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Martin Guitar Features
The Martin Company has been established for over 150 years, producing some of the exquisite acoustic flattop guitars in the world. Virtually every producer of acoustic guitars has been influenced either directly or indirectly by Martin’s designs for its decorative inlay work. Christian Frederick Martin was born in 1796 in Germany, the son of a guitar maker. He emigrated to New York in 1833 where he set up a music shop. He later moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania where Martin’s factory was established and where it remains based today. Frank Henry Martin, Frederick Martin’s grandson, took over the operations of the company in 1888. Successive generations of Martins have since directed the company. C. F. Martin IV being the most recent was made chairman of the Board in 1986. Christian Frederick's first guitars were greatly influenced by Johann Stauffer a highly rated luthier for whom he had worked for as foreman. The features of these early guitars included floating fingerboard, the neck was adjustable and on one side of the headstock were the six machine heads. It was also typical of these guitars to be quite narrow as was normal before the Torres influence. X-bracing During the time leading up to the end of the nineteenth century Martin's guitars began to move away from European design influences and acquired their own unique designs which included the well known "X-bracing", which related to the wooden patterned strips found in the internal top of the body. This feature contributed to the specific quality of tone made by an acoustic guitar. The X-shaped pattern was developed by Martin in the 1850's and as with other acoustic guitar makers, have continued to utilise it to this day. The Nazareth move Later on in the nineteenth century the decision to no longer use Martin's New York distributor was taken by Frank Henry Martin, the son of Christian Frederick II who died in 1888. When Frank Henry Martin assumed control of the company, he ended the distribution contract with C.A. Zoebisch because he was dissatisfied with the agreement. From that moment onwards Frank sold instruments directly from Nazareth in 1898 resulting in a significant change by way of the brand stamp now being "C F Martin & Co., Nazareth PA" and no longer "C F Martin & Co, New York". The company began to grow under Frank Henry Martin seeing new developments in designs and the introduction of new models and instruments such as mandolins, ukuleles, mando-cellos and "tenor" guitars. |
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