief Ruch's family could see first hand the generosity and goodness of many of the people who work at Martin Guitar, not to mention the talent of those employees who play.

In the article, Bosich, 53, noted he didn't apply for a job at Martin because of the guitars, it was his love of woodworking. Remaly, 65, noted the work environment as well as the woodworking.

How many people get the opportunity to do what they love everyday at work in a great environment? Alright, maybe it isn't great all the time, but I'd venture it is more often great than bad. Most companies don't provide that opportunity and most people don't get to enjoy going to work, making a tangible product, and seeing it used the world over to entertain millions and millions of people.

Martin Owners Club Attracts 700

The Morning Call reports that Martin Guitar's 2nd annual Owner's Club event drew 700 individuals, up from 200 in its first year (read the article here).

The Owners are Martin enthusiasts from around the country who come to visit their beloved Martin Guitars, talk about them with fellow owners, and play limited edition guitars the company makes available for the occasion.

I Pulled Into Nazareth...

It is the opening line of The Band's classic, "The Weight" and is said to have been inspired by Robbie Robertson's looking into the sound hole of his Martin Guitar and seeing Nazareth, PA stamped in it.

Now, Martin Guitar will be honoring Robertson with two signature models according to the Morning Call (read the article here).

The article notes:

The new Robertson models, officially called the 00-42K and 00-42K2, will be based on another Martin in the guitarist's collection -- a one-of-a-kind 1919 00-45K. Robertson's instrument is the only guitar of that type Martin has ever made with a Hawaiian koa-wood top, according to Dick Boak, the company's director of artist relations.

''It's a gorgeous, gorgeous instrument,'' Boak said.

Making Martin's D-28

An article in Acoustic Guitar appeared today by Teja Gerken (read it here) featuring the Martin Guitar Company's D-28. The D-28 is considered to be the most influential steel string guitar ever made.

Gerken toured the Upper Nazareth plant, included many photos of the guitar at various stages of production, and wrote about the craftspeople he met. I particularly liked the fact that he recognized the employees pictured by name, especially given his comments about them (see below).

I haven't been in the new plant and do have to make a point of going over. While I don't play guitar I did work there in the string department after school, summers, and over Christmas break. When I was there I alway liked being able to walk back through the plant to see the work being done and in the repair department where guitars were sent in by players from around the world. You never knew when one might be tagged Peter Townsend or another world famous musician. Having this company really is a treasure for the community.

Some highlights from the feature article:

In order to increase consistency and quality, Martin, like most other guitar factories, makes use of high-tech innovations. They use CNC (computer numerically controlled) routers to shape necks, and vacuum jigs for gluing braces; largely automated side-benders; and completely robotic finishing and buffing. However, even today, Martin guitars are accurately described as “handmade,” since the great preponderance of construction is still performed by the skilled hands of craftspeople who, in some cases, represent the second or even third generation of family members employed by the company.

Though I was intrigued by countless aspects of my visit to the Martin factory (for example, the metal shop, where many of the tools, jigs, and fixtures used in the guitars’ construction are made in-house), what I found most impressive was the dedication, concentration, and pride in one’s work evident in every craftsperson I talked to or observed.

This article will also appear in print in the May edition of Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Do you play a guitar? Have a Martin story to tell? Been on a tour of the new plant? Tell us about it in the comments or email me at editor@newsovercoffee.com