Martin Guitar Tour

[TFucili]

I am no musician, but the Martin plant in Nazareth is only ten minutes from my MIL's house. Very interesting process.

 

[TFucili]

A few more. Also, Mario Andretti's estate is close by.

 

[jgillott]

Owning a quality Martin is one of my bucket list items. Not going to happen anytime soon. But, one can dream.

 

[Tractorat]

When I was a kid, there was a store in seattle that, among other instruments, had a couple of very expensive martins in their display case. They let me sit there and play one for about 10 or 15 minutes. I think it was johnny cash that had been in that store the week before and bought one just like it.

 

[Wayne M.]

There’s a racing photographer I’ve come to know, from Nazareth, whose Father worked at that guitar factory. Neat stories and shots from Jack Kromer.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I like my D28 was left to me by a friend that covered my vocal & musician mistakes for years before he passed.

 

[TMyers]

I have a cousin that bought a Martin 35 years ago. It was like a car payment each month. I don't have "That" ear for it. I play a little. I can't hear the difference in the sound of a $200 guitar and a $5K one.

I live in Western NC. We have a guy in Southwest Va. named Wayne Henderson. His customs sell in the $6K to $10K range and he has like a 10 year waiting list. His claim to fame was Doc Watson and Merle Fest in my home town.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

I have a cousin that bought a Martin 35 years ago. It was like a car payment each month. I don't have "That" ear for it. I play a little. I can't hear the difference in the sound of a $200 guitar and a $5K one.

I live in Western NC. We have a guy in Southwest Va. named Wayne Henderson. His customs sell in the $6K to $10K range and he has like a 10 year waiting list. His claim to fame was Doc Watson and Merle Fest in my home town.

I think the sound of any particular stringed [or otherwise] instrument greatly depends upon the musician and their intonation. Every instrument has it's own personality eg; I have a Martin, Larrivee, Fender and a RK 00 and my preference is the $ 500.00 RK. My all time favorite guitarist is Lindsay Buckingham, and to my ear, his music sounds much more in step on the RK than on the high dollar instruments. Martin is a renowned builder and I have the utmost respect for their instruments, but it's all in what you hear.

 

[BIGNASTY]

I hope this doesn't come off wrong but you ABSOLUTELY CAN hear and feel the difference in the quality of the guitar. Before my friend passed away I had a cheaper D28 Martin it was way better than the Ovation that I generally take camping because its plastic body is much less susceptible to change in temp. When I was given the D28 that was played my a professional studio musician. I could tell the difference between the two different Martin D28's One is a 1934 D28 MARTIN the other is a 1960 D28. guess which one sounds better. The 1934 is WAY BEYOND my ablities but its a gift from a friend that shared laughs playing together for over 30 years.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

BN, I absolutely agree with your statement. I should have said, "what I can hear." I've been plagued with tinnitus for years and I guess I have a loss in a narrow band of the sound spectrum...or something to that effect. I do okay if there is little or no conflicting ambient noise but that's a rarity around my clan.

 

[jgillott]

BN, I absolutely agree with your statement. I should have said, "what I can hear." I've been plagued with tinnitus for years and I guess I have a loss in a narrow band of the sound spectrum...or something to that effect. I do okay if there is little or no conflicting ambient noise but that's a rarity around my clan.

Do you wear hearing aids? I have been now for 5 years. Amazing difference for me.

 

[fest3er]

Yup. If you have an ear for sound, you can definitely hear the difference between various guitars, just as you can tell the difference between various pianos and even many other instruments. It also depends on the sound you're listening for. Perhaps you want one sound in a folk guitar and a different sound in a classical guitar with plastic or gut strings. And a guitar for mariachi may have yet another unique tonal quality. The age of the electric brought in a whole new set of sounds.

When I was looking for a guitar, Dad brought me to the guitar store in Boston (Kniffer & Dimmick (sp?)) where I tried like 20 guitars in my budget range. Some sounded carboardy, some had different timbres from string to string. Some sounded dead-ish, some way too bright. One, the Epiphone FT350, sounded very nice. I tried all manner of guitars, even a Martin or Gibson that were way out of my price range. I kept going back to the Epi. Some 2-3 hours later, I bought the Epi for around $350. That was '76. I still have the guitar. And it still sounds as nice. Not as nice as either of your Martins, but I'm still pleased with it.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

No I don't. My AME recommended I see a ENT specialist but I don't have a problem with hearing on the noise cancelling Clark headphones and I'm still cleared for the #3 ticket. The rest I can deal with.

 

[jgillott]

No I don't. My AME recommended I see a ENT specialist but I don't have a problem with hearing on the noise cancelling Clark headphones and I'm still cleared for the #3 ticket. The rest I can deal with.

The new ones that I have help my tinnitus tremendously. My right ear is especially bad and I can't notice the ringing at all when I have them in.

The hearing aid technology they have now is just amazing. I'd be interested to hear your feedback once you would try them.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Yup. If you have an ear for sound, you can definitely hear the difference between various guitars, just as you can tell the difference between various pianos and even many other instruments. It also depends on the sound you're listening for. Perhaps you want one sound in a folk guitar and a different sound in a classical guitar with plastic or gut strings. And a guitar for mariachi may have yet another unique tonal quality. The age of the electric brought in a whole new set of sounds.

When I was looking for a guitar, Dad brought me to the guitar store in Boston (Kniffer & Dimmick (sp?)) where I tried like 20 guitars in my budget range. Some sounded carboardy, some had different timbres from string to string. Some sounded dead-ish, some way too bright. One, the Epiphone FT350, sounded very nice. I tried all manner of guitars, even a Martin or Gibson that were way out of my price range. I kept going back to the Epi. Some 2-3 hours later, I bought the Epi for around $350. That was '76. I still have the guitar. And it still sounds as nice. Not as nice as either of your Martins, but I'm still pleased with it.

Yep...I can hear the difference on the piano. I still sit at the keyboard and my wife likes for me to play while she's working her magic in the kitchen. Making music on the piano is a major component of my life...years of scales, scales and more scales...but it paid off in the end.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

The new ones that I have help my tinnitus tremendously. My right ear is especially bad and I can't notice the ringing at all when I have them in.

The hearing aid technology they have now is just amazing. I'd be interested to hear your feedback once you would try them.

Yeah...I would probably try that but I'm a little concerned in how that would impact my Med ticket...I'll check into that...thanks Jgillott

 

[jgillott]

Yeah...I would probably try that but I'm a little concerned in how that would impact my Med ticket...I'll check into that...thanks Jgillott

You would certainly have to take that in to consideration. But, I'll tell you, once they get you set up correctly, you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

[BoeingDiesel]

Thanks JG, I'll check with my daughter in law...she's an ear specialist at the VA in Billings MT.
I will say this...to escape the non-stop thousand crickets chirping may well be worth it