Crafting Guitar Magic

C. F. Martin & Co. is the world’s oldest guitar company and the largest acoustic guitar maker in the United States.

Susan Cummings skillfully fits a dovetail neck to an acoustic guitar, taking pride in the work she has performed for C. F. Martin & Co. in Nazareth, Pa. (pop. 6,023), for nearly 20 years.

"I worked on a guitar for Clint Black," says Cummings, 53. "When I saw him playing it, it gave me a good feeling."

Cummings’ grandfather, Earle Hartzell, began his career building ukuleles and Hawaiian guitars at Martin’s old North Street factory, retiring in 1965 after 40 years with the company.

Tradition is a way of life at C. F. Martin & Co., which has produced more than 1 million stringed instruments since its founding 172 years ago. Martin is the world’s oldest guitar company and the largest acoustic guitar maker in the United States.

"I sometimes feel like a marathon runner who was handed the baton by my grandfather," says Christian F. Martin IV, the company’s CEO and sixth generation in charge of the family business.

Martin’s great-great-great grandfather, Christian Frederick Martin Sr., left his native Germany in 1833 to set up a guitar shop on New York City’s Hudson Street. By 1839, a loyal following enabled him to move his operation to picturesque Nazareth, Pa.

Today, the company employs 650 workers at its Sycamore Street facility in Nazareth and produces 275 guitars each day.

A Martin guitar has roughly 160 parts, many hand-hewn with time-honored tools and methods by skilled guitar makers called luthiers. They carve, sand, fit, glue and listen, a process songwriter Stephen Stills has likened to magic. Yet the marriage of tradition and innovation is evident, too.

Alongside computer-assisted machinery that produces precision parts, guitar tops and backs dry on a finishing wheel fashioned by C. F. Martin III from an old railroad switch. Clothespins still are considered the best way to clamp cedar lining to a guitar’s side during the drying process.

Mahogany, spruce and rosewood are coaxed into gracefully curved instruments supported by the famous X-braces developed by the company in the 1840s. X-bracing gives each guitar the strength to withstand pressure from taut strings without distorting the tone and is imitated by luthiers around the world. It is one of several innovations that have helped sustain the company through economic slumps and an evolving music industry.

"We’re always dancing on the edge of beautiful tone and self destruction," Christian F. Martin IV says. "To get that pure sound, we have to make our instruments delicate. But at the same time, we have to make them durable."

By the time Martin, who considers himself a "guitar mechanic," earned his degree in business administration from Boston University, his grandfather, C. F. Martin III, had persuaded him to carry the family business forward.

When the younger Martin took over in 1986, disco and synthesizers were popular. The company was floundering due to a weak demand for guitars and a foray into drum making and corporate acquisitions.

Christian F. Martin IV’s strategy was to focus on what the company knew best—acoustic guitars—balancing its trademark hand craftsmanship with emerging technology. That plan took the company from a production level of fewer than 4,000 guitars in 1983 to more than 40,000 by 1999. In 2003, the guitar maker produced its millionth instrument.

"Our guitars define what a guitar is," says Dick Boak, Martin’s director of artist relations. Boak’s book, Martin Guitar Masterpieces, includes photos and anecdotes from Martin guitar users like Gene Autry, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen.

Professional musicians such as blues and rock artist Kenny Wayne Shepherd revere Martin guitars for their quality and dependability. In fact, Shepherd collaborated with the company in 2001 to produce a line of custom-designed guitars that carry his signature.

"Owning a Martin is like owning a Bentley," Shepherd says, comparing a Martin guitar to a luxury automobile.

Susan Stets is a freelance writer in Fairless Hills, Pa.

Upload Your Own Stories, Photos and Videos

Every week, American Profile magazine brings you stories that celebrate the people and places that make America great. Now we want to hear your stories and see your photos, videos and even audio.

 Start Uploading Now!

 

Discuss this Article