MARTIN | The Journal of Acoustic Guitars: Volume 14

SONGWRITER

VOLUME 14 | 2024

C.F. Martin & Co., Inc.

PO Box 329, Nazareth, Pa, 18064 martinguitar.com

C.F. MARTIN & CO.

Chairman of the Board: C.F. Martin IV

Chief Executive Officer: Thomas Ripsam

VP of Marketing: Michael Nelson

Marketing Comms Manager: Kristi Bronico

Creative Manager: Mandee McEvoy

Graphic Designer: Vanessa Goffredo

Copywriter: Derrick Krom

Archives & Museum Manager: Jason Ahner

Artist Relations Manager: Rory Glass

Photography: Eric Dowd, Ryan Hulvat

NME NETWORKS

Editor: Josh Gardner

Art Editor: Philip Millard

Associate Editor: Cillian Breathnach

Production Editor: Sean McGeady

Cover Photography: Adam Gasson Manager, Commercial & Partnerships: Joe Supple

Project Manager: Ami Lord

Contributors: Huw Baines, Diane Ponzio, Craig Thatcher Published by C.F. Martin & Co., Inc © 2024 C.F. Martin & Co., Inc, Nazareth, Pa All rights reserved

SET LIST

4

6

WELCOME

A word from Chris Martin IV… and a few friends

LINER NOTES

Your correspondence

8 THE 50 GREATEST MARTIN SONGS EVER

Take a tour through the indelible impact Martin has had on popular music over the last 190 years

28

36

THE NEXT GENERATION

Meet the inaugural class of the Martin Showcase program – and your new favorite artists

REMEMBERING THE SONGWRITERS

Bid farewell to Robbie Robertson, David Crosby, and Jimmy Buffett, legends of Martin and music

42

52

THE SONGWRITERS WITHIN

Meet the Martin folks who get as much out of their instruments as they put into making them

VINCE GILL: THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN

The giant of American country music has long been defined by Martin guitars – hear his story

60

MAKING THE TOOLS THAT MAKE THE SONGS

Learn what it’s like to be responsible for making instruments that inspire people all over the world

64

76

78

82

IMMACULATE INCEPTION

Why Martin’s innovative new guitar is unlike anything the company has ever designed before

NORTH STREET ARCHIVES

A songwriter’s tour of the Martin archives

ECONOMIES OF SCALE

How to choose the correct scale length for your Martin guitar

NEW FROM MARTIN

Find out all about two exciting new Martin programs – Backstage and Lesson Room

THEtop FROM CHRIS

a word from

A good friend of mine, Diane Ponzio, says that the Martin Guitar is the perfect songwriting tool. “Tool” is a really interesting word in the context of Martin. When I was young, my grandfather surprised me when he said that we were mechanics. Usually my grandfather was very diplomatic when he spoke, and this sounded rather blunt – a mechanic’s job is highly skilled, of course, but to describe a luthier with such a term felt rather, well, mechanical.

I asked him what he meant by mechanics. I was thinking cars, but my dad was more of a car guy than my grandfather. He said we aren’t luthiers because we aren’t making lutes. We are guitar builders, at a scale and volume that requires us to think constantly about improving the mechanics of guitar building for our customers.

I like to say that our goal is to build a better guitar tomorrow than we did today. As I welcome you to this Songwriter issue, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about songwriting, but I do know a good tune when I hear it. As such, I’ve asked two friends of mine who do know a lot about this stuff to talk about their perspective on songwriting.

Sincerely,

C.F. MARTIN IV

Diane PONZIO

Writing songs and singing them to audiences all over the world with my Martin has been an incredible experience. And there are few things more personal and intimate than sitting down with my own personal “orchestra” and finding a song together.

In essence, songwriting is a journey of discovery that rewards the writer with the power to move people to tears, laughter, contemplation, and relief. When my career as a performing singer-songwriter began, I had a meeting with a high-powered music attorney in his sleek office on West 57th Street in New York. He said, “Between here and 14th Street there are 10,000 great guitarists and singers. What will differentiate you from everyone else is your songs.”

There is freedom in the fact that there are no rules on how to write a song, but the truth remains that no one can write your song better than you. What inspires you? I have always found inspiration in the enchanting tones of my Martin. Not a week goes by that I haven’t received an email from someone in the world who was touched in some way by a song that I wrote. I find that quite amazing – and it brings us to the real question of how we define success. To simply write a song is an accomplishment. To have someone else appreciate it is a gift and a privilege. So have a go and get inspired with the best songwriting tool in the world: a Martin guitar.

Diane Ponzio has toured globally as a concert performer and as a Martin Ambassador. She has released 10 CDs of her original music and designed a signature Martin Jumbo, the JDP. Diane now lives in New Zealand, where she still writes and performs.

Craig THATCHER

Good songwriting doesn’t happen overnight. It can take years of writing average songs and matching lyrics with melody to come up with just the right combination that has universal appeal. The successful songwriter learns how to take their thoughts, ideas, and experiences – and communicate them in such a way that we as listeners can relate them to our own lives.

While writing this, I’m thinking of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who began writing songs together when Paul was 15 and John was 17. Paul has stated that, between when they first met on July 6, 1957 to when they released “Love Me Do” on October 5, 1962, they wrote more than 100 songs together.

