Meet Dick Boak and Richard Johnston to talk about the history of Martin Guitars

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Permalink Reply by Richard N. Johnston on June 9, 2009 at 5:44pm

We hear comments like this quite often. Your "other" guitar is probably a fine-sounding instrument, but a major part of your satisfaction with it comes from your learning how to get the sound you want to hear from a guitar, and in 30 years you've no doubt gotten quite good at it. But if the logo was sanded off the headstock, AND you bought it in a pawnshop, it's also possible that the serial number was sanded off the neckblock as well. So maybe it's not a Martin, but until you have it checked out and learn that it definitely wasn't made in Nazareth, who knows?

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Permalink Reply by jerry d moses on June 9, 2009 at 12:58pm

Hi Guys, I sold Stephen Stills the 1924 , 000-45 Martin that's on his first albumn cover in 1969! I was a star-struck kid of 18 and needed the $ badly for skool. I thought you might enjoy the story I attached.
Jerry Moses

Attachments:

• Stills.doc, 28 KB

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Permalink Reply by Richard Chalgren on June 9, 2009 at 1:03pm

Great Story. Bad Deal. But, Who Knew Then?

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Permalink Reply by Jan van Veen on June 9, 2009 at 1:27pm

That's a great story! And I always loved the album cover, funny how a picture can have such an influence. I started with dreadnoughts but there was always that desire to have one of those 000's.

I can imagine that you feel like a fool having sold that guitar. But on the other hand you've made history by doing that. Otherwise there wouldn't have been the Stills album cover...

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Permalink Reply by Albertini "Custom" Guitar Works on June 9, 2009 at 1:42pm

Mr. Moses!!! Wow that is such an amazing story! Thank you for sharing with us all. I actually jammed one on one with Johny Barbata the most phenomenal drummer for CSNY "Crosby Stills Nash & Young" right here in my hometown house when my basement was starting to flood out a little over a year ago! Johny has a great book out called "The Legendary Life of a Rock Star Drummer" for about $35 bucks... Awesome and funny account of his personal experiences touring the world and beyond in The Jefferson Starship!!!!! LoL
P.S.
Im waiting on him to get back from L.A. to join him taking him up on his invitation to join him in his personal studio! Fun times I would be happy to connect you all to him if you would like a copy of his book too?
danielamusic@sbcglobal.net
;Daniel

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Permalink Reply by michael on June 9, 2009 at 12:59pm

i have, fairly recently, purchased a 2008 hd-28 and a 2007 000-18GE. both are extraordinary guitars!
yesterday, i ordered the martin guitar box set and look forward to reading every word in each book.
i want to thank you and martin guitars for providing my musical enjoyment and i hope to be able to attend the martin museum some day.
mikeB.

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Permalink Reply by William on June 9, 2009 at 1:02pm

Sitka bracing or Adirondack bracing?

Perhaps you guys are already aware of a rather lively discussion elsewhere about sitka vs adirondack braces used on the 1930s Martin guitars. The story is that one or a couple of luthiers that work on prewars frequently, claim that the braces were in fact sitka and not adirondack on a majority of the guitars. I believe it was said that the braces were aging into a different color than the top which is adirondack. On top of that, it is being said that the wood feels and cuts like sitka and not adirondack. A sample of wood from the bracing was sent off to be tested and it was confirmed to be sitka. There are others who say that this is wrong and I believe that Martin is saying they have no record of this etc etc.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

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Permalink Reply by Richard N. Johnston on June 9, 2009 at 3:18pm

There are records of Martin buying Sitka spruce when it was still using Adirondack for all its guitar tops, so the company may in fact have been putting Sitka spruce bracing on guitars with Adirondack tops (then again, it might have been using Sitka for something else, like mandolin tops or the millions of ukulele braces it was making at that time). Where I have trouble with these theories is when people say Martin "always" did something, because we often find that changes in materials, or even techniques, were not absolute and irreversible changes at all, but instead just a response to a temporary shortage from the company's usual source, or an experiment in doing something differently. And to make things even more confusing, some tops from around 1930 appear to have braces of different colors, suggesting that more than one species of spruce was used. Was this deliberate? Or, and this is more likely, was it just a case of using what was at hand? Frank Henry Martin left behind a LOT of notes, and so did John Deichman, but as far as I know they never mentioned different tone from different braces. Same is true of "top tuning." Some people feel very strongly that Martin did it, but since Frank Henry and the foremen from that period kept so many notes, but never mentioned tuning a top to a certain note, it's hard to support that claim. But, and this is important, "absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence." In other words, the fact that we can't prove Martin did something is not the same as having proof that they never did it.
Some current builders are having great success using Adirondack top bracing on soundboards that are another species of spruce. I'm a big believer in the "whole guitar" theory of tone, and after playing hundreds of old Martins as they pass through our shop, one can't help but notice what a wide variety of tonal response is found in the same models made during the same year, and sometimes even from the same batch. This suggests that Martin was building to specific dimensions, and not to a specific tone.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Angermayer on June 9, 2009 at 1:07pm

Hello Mr. Boak and Mr. Johnson, Thank you for participating in this discussion. We enjoy folks such as yourselves being available to talk with us today. I have a Martin D-21 Special. Nice guitar with great overtones. I wonder if you could provide a little history and background on the instrument and the thought behind building a D-21 again. Thanks again. Regards, Steve

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Permalink Reply by Albertini "Custom" Guitar Works on June 9, 2009 at 1:09pm

Steve what a lovely surprise!!!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Angermayer on June 9, 2009 at 1:11pm

Great to see you my friend!

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Permalink Reply by Richard N. Johnston on June 9, 2009 at 6:01pm

Dick Boak would have more insider info on the D-21 Special, but it shares the same features of the OM-21 Special that preceded it. Both have a lot of "vintage" appointments, but are not reissues of an actual model made in the 1930s or early '40s. The D-21, of course, was first introduced in the mid-1950s, long after the period when Martin was using herringbone rosettes or pyramid bridges. The 21 Specials have a great overall look, in my opinion, and not everyone who likes the sound and appearance of rosewood wants white or ivoroid binding. By stepping outside its sometimes rigid model codes, Martin has the flexibility to offer some attractive models at compelling prices, with features that would make the price prohibitive if you went through their Custom Shop and they had to make such a guitar as a one-off.

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