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Location: Phoenix AZ | Here's some random photos from the Martin factory tour.
The Martin Factory
Al: OFC shirt, Martin guitar
Jerome (thinking of his Adamas) and Tom
Some very old museum pieces
Examples of back purfling
Check out the license plate!
Necks fretboards and bridges |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | 
Rick Nelson leather tooled
Finished guitars waiting for inspection
Cool heel on the multi ply laminated necks
Bodies waiting for gloss
Bodies after gloss
Yummy, herringbone and rosewood
An example of early X bracing in the museum
A slotted headstock where the strings don't rub on the wood |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | 
Stacks of rims
Martin's prototype flame guitar, very cool
Glueing up the kerfing the old fashioned way
Attaching the body binding
Kerfing, rims and tail blocks
Scalloped braces, and lots of them
Investment tip: buy stock in clothes pins
Waiting for the glue to dry |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | 
As archeic as this looks, it seems to work
Trimming the braces
High end neck blocks by the dozens
600 guitars a day
Museum display of an old workshop
The company van
ONE OF america's guitars |
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Location: Orlando, FL | Thanks Dave. It's really interesting to look at this compared to the Ovation tour pics. Is the Martin factory much bigger than the Ovation factory? |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Nice Dave, thanks for the pics!! |
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Location: East Tennessee | Dave,
Really nice pictures. Thanks for posting them. :cool: |
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| Wow! Amazing! Thanks. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Designzilla:
Is the Martin factory much bigger than the Ovation factory? It's a pretty big operation. Not exactly sure how it compares to Ovation. They said they build 600 guitars a day.
Dave |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | So Dave, did you play the most expensive thing they had, then say,
"Real Nice! But I like my Balladeer better!" :cool: |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
So Dave, did you play the most expensive thing they had, then say, "Real Nice! But I like my Balladeer better!" They'd probably ask "What's a Balladeer?"
Interesting thing about the Martin vs. Ovation factory assumptions: One would assume (I did) that ovations were all high tech aero space blah blah blah, but I was amazed on my first visit to New Hartford to see how much hand craftsmanship goes into an Ovation. Likewise, I had this assumption that the martin factory would be a bunch of old men whittling necks and stuff. But I was amazed to see how high tech it was. Lots of CNC, robotics, a nifty laser fret leveler and nut cutter. All in all I'd say Martin and Ovation have about the same mix of high tech and hand craftsmanship. The main difference I would say is how much labor (and material) that Martin has to put into the back and rim construction. There's really a lot to it which no doubt accounts for a much of the cost difference vs. Ovation. Replace all that with a plastic bowl and the guitars (and construction techniques) are not that different.
Dave |
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Location: NJ | i am pictured with a d 35. I own a late sixties d 35 the one I played did not hold a candle to the one I own AND the tak ef 75 would blow it out of the water any day of the week.
i'll keep my adamas |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by Tupperware:
Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
So Dave, did you play the most expensive thing they had, then say, "Real Nice! But I like my Balladeer better!" They'd probably ask "What's a Balladeer?"
Interesting thing about the Martin vs. Ovation factory assumptions: One would assume (I did) that ovations were all high tech aero space blah blah blah, but I was amazed on my first visit to New Hartford to see how much hand craftsmanship goes into an Ovation. Likewise, I had this assumption that the martin factory would be a bunch of old men whittling necks and stuff. But I was amazed to see how high tech it was. Lots of CNC, robotics, a nifty laser fret leveler and nut cutter. All in all I'd say Martin and Ovation have about the same mix of high tech and hand craftsmanship. Dave
When I saw that I was impressed withe the Hand-Craftsmanship. I was glad that there was so much stuff that a machine can't really do better than a Human. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | PS Can anyone find that link to the 2005(?) Factory Tour, in French, with all that cool music.
I had to Brainwash my computer, and lost all my links.