It’s fascinating to see how this extraordinary songwriting duo developed over the subsequent seven years to become perhaps the greatest songwriting team of the 20th century. Great songs tell interesting stories and when paired with memorable (and often quite simple) melodies, end up playing an important role in the story of our lives. While some people are naturally gifted storytellers, most of us have to work diligently to try and achieve our goals and not just sit around waiting for our muse to visit.

In addition to Lennon and McCartney, my favorite songwriters include Bob Dylan, Jagger and Richards, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Carole King, Jimmy Buffett, and especially Mark Knopfler, who writes, sings, and plays story-songs like no one else.

Craig Thatcher is a bandleader (The Craig Thatcher Band), an International Clinician/Ambassador for C.F. Martin & Co, a guitar instructor, and recording artist.

LETTERS FROM THE COMMUNITY notes

HOW HAS YOUR MARTIN GUITAR IMPACTED YOUR SONGWRITING JOURNEY?

“Before I bought my D-28, I almost gave up playing guitar. The classic vintage tone has inspired me to write songs in styles I never thought of before.”

ARNOLD D.

“My Martin HD-28 is an inspiration to hold and play. When I first got it, I felt like I had some growing up to do, playing wise. It inspired me to play better because, now that I had a tool that was undoubtedly one of the best in the world, the only other thing that could hold me back was me.” JESSE B.

“I recorded a couple of solo albums using only a Martin 000-15M StreetMaster and my voice. I had to leave everything behind and move to an unknown town all by myself. In those lonely times, I found myself relying on my Martin. She really helped me to stay afloat.” GIORGIO L.

“Since picking up my passion after I graduated cosmetology school, my Martin D-41 has been my right-hand gal. Writing music with this guitar is almost like writing with your best friend. Currently I play for a gentleman named Blake Tyler and we travel around Ohio and surrounding states. One of the most exciting moments of my career was getting to play at the Voices of America Country Music Festival, not only sharing the stage with my six-stringed best friend but with award-winning artists Riley Green and Chris Lane.” EMILY R.

“As a Chilean composer who recently got to the US, I feel like I’m not only starting a new life here but allowing myself to discover the sounds that come out of this beautiful and intense country. With my new Martin D-13E Ziricote, I’m discovering a geography through its roots, experiencing blues, country songs, and ballads that feel like fresh air in my composing journey.” RAMIRO C.

“After taking a long break from music to focus on starting a family and my teaching career, I joined a songwriting challenge that required musicians to write and record a song every month. I quickly found that my current guitar was not up to the task. Everyone recommended investing in a Martin. After trying various beautiful Martin guitars, I purchased a Martin D-18. I can’t put it down! I feel so inspired that I recorded an entire album of original music with my Martin in February.”

CAITLIN

P.

“For nearly 40 years I wrote songs on the same Guild D-55 acoustic. It’s become such a part of my process that I consider the guitar irreplaceable. Unfortunately, my right shoulder can’t deal with the big box anymore. I’ve tried parlor guitars but they lack that omph I have become heavily reliant upon. So one day I walked into Gruhn and said I wanted a small guitar that sounded BIG. The salesman smiled and said, “I got just the guitar for you.” He handed me a Gruhn Spec 0000 in sunburst. I hit one chord and knew I was walking out with it.” STEPHEN G.

The 50 GREATEST MARTIN SONGS Ever

Words • HUW BAINES & JOSH GARDNER

For as long as there has been pop music, there’s been Martin. From the earliest tunes that crackled across the airwaves to the golden era of music on TV to the TikTok generation, Martin instruments have always inspired songwriters. Countless classics have been written, performed or recorded using a Martin guitar over the past 70-plus years. But which are the greatest? Well, the Martin Journal team put our heads together to try to decide.

Of course, this was a near-impossible task and, inevitably, we will have missed a few of your favorites, such is the ubiquity of Martin guitars in popular music. To touch on everything would require every page of this Journal. So, in an attempt to make things easier, we set some ground rules: every song had to have been written, recorded, or famously performed using a Martin guitar, and artists were only allowed one entry each (though we’ve let bands/duets and solo artists double-dip). Ranked in no particular order, here are some of the greatest songs ever brought to you by a Martin guitar.

BLACKBIRD

THE BEATLES (1968)

This track distills Paul McCartney’s belief that songs are fundamentally vehicles for melody into little more than two minutes of unforgettable beauty. Recorded at Abbey Road with producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick during sessions for ‘The White Album,’ “Blackbird” famously features only McCartney’s voice (as well as that of a male blackbird), his tapping feet, and a converted right-handed 1967 D-28.

The song was inspired musically by Bach’s “Bourrée in E minor” for lute, which in a 2004 interview with Guitarist, McCartney termed a “little show-off piece” that he and George Harrison learned as kids. Lyrical inspiration came from the civil rights movement. It all hangs together around a plaintive vocal hook and McCartney’s unstudied picking technique – his thumb plucking bass notes while his index finger flicks – which does away with finesse in favor of always searching for the next melodic swerve.

That says everything about McCartney as an acoustic player. He appreciates the masters and the time it takes to become one, yet instead focuses his energy on whatever song is coming into view around the next bend.

WISH YOU WERE HERE (1975)

PINK FLOYD

This one is a tale of two Martins: a D12-28 12-string, used on the radio-aping intro, and David Gilmour’s prized D-35, employed for the pace-shifting solo. Gilmour bought his D-35 on the street outside Manny’s in New York City in the early ’70s. Rarely was his relationship with it more beautifully expressed than on this track from the album of the same name. It may just be the band’s finest song.

