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Anyone been on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum?


Andrewrg

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You know what these sad souls are doing now?They want to send in their dollars to buy Mr Martin a nice 50th birthday present as a gesture of gratitude for"all the things he has done for the UMGF"and "being members of the family!"

Get a friggin`life!

No matter how charming,altruistic and charitable Mr Martin may be on a personal level,when it comes to business all he`s interested in is selling guitars and keeping his company afloat.

So,I said I was gonna give Bill Gates some money for being such a great guy and letting me use a computer!

I cant believe the fawning,bowing and scraping attitude I see there.

Rant over.

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Spot on! Having increased the output of acoustic guitars to 300,000 between 1999 and 2004 (that's 60,000 a year, 5,000 a month or 165 aday) I'm sure CFM has no cashflow problem. I'd give that money in charity to those who never even seen a Martin guitar but live only a stone throw away from trees to be used as tonewoods. To Chris that money is a drop in the ocean, to those indogent people that money could mean survival.

 

I think I'd buy president G.W. Bush a nuclear device he could fiddle around with on his spare time, as a tribute to his successful liberation of the world [ironic]. Suppose I shouldn't put a label saying "What ever you do: don't push this button"; if I would I'm sure he would push it to see what happens.

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Well,thank goodness I`m not the only one!For a moment I thought I was being mean and heartless.

The reality is the guy is CEO of a multi-million dollar business and I doubt he gives a flying f***about birthday gifts from a thousand anonymous forum members.

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-Really, come on now, Martin needs money, so he sell more jacked because they made in USA guitars, So he can buy some more clc machines to cut spruce wood. You really should check the unofficial Blueridge board(there is one) to hear about the complaints of toner color, string spacing and the guitars they really play (Martins)

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Can we have that in English please?

:confused:

 

Originally posted by guit30

-Really, come on now, Martin needs money, so he sell more jacked because they made in USA guitars, So he can buy some more clc machines to cut spruce wood. You really should check the unofficial Blueridge board(there is one) to hear about the complaints of toner color, string spacing and the guitars they really play (Martins)

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"Well I don't know much about the family, afraid if I did, I'd question the guitar's integrity."

 

If you and some of the other posters here did know a little more about the Martin family and the Legacy Chris is very succesfully continuing, you might not be so quick to criticize.

 

"Integrity" and "Quality" are two words that get thrown around a lot in our current business world but at Martin, they actually mean something.

 

Personally, I'm very impressed by any family owned company that can not only survive, but thrive, through six generations and stay at the top of its industry.

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Originally posted by 35fingerpicker

"Well I don't know much about the family, afraid if I did, I'd question the guitar's integrity."


If you and some of the other posters here
did
know a little more about the Martin family and the Legacy Chris is very succesfully continuing, you might not be so quick to criticize.

I own two Martins and like them very much. Thing is, with the low-end models(witch I own) you have to pick through a lot of them before you find the"good"one.

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    not to get too off topic.....

     

    Jasmine, that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about when people start talking about should they upgrade to a new guitar, or get fossilized pteradactyl claw bridge pins or how much difference does solid side vs laminate side make.

     

    The best guitar in the world will sound like crap if you don't know how to play it.

     

    What makes a guitar sound better? Practice.

     

    Rant over.

     

    I like the man's guitars. If he can make a pretty penny selling them, more power to him.

     

    I won't be contributing to the gift fund though. I'm saving up for a HD-28

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    "I own two Martins and like them very much. Thing is, with the low-end models(witch I own) you have to pick through a lot of them before you find the"good"one."

     

    Your post points out what I believe to be the biggest marketing problem with Martins right now. It seems as though a lot of people (especially on this forum) have less than great opinions of Martin "quality" based on what they've seen at Guitar Center or Sam Ash and other megastores. I really can't blame these people for their perspective; I've seen what these stores do to their Martins, mainly through neglect. Pour setups, nasty crusty strings, and misinformed salespeople are pretty much the order of the day in a lot of these places.

     

    Since guitars are made of wood, a natural substance, there will be variations in tone, even within a particular model, but overall, the build quality of Martins is the same, regardless of the price. The fit and finish on my 000-15 is every bit as good as any factory built guitar I've ever played (and I've played for over 40 years). Does it look and/or sound as good as my OM-35? Of course not, but it does routinely blow away $2000-$3000 Taylors at open mics.

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    Originally posted by 35fingerpicker

    Your post points out what I believe to be the biggest marketing problem with Martins right now.

    I would'nt mind hearing a little more about that.

      "Every guitar is our BEST effort" -CFM. If this was true, I could get a D-1 that sounds as good as a Clarence White.
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    Originally posted by JasmineTea

    I would'nt mind hearing a little more about that.

      Martin grade the top woods out of 7.Typically styles 40 and above are graded 5/6.The grade is pencilled under the top down by the bottom bout and looks like S/5(sitka,grade 5),or,eg,A/4(adirondack,grade 4).

      Therefore the chances are very good that,cosmetic appointments aside,your D45 MAY sound better than your D28.

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      "Every guitar is our BEST effort" -CFM."

       

      The effort Chris is referring to is the actual construction of the guitar. Like any commodity, a guitar's production cost is determined by more than the amount is costs to put it together.

      Your comparison of a D-1 and a D-28CW is an excellent illustration.

       

      Back and side woods-Solid Indian or Brazilian (CWB) Rosewood is a lot more expensive than laminated(or solid back) Mahogany.

       

      Fingerboards and bridges-Solid Black Ebony costs a lot more than In dian Rosewood.

       

      Top Woods- High Grade Adirondack Spruce costs a lot more than Lower Grade Sitka Spruce.

       

      Finishes- It takes a lot more time and labor to do a Nitrocellulose High Gloss Lacquer finish than a Catalyzed Lacquer Satin finish.

       

      Have you noticed that I haven't said anything about inlays yet?

       

      Why does the CW sound better? Tone is pretty subjective. Different woods produce different tones. A lot of people prefer the tone of Rosewood over Mahogany. I happen to like them both but traditionally, Martin's Mahogany guitars were of simpler designs so their prices were lower.

      The higher-end guitars do get higher grades of these woods also and, of course, straight grained, consistently colored,"prettier" woods cost more. Generally, stiffer top woods produce better tone and tighter grained Spruce tops tend to be stiffer.

      Martin says they grade their tops by appearance only but basically, better looking tops sound better (there is, however, certainly no consensus on this point). They have basically 4 grade "ranges" (my term, not Martin's) within each species of Spruce. They are 1/2, 3/4/, 5/6, and 7/8. The 7/8's are reserved for Vintage Series, Limited Editions, Signature Editions, and 40 Series guitars. It is possible to get a higher grade top in a "lower" series guitar by special ordering it (at additional cost) or, ocassionally there may be a temporary shortage of a given grade for a certain model so that guitar could receive a higher grade top than that specified for that model but it would never receive a lower than specified grade.

      Most of this information comes from the very knowledgeable "sad souls" that post on the UMGF but my personal experience has proven to be pretty consistent with what I've read there.

      I'm saving for a D-18VS.:)

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