Road Trip - Nazareth
I feel like a traitor: disloyal, derelict, and two-faced. But I am here nonetheless.
The C. F. Martin Guitar Company.
The Martin guitar factory is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where they have been making Martin guitars since 1833. The place is resplendent in acoustic guitars in all stages of manufacture. The air in Martin's sawmill is redolent of exotic wood. Today it is Indian rosewood and mahogany. The scent is indescribable - pungent and sweet - not like any wood I've ever encountered. Beautiful acoustic guitars are everywhere. I demo 4 or 5 Martins in the picking parlor including the Elvis Presley model, the renowned D-28, and a 7-string Roger McGuinn model. In the right hands, angels would weep at the beauty of its tone.
I started to play the guitar back in February. Both my children play. Guitars are all over my house. I've always envied that my kids are musicians. So last winter - on a whim - I picked up Danny's Fender Squire electric and started to learn. I decided I didn't want to arrive at the Pearly Gates not knowing how to play a musical instrument. I have zero chance of ever being good, but I play every day.
When it came time for me to buy a guitar, I was too embarrassed to audition anything. I brought Danny along as my auditioner. He played, I listened. We looked at many different brands: Yamaha, Breedlove, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Seagull, and Taylor.
But not Martin.
Martin guitars are for real guitar players, for people who have paid their dues, for people who don't have a day job: Cash, Presley, Clapton.
Danny tried them all for me, one after the other, until I decided on a Taylor DN-4 dreadnought.
Tried them all, that is, except Martin.
K-
The C. F. Martin Guitar Company.
The Martin guitar factory is in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, where they have been making Martin guitars since 1833. The place is resplendent in acoustic guitars in all stages of manufacture. The air in Martin's sawmill is redolent of exotic wood. Today it is Indian rosewood and mahogany. The scent is indescribable - pungent and sweet - not like any wood I've ever encountered. Beautiful acoustic guitars are everywhere. I demo 4 or 5 Martins in the picking parlor including the Elvis Presley model, the renowned D-28, and a 7-string Roger McGuinn model. In the right hands, angels would weep at the beauty of its tone.
I started to play the guitar back in February. Both my children play. Guitars are all over my house. I've always envied that my kids are musicians. So last winter - on a whim - I picked up Danny's Fender Squire electric and started to learn. I decided I didn't want to arrive at the Pearly Gates not knowing how to play a musical instrument. I have zero chance of ever being good, but I play every day.
When it came time for me to buy a guitar, I was too embarrassed to audition anything. I brought Danny along as my auditioner. He played, I listened. We looked at many different brands: Yamaha, Breedlove, Ibanez, Fender, Gibson, Seagull, and Taylor.
But not Martin.
Martin guitars are for real guitar players, for people who have paid their dues, for people who don't have a day job: Cash, Presley, Clapton.
Danny tried them all for me, one after the other, until I decided on a Taylor DN-4 dreadnought.
Tried them all, that is, except Martin.
K-
Home of the Speedway at Nazareth, a place Mark Knopfler, a pretty good guitarist made famous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Hf7hJf-PE
Knopfler is highlighted on the Walk of Fame on the Martin factory tour. Don't remember if he was holding his Martin at the Speedway or not.
K-