RIPPLE (1970)

GRATEFUL

DEAD

Jerry Garcia likely got his hands on “Jerry’s Herringbone,” his characterful 1943 D-28, in 1970, before the Dead embarked on the Festival Express tour that saw them traveling between shows in Canada by train. Later that summer, he put some supine strumming to Robert Hunter’s words for “Ripple” – released as the B-side to “Truckin’” – in time for a rare unplugged set at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

ALICE’S RESTAURANT MASSACREE

(1967)

ARLO GUTHRIE

Running at almost 20 minutes, Arlo Guthrie’s signature celebration of storytelling pushed back against the Vietnam draft. Its episodic lyrics are delivered over fleet-footed Piedmont blues pulled from a D-18 modded by luthier Porfirio Delgado. In 1997, Guthrie partnered with Martin to release a limited run of six-string and 12-string models that were not only named after the song, but also featured its name on the inlays.

ROUNDABOUT (1971)

YES

“I was big on intros back then,” guitarist Steve Howe told Jazz Guitar Today of his work on Fragile, Yes’s astounding 1971 album. He was not lying. The epic eight-minute “Roundabout” was written alongside vocalist Jon Anderson and features a classical intro – much of which is lost in the leaner threeminute single edit – laid down by Howe on a 00-18, setting Yes’s adventurous psych-prog spirit in amber.

BIG YELLOW TAXI (1970)

JONI MITCHELL

Joni Mitchell never really got over the loss of her “dear one,” a 1956 D-28 that had been gifted to her after surviving an explosion while it was on a tour of duty in Vietnam with a Marine Captain. “When they cleared the wreckage, all that survived was this guitar,” Mitchell told Acoustic Guitar magazine in 1996. Sometime before the release of her 1974 album, Court and Spark, it was stolen from a baggage carousel in Maui, Hawaii. By that time, however, it had already underpinned Mitchell’s rise to pop-folk prominence, featuring on earlier works including “Big Yellow Taxi,” a creative peak from her 1970 album, Ladies Of The Canyon Written during a stay in Hawaii – and inspired by seeing far-off mountains spreading out from beneath the parking lot of her hotel – it fizzes with the playful melodic attitude of her foundational writing. Presented in open E, the song is also a wonderful example of Mitchell’s unorthodox approach to tunings. Despite its ready supply of hooks, “Big Yellow Taxi” has an antic quality, pointing towards a career that wouldn’t find Mitchell sitting in any one place for very long.

CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD (1998)

LUCINDA WILLIAMS

After decades spent enjoying critical acclaim without much to show for it, Williams smashed into the mainstream with this song and album of the same name. The engine for the record was a very special Martin. “I’ve had it since 1979,” she told The New York Times. “It’s a Martin D-28. I don’t play it on stage. I’ve used it to write just about all the songs I’ve written since then.”

WE SHALL OVERCOME (1963)

JOAN BAEZ

This protest song had been a rallying cry for the civil rights movement long before August 28, 1963. But it would enjoy what may have been its most powerful and enduring musical expression thanks to a 22-year-old Joan Baez. When the folk sensation climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, she and her Martin 0-45 led the assembled 3,000-strong crowd of the March on Washington in an unforgettable rendition.

DUST IN THE WIND (1977)

KANSAS

The band’s only Billboard 200 Top 10 single began as a seesawing chord pattern, plucked by Kerry Livgren in his dining room as a fingerpicking exercise. Its spectral staging, a departure from Kansas’s normal prog-fueled rock, features Livgren and Rich Williams’s multi-tracked D-28s playing off Steve Walsh’s voice and dancing strings

TANGLED UP IN BLUE (1975)

BOB DYLAN

The unmistakable chords that open this Blood On The Tracks classic emanate from a 1969 D-28 owned and played by Kevin Odegard, who was dropped into sessions at Sound 80 in Minneapolis at short notice by Dylan’s brother, producer David Zimmerman. Odegard suggested that the song be sped up, thereby lending it the unshakeable momentum that dogs the vocal throughout.

THAT’S ALL RIGHT (1954)

Nothing would be the same again after this one. It was July 5, 1954 and an unknown Elvis Presley was sitting in with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black for Sam Phillips at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. The sessions were petering out when Elvis lit into a revved-up take on Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s 1946 blues song “That’s All Right.” Phillips paused, told them to start again and hit record.

The single was on the radio within weeks. That day, the boy who would be King had around his shoulders a 1942 D-18, which he had recently picked up from O.K. Houck’s in Memphis, reportedly trading in his Martin 000-18 in the process. When the guitar was sold at auction in 2020, the listing noted extensive wear around the soundhole from Elvis’s rambunctious, high-energy strumming style. That’s what you can hear on “That’s All Right” – just some kid letting it all out.

ELVIS PRESLEY

JOLENE (1973)

DOLLY PARTON

The rolling thumb-picked acoustic intro and needling rhythm parts on Dolly Parton’s pleading, heartbreaking hit “Jolene” came courtesy of Chip Young. The renowned Nashville session guitarist created a latticework of melody and countermelody in tandem with Wayne Moss, a hired hand of similar skill and reputation. It all added up to an all-time great of any genre.

