Martin Guitars Custom Shop

[AHill]

This is Part 3 in a series, but I thought this one showed a fair amount of the woodworking involved in making guitars.  The big guys still have some pretty skilled craftsmen.

[Admiral]

I took the factory tour a while back. I lingered watching the custom guys work.

[barryvabeach]

Nice post,  I really enjoyed the video.

[Mr Eddie]

Thanks for posting - fun video to watch.  I noticed when they were looking at the glue pot how dark the hide glue was.  I wonder what type and weight of glue they use?  The hide glue I use is never that dark.

Lonnie

[DaveParkis]

There's an episode of "A Craftsman Legacy" that is about a guy that runs a school and builds guitars, and watching him use a 151, card scraper and shinto rasp put a big grin on my face.

[Hank Knight]

They do incredible work. I ordered a custom Martin for a "retirement gift" to myself 4 years ago. It took a year, but it was well worth the wait. It is the most beautifully made guitar I've ever seen.

[AHill]

In Part 2 this lady is using what looks like a Narex chisel to scallop the bracing.  She is very fast and that chisel is very sharp.  It's very impressive.

This week, a Martin D-28 Marquis will show up at my home.  It's not a custom shop guitar, but it's also not one of their "standard" models.  I'm trying to be patient!

[BrokenOlMarine]

I love to watch gifted craftsman work with their tools.

[hbmcc]

OK, Allan .... Where is that guitar?

[AHill]

OK, Allan .... Where is that guitar?

Martin D-28 Marquis.  Sounds like a dream.  A musician friend who owns around 18 guitars played it and said it was the best sounding Martin he'd ever played.  Sounds great strummed, flat-picked, or fingerstyle.  For those musically inclined, the Marquis is no longer being made.  They ended production last year.  It has an adirondack spruce top, east Indian rosewood sides and back, forward shifted bracing, and bone nut and saddle.  The workmanship is flawless.  The Marquis was not a "standard" model, but a limited run of the D-28 constructed closely to the 1930's models, with EIR vs. the Brazilian rosewood used then.  Brazilian rosewood has been on CITES for quite some time.  The current source of adirondack spruce is from trees planted 50 years ago to replenish the species, which was over-harvested.