- MARTIN
- chevron_right MARTIN HISTORY: 1833-1950S
Christian Frederick Martin, Sr. (1796-1873) came from a woodworking (cabinet making) family background. He learned guitar building as an employee of Johann Stauffer, and worked his way up to becoming Stauffer's foreman in Vienna, Austria. Martin left Stauffer in 1825, and returned to his birthplace in Markneukirchen, Germany. Martin got caught up in an ongoing dispute between the violin makers' guild and the cabinet makers' guild. Martin and his family emigrated to America in the fall of 1833, and by the end of the year set up a full-line music store. The Martin store dealt in all types of musical instruments, sheet music, and repairs, as well as Martin's Stauffer-style guitars.
After six years, the Martin family moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. C.A. Zoebich & Sons, their New York sales agency, continued to hold "exclusive" rights to sell Martin guitars, so the Martin guitars retained their New York labels until a business falling-out occurred in 1898. The Martin family settled outside of town, and continued producing guitars that began to reflect less of a European design in favor of a more straightforward design. Christian Martin favored a deeper, lower bout, Brazilian rosewood for the back and sides, cedar for necks, and a squared-off slotted peghead (with three tuners per side). Martin's scalloped X-bracing was developed and used beginning in 1850 instead of the traditional "fan" bracing favored by Spanish luthiers (fan bracing is favored on classical guitars today).
In 1852, Martin standardized his body sizes, with Size 1 being the largest and Size 3 being the smallest (size 2 and 2½ were also included). Two years later, a larger Size 0 and a smaller Size 5 "Terz" were added to the line. Martin also standardized his style (or design) distinctions in the mid-1850s, with the introduction of Style 17 in 1856 and Styles 18 and 27 a year later. Thus, every Martin guitar has a two-part name: size number and style number. Martin moved into town in 1857 (a few blocks north of town square), and built his guitar building factory right next door within two years.
The C.F. Martin & Company was announced in 1867, and in three years a wide range of styles was available. A larger body size, the Size 00, or Grand Concert, debuted in 1877. Under the direction of C.F. Martin, Jr. (1825-1888), the company decided to begin producing mandolins, which caused the business split with their New York sales agency. Martin bowl-back mandolins were first offered in 1895 - three years before the snowflake inlay Style 42 became available. In 1898, Martin began serializing their guitars. Martin estimated that 8,000 guitars had been built between 1833 and 1898, so started the serialization with number 8,000. Ever since 1898, Martin has serial numbered their guitars (excluding the Backpacker and Little Martin guitars) using a straightforward numerical sequence. At the end of each year, the last serial number is recorded and this provides a very accurate way to date Martin guitars back to 1898. In 1902, the 15 in. wide Size 000 "Grand Auditorium" was introduced, and more pearl inlay on Martin guitars was introduced in 1902, which led to the fancier Style 45 two years later.
A major materials change occurred in 1916, as mahogany replaced cedar as the chosen wood for neck building, and white celluloid (ivoroid) became the new binding material in 1918. The Martin company also took a big technological leap in 1922, as they adapted the Model 2-17 for steel strings instead of gut strings (all models would switch to steel string configuration by 1929). To help stabilize the new amount of stress in the necks, an ebony bar was embedded in the neck (the ebony bar was replaced by a steel T-Bar in 1934). Martin briefly built banjos in the early to mid-1920s, and also built a fair share of good quality ukuleles and tiples.
In 1929, Martin was contacted by Perry Bechtel who was looking for a flattop guitar with fourteen frets clear of the body (Martin's models all joined at the twelfth fret). The company responded by building a 000 Grand Auditorium model with a square-shouldered body and slimmed down 14/20-fret neck. This new model was announced in the 1930 catalog as the OM (Orchestra Model), and the 14/20-fret neck was adopted by almost all models in the production line by 1934. Martin also began stamping the model name into the neck block of every guitar in 1931.
Martin responded to the up-and-coming popularity of jazz guitars and began offering archtop models in the early 1930s. The three C models were introduced in 1931, the R-18 two years later, and the F-7 (the shape that eventually became the profile of the M, 0000, and J models) in 1935. Martin archtop production lasted until 1942. The archtops of 1931 have since been overshadowed by another model that debuted that year - Martin's 16 in. wide dreadnought size. Guitar players were asking for more volume, but instead of making a bigger "0000" body, Martin chose to design a new type of acoustic guitar. Martin was already building a similar type of guitar originally as a model for the Oliver Ditson company in 1916; they just waited for the market to catch up to them!
The Dreadnought acoustic (so named after large World War I battleships) with X-bracing is probably the most widely copied acoustic guitar design in the world today. A look at today's music market could confirm a large number of companies building a similar design, and the name "Dreadnought" has become an industry standard.