THE A TEAM (2011)

ED SHEERAN

The acorn from which one of modern pop’s biggest success stories grew. Ed Sheeran’s first single introduced his blend of emotional balladry and fizz-pop wordplay, pulling off the old trick of hiding deep sadness beneath an upbeat melody. The track’s chuck-chuck rhythm was provided by an LX1E, which the guitarist began using in his teens.

SHE TALKS TO ANGELS (1990)

THE BLACK CROWES

Rich Robinson was 15 when he started composing this bluesrock ballad alongside his brother, singer Chris, on a 1954 D-28. The guitar belonged to their father, Stan, a folkie who performed in a duo called the Appalachians. By the time Rich hit 20, the song had become a hit from the Black Crowes’ debut album, Shake Your Money Maker.

CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE (1979)

QUEEN

One of Queen’s most enduring intros was delivered not by Brian May on the guitarist’s iconic Red Special but by frontman Freddie Mercury, on a 1975 Martin D-35. Lifted from the band’s 1980 album The Game, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” became one of only two U.S. chart-toppers for the British greats, and a popular hit on stage.

PSYCHO KILLER (Live, 1984)

TALKING HEADS

Picture David Byrne at the start of Talking Heads’ masterful concert film Stop Making Sense: the gray suit, the white shoes, the boombox, the avian head-nods, and the Martin D-35 (owned by bandmate and multiinstrumentalist Jerry Harrison). When Byrne began strumming the stripped-back intro to “Psycho Killer,” he made rock ’n’ roll history, frame by frame.

LAY ME DOWN (2016)

LORETTA LYNN

Proof that even 43 albums in, the Coal Miner’s Daughter was still bringing the goods on this beautifully put together duet with fellow icon Willie Nelson. Accompanied by Nelson on that most famous of beat-up Martins, Trigger, the two legends trade verses on mortality, loss, and acceptance in moving fashion.

THE WEIGHT (1968)

THE BAND

This track has Martin guitars imbued into the very fiber of its being (just see page 36). Robbie Robertson crafted the first single released under The Band’s banner on a 1951 D-28. The song’s opening line about pulling into Nazareth, feelin’ about half-past dead, was inspired by seeing ‘Nazareth, Pennsylvania,’ inscribed inside the instrument.

CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE (1978)

JIMMY BUFFETT

When it came to crafting good-time rock ’n’ roll, Jimmy Buffett favored his 1969 D-28, known as the “Painted Lady,” bought from George Gruhn’s GTR store in Nashville and later modded with a mermaid illustration by painter Russell Chatham. They don’t come much more fun than this restaurant-launching gulf ’n’ western staple.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN (1970)

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG

This luxurious country-pop roller was written by Graham Nash while he was still a member of the Hollies, but found life with the newly formed supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash on their 1969 debut. However, it wasn’t until the addition of Neil Young in 1970 that the song reached its final form, being the centrepiece of CSNY’s blockbuster album Déjà Vu. “Teach Your Children” finds Nash’s 1963 D-28 (which was later gifted to Judee Sill) in conversation with Stephen Stills’s D-45. Listen out for a few interjections from Jerry Garcia on pedal steel, too.

GROWIN’ UP (1973)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

In 1972, Bruce Springsteen wasn’t the Boss, he was a street kid from Asbury Park with pockets full of gutter poetry and enough ambition to power an entire city. When he played a short-notice club show in New York right after his now seminal audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records, his friend and sometime manager Bob Spitz contends he did so by borrowing his 1965 Martin D-35. Springsteen, Spitz says, also used the guitar to write and record some of the songs for his first two records.

First among them is the fantastic “Growin’ Up,” a fast-talking Dylan-inspired slice of boardwalk life that fired up Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.. The song sets out Bruce’s knack for storytelling as well as the fizzing, barroom-savvy swing of the early E Street Band. “He was staying in my tiny studio apartment on the nights he didn’t go back to Asbury Park,” Spitz said at the time of the guitar’s auction in 2021. “Bruce was in the hammock I had strung across the room. He would have a notebook on one knee and the guitar on the other while he composed.”

TEARS IN HEAVEN (1992)

ERIC CLAPTON

Written in response to the death of Eric Clapton’s four-year-old son, Conor, this is a work of remarkable poise given the pain behind it. Composed in tandem with lyricist Will Jennings, it was initially released as part of the soundtrack to the crime film Rush in 1992, before forming part of Clapton’s MTV Unplugged set at Bray Studios in Berkshire, where he performed it alongside Andy Fairweather Low on second guitar. Clapton’s 1939 Martin 000-42 – made from Adirondack spruce and Brazilian rosewood – would be the instrument that launched a legacy. Without this performance, there would be no Eric Clapton Martin signature models. The guitar provides a wonderful accompaniment to the raw emotion and power of the song.

COVER ME UP (Live, 2022)

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT

Perhaps the definitive version of this all-timer love song is this brass-tacks version recorded live at Knoxville’s Bijou Theater, a show put together to celebrate 10 years of Jason Isbell’s career-defining Southeastern album. On it, Isbell’s voice surges and retreats over chords pulled from his D-18 signature model. Isbell has become one of the great modern songwriters – and he’s done so with a succession of wonderful Martins in his hands.