I would appreciate it |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | I agree with Al. There were about 5-6 guitars out in the waiting area you could play. D35, 000-28 EC, OM something, X-something, a 16 series and some aluminium resonator that sounded like dangling donkey dooks. On paper some of these should have been really nice sounding guitars, but they all must have been sonic rejects of some sort or another. Just aweful. As a "brand" (which is a pretty broad brush), I think Martins are some of the best sounding guitars you can buy. But these samples were some serious dogs. Dave |
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Location: SoCal | Don't know why Dave, but I never really considered all the work that goes into the back and side of Martins vs. the Ovation bowl, as a factor of the cost differential, but it does make sense.... |
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Location: Paris/France | I'm glad to share my pictures of the Martin Factory Tour with you:
MARTIN FACTORY TOUR 2007
It was funny to visit the factory with my Ovation shirt (like Al and Dave)... :D
J :) |
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Location: Munich, Germany | Thank you both very much for these interesting pictures. I just can't get enough of those production stills.
Kurt |
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Location: Nashville TN. | Martin makes some very nice sounding guitars.
They sound even better with Adamas Strings.
I have a D-28 and it sounds great.
Action ok, not great.
Does it sound better than my Ovation TBolt or my Guild D-25? No just different.
My only complain about Martins is no factory service
and they awefully deicate and easily damaged.
I not comfy with taking Martin out and about in winter cold or summer heat.
In terms of the samples being dogs I bet it has more to do with the speed at which Martin strings go dead. I noticed they drop off badly after day 2. |
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Location: Nashville TN. | Jerome???
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!
You wore an Ovation shirt on a Martin Tour
I love it. |
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Location: Germany | Thanks Dave and Jerome for these great pics. I've already seen some of the German luthier workshops but never have been in such a high-tech guitar factory. I realized that they even spray the bodies with roboters!
I also can contribute a picture to this Martin thread. Today I had a trip with my family to Markneukirchen which is a center of German musical instrument making (they call themself "The Musictown"). Here C.F. Martin was born and had his first guitar shop before he emigrated to the US in 1833 due to conflicts with the violin makers guild. They have a nice museum of musical instruments there with some wonderful instruments from that era. They look the same as some of the instruments in the Martin museum in Nazareth on Jerome's pics (called Stauffer style guitars):
C.F. Martin IV visited this museum some years ago and donated them a HD-28 which is also shown there.
Karl |
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| B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! |
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Location: Alberta, Canada | Guys, very nice pictures. Thank you for sharing.
This forum gets more educational all the time! :)
Dave |
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Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Several years ago, my then-friend-eventually girlfriend-eventually fiance-now wife (like I said...several years ago! :cool: ), invited me to meet her family in Bethlehem, PA. While we were their, she took me to the Martin factory (a 20 minute drive) for the DAILY tour. (I SO wish Ovation would do that! My schedule somehow manages to preclude the OFC tour year after year!)
Anyway, upon entering, the door had barely closed behind us, when a thunderstorm of surprisingly strident fury cut loose outside with hard enough rain to make you worry about the finish on your car! :eek: We were the only two patrons in the building, and no one was going to be stepping out of that maelstrom! So the lady in the gift shop snagged a passing tech in the hallway and asked him to show us around. We could not have been treated more kindly than if we were C.F. Martin's long lost great niece and nephew!
This guy took his time showing us around, let us gawk as much as we liked, and occasionally introduced us to his friends if they were free. It was a genuinely pleasant and friendly afternoon with the staff of Martin Guitars. I've rarely enjoyed a tour so much.
I keep thinking I'll go again almost every time I visit the in-laws, but I'm positive I'll get stuck with some group of no-it-all, loudmouths who would ruin my memory of the place. (If anyone from the Ovation Factory tour thinks I'm referring to them, I'm not!...But I am curious as to why you have such a guilty conscience. :p )
I will say this though, whatever may come, you'll never hear me say anything bad about Martins. The people who work on them from the gift shop clerk to the guitar box shippers are just too nice to speak ill of. :)
Oh....and they make a darn good guitar too! :D |
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Location: Nashville | Very Interesting,but I hope Martin doesn't mind I love my 25 years old Ovation Deep Bowl better.Who says Ovation doesn't sound better with age.