In 1938, the X-bracing (on Dreadnought models only) was shifted back to approximately two inches from soundhole, presumably to strengthen the top. In 1939, the neck was narrowed slightly. In mid-1944, the Martin company stopped the practice of "scalloping" (shaving a concave surface) the braces on their guitar tops. 1947 saw the end of herringbone trim on the guitar tops, due to a lack of consistent sources (either German or American). The first two dozen (or so) 1947 D-28 models did have herringbone trim. Some thirty years later, Martin's HD-28 model debuted with the "restored" scalloped bracing and herringbone trim (this model is still in production today).
After six years, the Martin family moved to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. C.A. Zoebich & Sons, their New York sales agency, continued to hold "exclusive" rights to sell Martin guitars, so the Martin guitars retained their New York labels until a business falling-out occurred in 1898. The Martin family settled outside of town, and continued producing guitars that began to reflect less of a European design in favor of a more straightforward design. Christian Martin favored a deeper, lower bout, Brazilian rosewood for the back and sides, cedar for necks, and a squared-off slotted peghead (with three tuners per side). Martin's scalloped X-bracing was developed and used beginning in 1850 instead of the traditional "fan" bracing favored by Spanish luthiers (fan bracing is favored on classical guitars today).
In 1852, Martin standardized his body sizes, with Size 1 being the largest and Size 3 being the smallest (size 2 and 2½ were also included). Two years later, a larger Size 0 and a smaller Size 5 "Terz" were added to the line. Martin also standardized his style (or design) distinctions in the mid-1850s, with the introduction of Style 17 in 1856 and Styles 18 and 27 a year later. Thus, every Martin guitar has a two-part name: size number and style number. Martin moved into town in 1857 (a few blocks north of town square), and built his guitar building factory right next door within two years.
The C.F. Martin & Company was announced in 1867, and in three years a wide range of styles was available. A larger body size, the Size 00, or Grand Concert, debuted in 1877. Under the direction of C.F. Martin, Jr. (1825-1888), the company decided to begin producing mandolins, which caused the business split with their New York sales agency. Martin bowl-back mandolins were first offered in 1895 - three years before the snowflake inlay Style 42 became available. In 1898, Martin began serializing their guitars. Martin estimated that 8,000 guitars had been built between 1833 and 1898, so started the serialization with number 8,000. Ever since 1898, Martin has serial numbered their guitars (excluding the Backpacker and Little Martin guitars) using a straightforward numerical sequence. At the end of each year, the last serial number is recorded and this provides a very accurate way to date Martin guitars back to 1898. In 1902, the 15 in. wide Size 000 "Grand Auditorium" was introduced, and more pearl inlay on Martin guitars was introduced in 1902, which led to the fancier Style 45 two years later.
A major materials change occurred in 1916, as mahogany replaced cedar as the chosen wood for neck building, and white celluloid (ivoroid) became the new binding material in 1918. The Martin company also took a big technological leap in 1922, as they adapted the Model 2-17 for steel strings instead of gut strings (all models would switch to steel string configuration by 1929). To help stabilize the new amount of stress in the necks, an ebony bar was embedded in the neck (the ebony bar was replaced by a steel T-Bar in 1934). Martin briefly built banjos in the early to mid-1920s, and also built a fair share of good quality ukuleles and tiples.
In 1929, Martin was contacted by Perry Bechtel who was looking for a flattop guitar with fourteen frets clear of the body (Martin's models all joined at the twelfth fret). The company responded by building a 000 Grand Auditorium model with a square-shouldered body and slimmed down 14/20-fret neck. This new model was announced in the 1930 catalog as the OM (Orchestra Model), and the 14/20-fret neck was adopted by almost all models in the production line by 1934. Martin also began stamping the model name into the neck block of every guitar in 1931.
Martin responded to the up-and-coming popularity of jazz guitars and began offering archtop models in the early 1930s. The three C models were introduced in 1931, the R-18 two years later, and the F-7 (the shape that eventually became the profile of the M, 0000, and J models) in 1935. Martin archtop production lasted until 1942. The archtops of 1931 have since been overshadowed by another model that debuted that year - Martin's 16 in. wide dreadnought size. Guitar players were asking for more volume, but instead of making a bigger "0000" body, Martin chose to design a new type of acoustic guitar. Martin was already building a similar type of guitar originally as a model for the Oliver Ditson company in 1916; they just waited for the market to catch up to them!
The Dreadnought acoustic (so named after large World War I battleships) with X-bracing is probably the most widely copied acoustic guitar design in the world today. A look at today's music market could confirm a large number of companies building a similar design, and the name "Dreadnought" has become an industry standard.
In 1938, the X-bracing (on Dreadnought models only) was shifted back to approximately two inches from soundhole, presumably to strengthen the top. In 1939, the neck was narrowed slightly. In mid-1944, the Martin company stopped the practice of "scalloping" (shaving a concave surface) the braces on their guitar tops. 1947 saw the end of herringbone trim on the guitar tops, due to a lack of consistent sources (either German or American). The first two dozen (or so) 1947 D-28 models did have herringbone trim. Some thirty years later, Martin's HD-28 model debuted with the "restored" scalloped bracing and herringbone trim (this model is still in production today).