WHEN YOU’RE GONE (2022)

SHAWN MENDES

Ever since he picked up a 1959 Martin 000 ahead of recording his Grammy-nominated self-titled 2018 album, Shawn Mendes’s music has been inextricably tied up with Martin guitars, as evidenced by his signature model released in 2022. This track is a driving pop singalong with an acoustic at its heart – just listen to his soulful acoustic version and you’ll see what we mean.

ABRAHAM, MARTIN AND JOHN (1968)

DION

Long before Dion Francis DiMucci teamed with Martin to release his 000-CBD signature instrument, Dion united with guitarists Vinnie Bell and Ralph Casale to fashion songwriter Dick Holler’s “Abraham, Martin and John” into a sorrowful folkpop song. Their version chimed with the feeling in the air at the end of the ’60s that the hippie dream was waning, and America’s age of innocence was coming to an end.

HEART OF THE COUNTRY (1971)

PAUL MCCARTNEY

This short song from Ram is Paul and Linda at their most literal –singing of their post-Beatles escape to the Scottish countryside over skipping acoustic pop that sounds like, well… having a nice time in the countryside! Recorded between New York and Los Angeles, McCartney’s playful D-28 picking is adorned with electric overtones by hired hand Hugh McCracken.

THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT (1986)

THE SMITHS

Given his status as one of the most influential electric players of his generation, it’s easy to overlook the melodic washes and rhythmic certainty of Johnny Marr’s acoustic work with The Smiths. This gold-plated example from The Queen is Dead was performed on his 1971 D-28, which he had long coveted before buying it in 1984.

BLUE YODEL NO. 1 (T FOR TEXAS) (1928)

JIMMIE RODGERS

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more impactful song on this list than the one that created country’s first true superstar. Jimmie Rodgers and his Martin 00-18 would first appear on record at the Bristol Sessions, the legendary Tennessee recordings that kickstarted much of what we now know as country music. But it was this record, cut a month or two later in Camden, New Jersey, that would become Rodgers’s first hit.

So rapid was his rise that, barely a year later, Rodgers would be presented with a custom 000-45 by none other than C.F. Martin III. The guitar is inlaid with Rodgers’s name on the fretboard and Rodgers later painted the word “THANKS” on the back. It’s signed inside the soundhole: “To Jimmie Rodgers, America’s Blue Yodeler, with all good wishes – C. Fredrick Martin III July 27, 1928.”

IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH DECEMBER (1973)

MERLE HAGGARD

Christmas sucks when you haven’t got any cash. Merle Haggard, a 12-fret Martin devotee through to his 000C-28SMH signature, is in typically plain-spoken form here, having been laid off from his job at the factory. But the song’s quick-footed pacing underlines his will to see something brighter in his future.

WILDFLOWERS (1994)

TOM PETTY

It only took Tom Petty a few minutes to write the title track from his second solo record, which is remarkable given its serene, sun-dappled beauty. Working with co-producer Rick Rubin and drummer Steve Ferrone for the first time, the guitarist leaned on a D-45 throughout the Wildflowers sessions, often pulling from a woody, pastoral palette at odds with his rugged past.

FAST CAR (1988)

TRACY CHAPMAN

This song features one of those riffs that immediately puts you in a ruminative state of mind. Tracy Chapman’s generationspanning hit is a coruscating narrative of low-wage inertia, lit up by the resonance of her voice and some crystalline, patient melodies that are wonderfully understated where others might go to saccharine extremes.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ (1965)

THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS

When you think about it, much of classic rock ’n’ roll just comes down to circumstance. “California Dreamin’” was written by John and Michelle Phillips while they were pining for the warmth and comfort of California from within the grasp of a freezing New York winter.

It was first recorded by Barry McGuire, who had recently scored a big hit with “Eve of Destruction.” McGuire laid down the track with the Wrecking Crew and with the Mamas and the Papas – completed by Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty – singing backup on their own song.

The Mamas and the Papas would record their version over this instrumental, pushing their searing four-part harmonies to the front and kicking off a run of singles that would make them counter-cultural icons. Much of John Phillips’s songwriting and studio work was completed with a D-28, including one 1957 model that was gifted to his nephew and auctioned in 2021. In 2011, Martin announced a Custom Artist Edition inspired by Phillips’s career.

THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE (Live, 1972)

NEIL YOUNG

In a career filled with moments of tremendous poignancy, it’s hard to look past “The Needle And The Damage Done” as a standout moment of brutal honesty. Here, Neil Young daubed his juggernaut folk-rock masterpiece Harvest with a searing, raw look into the void caused by heroin addiction.

Recorded using the Martin D-45 he picked up alongside his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young bandmates in 1969, the version on the LP is a spare, haunting live take from a 1971 solo set at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

(Live, 1993)

In 2020, Kurt Cobain’s 1959 Martin D-18E became the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction, fetching more than $6 million. Cobain bought the instrument at Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles in 1992 for $5,000 and subsequently used it during Nirvana’s elemental MTV Unplugged set, ensuring its spot in the rock pantheon.

Flipping the show’s usual script on its head, the band, augmented by former Germs guitarist Pat Smear and cellist Lori Goldston, eschewed the hits in favor of covers by outsider legends such as Meat Puppets and the Vaselines, bringing their music to an enormous new audience in the process. In its crowning moment, though, Cobain delivered an electrifying take on this relatively lesser-known David Bowie cut, leaning into its jagged riff using a Bartolini 3AV pickup he had fitted in the D-18E’s soundhole. Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York album was released in 1994, while the song was released as a promotional single the following year.

