Martin Guitar - Top Quality Yields Top Sounds

For well over a century and a half, The Martin Guitar Company has been continuously producing acoustic guitars that are acknowledged to be the finest for playing music in the world. The Company has, through the years, managed to survive with each succeeding generation from C. F. Martin, Sr.'s Stauffer influenced creations of the 1830s to recent developments introduced by C. F. Martin IV. Continuous operation under family management is a feat bordering on the remarkable, reflecting six generations of dedication to the guitar maker's craft. In or out of the music industry, C. F. Martin has few rivals for sheer staying power.

The story behind one of America's most famous guitars began on January 31, 1796, in Markneukirchen, Germany, with the birth of Christian Frederick Martin, Sr. Born into a long line of cabinet makers, Christian Frederick took up the family craft at the early age of 15, when he left his hometown and traveled to Vienna to apprentice with Johann Stauffer, a renowned guitar maker.

Accepted business practices in the early days of making a Martin guitar were far removed from today's methods and reflected a simpler society. Barter was common in the retail trade. C. F. Martin's personal records contain numerous entries of trading musical merchandise for everything from a case of wine to children's clothing. New York City's teeming Lower East Side was a harsh environment that was a world apart from the pastoral Saxony where Martin and his family grew up.

The following years were a period of significant development for C. F. Martin guitar makers. In addition to products sold by Ludecus and Wolter in New York, company records indicate that numerous shipments were made to the then centers of trade, which were primarily shipping posts and those cities served by the canal system, since the railroad had yet to evolve.

Martin's shipping records made frequent mention of sales in Boston, Albany, Philadelphia, Richmond, Petersburg, Nashville, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and New Orleans. Business in the period was obviously satisfactory, for in an advertisement in 1850 the company declared, "C. F. Martin Guitar Maker, respectfully informs the musical public generally that the great favor bestowed upon him has induced him to enlarge his factory, in order to supply the increasing demand for his instruments."

Martin Guitar has always adhered to the highest standards of musical excellence, and it has also been managed very competently. This probably explains the company's remarkable success throughout its many years in business. Their choice of products and their marketing have changed over time, but the company's basic attitude to guitar-making has always been the same. Frank Henry Martin is known for having said to potential buyers, "A good guitar cannot be made for the same price as a poor one, but nobody regrets the extra cost of a good guitar." This statement of policy was uttered almost eighty years ago, but it still accurately reflects the attitude at Martin Guitar.

Daniel Wright