Great story though......2 thumbs up.
Bye Heather |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Everyone should love their guitar and believe that it's the best guitar in the world for them. That's what keeps dozens and dozens of guitar makers in business.
Dave |
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Location: Bluffton, SC | Thanks for the posts, Dave. I've been a few hours away for my entire life and have never made it down to Nazareth. I'm going to make it a point to now.
But, rest assured, it won't replace Ct. |
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Location: Hicksville, NY | I've been to the Martin factory tour in the past, and as Dave previously mentioned, their craft in guitar-building is about the same mix of technology and hand craftsmanship as the Ovation factory. The tour guide, at that time, mentioned that they do not have factory second guitars. If the guitar fails their final inspections [even cosmetic flaws], it is automatically destroyed, thus any so-called "blems" that are sold in the market at bargain prices are the sole responsibility of the dealer, and not the factory's. I guess, I'll just take her word for it? :rolleyes:
The tour lasted just a little over an hour, and my wife and I had to follow a certain path which were guided by arrows on the floor. I couldn't get past the plexiglass either. Overall, I was pleased by the tour, but the guitars that they had on display for everyone to play was downright terrible [playability and soundwise]. Perhaps, them guitars needed a set-up and fresher strings? Well, that's what I thought at that time.
Their museum was under construction went I went there ... perhaps, another trip in the future would be ideal.
Very nice pictures BTW. :) |
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Location: Hicksville, NY | Originally posted by alpep:
[QB] i am pictured with a d 35. I own a late sixties d 35 the one I played did not hold a candle to the one I own AND the tak ef 75 would blow it out of the water any day of the week. /QB] According to John Bertsche at We Buy Guitars, who had been servicing my Ms on an on-going basis, he claimed that the Martin D-28 along with its variables [e.g. herringbone, V neck, slothead, forward-shift x bracing, scalloped x bracing, etc.], are pretty much their top of the line, in terms of sound, quality and craftsmanship. Anything beyond that, is purely for aesthetic purposes. He also added that the three-piece back on the D-35 [material and production-wise] is much cheaper, but for some unknown reason, it sells for much more than the 2-piece back of a D-28. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | The interesting thing is that I think you need to see one (Ovation or Martin) to fully appreciate the other. For example at Ovation it's a pretty good trick how they stick the wood top to the plastic bowl and get the neck to sit correctly without a real neck block. You'd never appreciate this until you saw how relatively easy it is with the all wood dovetail that Martin uses. On the other hand Martin pays painstaking details to the rosette inlay where as for years Ovation just stuck on a plastic ring. Ovation pays a lot of attention and expense to the electronics, Martin could give a shit about electronics and does everything in their power to discourage cutting holes in the side of your guitar. Ovation is all about choices - colors, configurations, etc. How many different guitar config combinations did you see on the tour. Maybe 100? At Martin, I swear to god we saw thousands of guitars and NOT ONE sunburst, NOT ONE 12-string. Seriously!!!
The two tours accomplished one thing - made me want to invest in way more ovations and way more martins. I can't wait to visit Austin, TX.
Dave |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by ignimbyte:
he claimed that the Martin D-28 along with its variables [e.g. herringbone, V neck, slothead, forward-shift x bracing, scalloped x bracing, etc.], are pretty much their top of the line, in terms of sound, quality and craftsmanship. Anything beyond that, is purely for aesthetic purposes. I would agree and I think that's largly true of most guitar makers. A Custom Elite doesn't sound any different that an Elite, does it? People will pay good money for "bling" and knowing that they have something that's "top of the line".
Dave |
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Location: Hicksville, NY | Besides John, Stan Jay at Mandolin Brothers told me something similar to that about the 28s being Martin's top of the line, and anything else beyond it is solely for "bling" and more money. That was a little over a year ago when he sold me my HD-28. Should I choose the gorgeous looks of the D-35 and over, Stan added that he'd be happy to sell it to me and take my money ... LOL |
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OT: PHOTOS OF MARTIN FACTORY TOUR