NIRVANA

NO SUCH THING (2001)

JOHN MAYER

The single that launched John Mayer owes plenty to another guitarist who likes to keep things smooth but rockin’. “No Such Thing” – a laid-back, nostalgic pop song that masks some bile about breaking out of the boxes set aside for kids in school – was tracked on a Martin DM3MD, a Dave Matthews signature model that the young gunslinger bought with a $5,000 check his label cut to help with equipment costs.

It’s the only acoustic Mayer played on his debut LP, Room for Squares, before he graduated to a D-45. Mayer would get a series of signature Martins over the next two decades, beginning with the eye-catching OM-28JM, the 00-42SC John Mayer Stagecoach shown below, all the way through to 2023’s spangly OM-45 20th anniversary model. With them, Mayer reshaped the classic Martin vibe to reflect his own style and outlook.

TRAVELIN’ MAN (1961)

RICKY NELSON

When Ricky Nelson performed this No. 1 single in 1961 on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the family TV show that set him on the path towards crossover stardom four years earlier, his trusty D-28 was encased in a post-Elvis custom leather cover bearing his name.

THE LATE JOHN GARFIELD BLUES (1972)

JOHN PRINE

John Prine’s music was all about honesty, a trait reflected in the rough-hewn chords that emanated from his 1968 D-28, by his side from his days as a Chicago mailman to his revelatory, reflective late-career work as folk-rock pillar. This shuffling standout from the 1972 album Diamonds in the Rough is shot through with loneliness, humanity and a sense of vulnerable people falling through the cracks.

SUNNY CAME HOME (1996)

SHAWN COLVIN

A sleeper radio hit, winner of multiple Grammys and the opener to Shawn Colvin’s 1996 concept album A Few Small Repairs, this song is bright, pop-facing and vengeful all at once. Its juxtaposition of staging and narrative lends it depth and intrigue, with its earworm riff delivered by Colvin and her 1971 D-28, her go-to until the release of her signature M3SC in 2000.

I’M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY (1949)

HANK WILLIAMS

On this uncut diamond, Hank Williams holds down the rhythm on his famous 1941 D-28, later owned by Neil Young (or not, depending on which rock ’n’ roll yarn you believe). Williams pours out everything that’s weighing on his heart. If you want to hear unvarnished emotions showcased in the best of country music, you could do much worse than starting right here.

CROWDED TABLE (2019)

THE HIGHWOMEN

This supergroup was formed when Amanda Shires grew frustrated with the lack of female artists being played on country radio, and promptly called up Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Maren Morris to do something about it. “Crowded Table” is a wonderful ode to family and friendship, ably assisted by producer Dave Cobb’s battered old Martin at his RCA Studio A in Nashville.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN (1980)

WILLIE NELSON

Trigger, Willie Nelson’s 1969 N-20 with a PrismaTone pickup and a preamp taken from an earlier Baldwin guitar, is one of country music’s great companions. With its clattering railway beat and wistful aw-shucks delivery, “On the Road Again” is perhaps the quintessential song for touring musicians, too, with added impetus from its ringing nylon solo. The best of friends, indeed.

THIS OLD GUITAR AND ME (2003)

VINCE GILL

“I spent all my college money on half a dozen strings,” sings country star and late-era Eagle Vince Gill on this sweet, jaunty and entirely earnest ode to his prized 1942 D-28. It’s sure to strike a chord with anyone who has struck up a relationship with a guitar that transcends musician and instrument. As he tells us elsewhere in this issue (see page 52), the D-28 remains hugely important to him.

DEAD MAN’S ROPE (2003)

STING

On Sacred Love, a record that saw Sting stretch out creatively and embrace percussive notes from hip-hop and R&B, he turned to a Terz model for standout song “Dead Man’s Rope.” The guitar was based on a parlor guitar in a Mini Martin experiment by former Martin museum curator and one-time head of Artist Relations, Dick Boak.

LOVE IN VAIN (1995)

THE ROLLING STONES

Keith Richards has a long history with Martin instruments, particularly 000s – at one point he described his 1931 000-45 as his “number-one acoustic.” The Stones have a long history with the blues masters too. In this live rendition of Robert Johnson’s classic for 1995’s Stripped (it first appeared on the 1969 album Let it Bleed ), you can see Richards plaintively picking his 000-28 to sublime, understated effect.

AMERICAN PIE (1971)

DON MCLEAN

Don McLean is a Martin guy. Always has been. There’s the 1929 000-28 herringbone that was his go-to for some time in the 1970s. There’s the 1957 D-28 that was by his side throughout the ’80s. And there’s the D-45 he used in 1997 when guesting with Garth Brooks at the biggest concert in the history of New York’s Central Park.

While working on what would be his magnum opus, American Pie, however, McLean fell in love with something new: a 1969 00-21. He used it to write and record one of his signature ballads, “Vincent,” as well as new songs “Till Tomorrow,” “Winterwood,” “Empty Chairs,” “Sister Fatima,” and “The Grave.” But he returned to a ’69 or ’70 D-28 to strum the chords on the iconic title track, leading his Chevy to the levee and on into pop immortality. In the late ’90s, McLean collaborated with Martin on the D-40DM signature Dreadnought –a guitar that would be a feature of his live rotation for years afterwards.

I WALK THE LINE (Live, 1969)

The Man in Black’s history is intimately interwoven with Martin guitars, from the D-28 he used to record the original version of this song at Sun Studio in 1958 to the custom D-35 he convinced Martin to paint black – something the company had never done before – and later became his trademark instrument.

Johnny Cash is at his most iconic and most boisterous, however, on his 1969 live album, At San Quentin. From the album’s cover art and the legendary middle-finger photograph to the Grammy-winning intensity of Cash’s performance, the recording spawned many memorable moments. For this cut of “I Walk the Line,” he used his trusty custom D-35S, a constant presence on The Johnny Cash Show and a guitar he would play on more than 20 albums and on countless stages all the way up to his death in 2003.

JOHNNY CASH

LONG BLACK VEIL (2000)

JERRY GARCIA, DAVID GRISMAN & TONY RICE

Recorded over two evenings in 1993, The Pizza Tapes album found mandolin master David Grisman, Jerry Garcia, and bluegrass legend Tony Rice playing traditional songs, standards, and covers that they knew deep down in their bones. Rice used his storied 1935 D-28 on an almost whispered version of “Long Black Veil,” a tale of death and mourning that also found admirers in The Band and Johnny Cash.

THE JOKER (1973)

STEVE MILLER BAND

Some songs sound like the place where they were written. “The Joker” sounds very much like it was written while Steve Miller was lounging outside a house party, perched on the hood of a well-driven Pontiac GTO… The truth isn’t far off – it was actually written under the stars on the hood of a Mercury Cougar, but you get the idea. In Miller’s hands that night was the D-28 that he’d later use to bring the song’s low-slung, fratty magic to life in the studio.

MAY YOU NEVER (1971)

JOHN MARTYN

English guitarist John Martyn’s wonderful music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, and pop without ever losing track of melody. “May You Never” is a technical marvel that demonstrates Martyn’s desire to wed his elastic fingerpicking style – usually delivered on a well-loved Martin D-28 – with sublime melodic hooks, as he darts around his vocal while keeping the heavy bass notes coming.

AIN’T NO SUNSHINE (Live, 1972)

BILL WITHERS

Bill Withers was working in a factory that built airplane toilets when he recorded his 1971 debut album, Just as I Am. Little more than a year later, he was sitting in the BBC TV studios in London, his Martin D-35 in hand, giving one of the most memorable performances in the venerable history of The Old Grey Whistle Test. The audio was included as a bonus track on the album’s special edition release in 2005, such is the power of Withers’s voice and his Martin on this stripped-down version.

The

Generation

The Martin Artist Showcase was created to help the most talented up-and-coming musicians unleash their full potential. Martin will support and celebrate them throughout the year – and you can, too. Meet the class of 2024.

Artists are the lifeblood of Martin Guitar. From Johnny Cash to Joan Baez, countless influential musicians have helped make the company what it is today. Now, Martin is looking to give back by helping the next generation of musicians. Its new Artist Showcase program celebrates the performers who are making waves in the industry and serves as a platform to connect the artists with their global audience.

In the Martin spotlight for 2024 are Devon Gilfillian, Ian Munsick, Joy Oladokun, Drayton Farley, Nate Smith, and Hailey Whitters, and together they represent the wide span of music being made on Martin guitars: from soulful vintage R&B to eclectically-influenced pop, and from uplifting country rock to raw, unflinching Americana. Let’s get to know them.

Words • CILLIAN BREATHNACH

Devon GILFILLIAN

The music of Devon Gilfillian displays a deep love of everything from country, Americana, and vintage soul to R&B, rock, and hip-hop. His latest record, Love You Anyway, is out now.

What drew you to music and the guitar?

I’d always liked music as a kid. And this is silly but I watched School of Rock and thought, “You know what? Maybe I’ll try the guitar.” So my dad signed me up for lessons.

Later my teacher was getting me to learn “Under The Bridge” by the Chili Peppers. My dad heard it and said, “Oh, that sounds very Hendrixy.” And I was like, “Who’s that?” My naive 14-year-old ass didn’t know who Jimi was! So he smacked me on the head with a greatest hits CD. I put it in the player and my brain exploded. Just going, “What the f**k is this guy doing on the guitar?” From that point on I fell in love with it. I wanted to learn how to make every sound I could with it.

What role did the acoustic play as you grew as a guitarist? When I was in college, I was playing four-hour sets and had to accompany myself. So when I was writing, it was the campfire test – can you play the song with just you and a guitar? The acoustic lets you create a whole universe that way.

When I moved to Nashville, I got really into country music too. I loved folk before that but I wasn't introduced to good country until I got here. I got into Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Dolly Parton, and newer artists like Sturgill Simpson and Margot Price. So that all influenced my first EP.

Your most recent albums feature more layered and involved production. Would you say your writing evolved beyond the simple campfire test now?

Totally. For example, “Right Kind of Crazy” started as a drum groove and I heard synth in the background – it was a full picture before the guitar came in. But it varies. “Love You Anyway” started on an acoustic, with this simple C to F thing, and it was immediately clear what it needed from there.

One of your coolest projects is a collaborative re-recording of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. What inspired you to take on such a classic album?

For that my goal was to highlight and work with Black artists from Nashville and out of town who don’t get the recognition they should. I never thought I could “beat” Marvin’s version. But I wanted to bring its message back to the zeitgeist.

During the protests after George Floyd was killed, people were singing songs, bringing instruments out to the protest. That inspired me to go home and learn What’s Going On, front to back, on acoustic. And man, it was written 50 years ago but the lyrics are still so poignant. It put a knife in my chest. I knew then I needed to bring that music back, in a way that could fight the bullshit and the injustice that was happening. So as well as highlighting those voices, the album raised money for Equity Alliance here in Tennessee, which helps educate people about the voting process and gets them signed up to vote.

What’s your history with Martin guitars?

When I was younger one of my buddies had a Martin and I always thought to myself, “Man, I’m gonna get one of those one day.” It was just so warm. Martin is so integral to the whole world of guitar music. And they get to be part of the great time the guitar is having right now. To me, guitar is always going to be cool as shit, and there’s always gonna be kids who fall in love with it. Really, that’s my goal as an artist – to make as many kids pick up a guitar as I can.

Ian MUNSICK

Wyoming native Ian Munsick makes country music steeped in the prairies and the mountains of his home state. White Buffalo, his latest album, is out now.

What drew you to music and the guitar?

My dad and my two older brothers all play music as well. So, being the youngest, I didn’t really have a choice. It was just always in our house when I was growing up. I grew up on a ranch, so there was a lot of old country music in our house all the time. But my dad introduced me and my brothers to jazz, rock, and classical music as well. He’s a fiddle player but plays guitar and a bunch of other instruments too. My older brothers and I kind of followed that – but the guitar was always the one that we all really gravitated towards, mainly because we wanted to write music.

You worked in Nashville for a while, playing bass for other artists. When you started to record and release solo material, what made you pick up the guitar again?

When I moved to Nashville, my dad told me, “If you can play bass and sing harmonies, you’ll always be able to buy a meal for yourself.” And, man, he was right. It paid my bills through college and a couple years out of college too.

But I always just knew in the bottom of my heart that I needed to write and release my own music. That’s how I fell back in love with playing the guitar. And specifically Martins. For myself and my older brothers’ high school graduation, my dad bought us all D-28s. Those were our first really nice guitars. Ever since then I’ve been a Martin guy through and through.

When you moved to Nashville, did you feel that the country music you encountered there represented your upbringing? Or is Wyoming country music different?

A lot of the country music I heard in Nashville wasn’t about the lifestyle that I lived while I was growing up. It was more about rednecks, drinking beer, and trucks – but where I’m from it’s all cowboys, horses, and mountains. That gave me an obvious thing to do as an artist: bring my Wyoming to Nashville. So really my biggest musical influences are that ranch lifestyle and my personal life: my wife and my three-year-old boy.

You play banjo and mandolin as well. How does that influence your approach to guitar?

Playing the banjo taught me all about the right hand. And so did the mandolin, actually – all those tremolos! They both really taught me to approach the acoustic from that perspective, with a real focus on the right hand.

But I think the reason I picked them up in the first place was to make me feel a different way. You can play acoustic guitar all day long – you can play rock, jazz, country, or blues on it. But when I pick up a banjo, it just immediately takes me to the mountains. And when I pick up a mandolin, it takes me to the fields and prairies of Wyoming. That’s always been very attractive to me as a writer, as it helps me put myself in that place. And that’s the goal with music. You want to immerse the listener in the place you were when you wrote the songs.

Joy OLADOKUN

Nashville-based Joy Oladokun is a singer-songwriter making honest, insightful music that spans folk, R&B, pop, and rock. Her latest album, Proof of Life, is out now.

What drew you to music and the guitar?

I started playing guitar because I saw a video of Tracy Chapman playing “Fast Car” solo, on acoustic, at Wembley. My dad showed it to me when I was a kid. That was the first time I had seen someone who looked like me playing the guitar. It just opened up the “I want to do that” road. I grew up around the pop-punk of the early 2000s, so I was listening to a lot of Fall Out Boy, Death Cab for Cutie, and TV on the Radio as I learned. But there was also Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Jimi Hendrix, and King Sunny Adé. It was a mix of grocery-store rock and more soulful, psychedelic sounds.

How did that translate into doing music as a day job?

I was in a band in high school obviously – you have to go through that phase. But I was honestly doing a lot of other things. I was working in churches, in ministry, but that didn’t work out because of my queerness and a lot of other stuff. After that I got a job playing guitar and singing backing vocals for an artist in LA. That was my first inroad to being a musician as a day job. I was able to find work and it was enough to sustain me but I wasn’t really planning on being an artist.

But when I started songwriting for other artists, the feedback I got all the time was, “This is so specific. This person’s voice is so unique that we can’t imagine anyone else on it.” So I started releasing music as a way to convince other people to release music that I had written!

What’s one of your favorite songs that you’ve written?

I guess “Somebody Like Me” is on that list, just because I wanted to write something that anybody could sing. But I guess that takes on different layers, depending on who it’s coming from, you know? On the surface, it’s this pretty simple, shitty pop song, but then it’s written by a Black queer person, sort of challenging God and religious people, saying, “Hey, like, could you extend that kindness to me?” But someone on the other side of the spectrum that I live on could also sing that song and feel like they relate to it.

If there is one reason why I make my art, it’s to bridge the gaps in our humanity. To say, even if you think I’m totally different from you, I feel some of the things you feel too. It’s about finding ways to put my story and experience across in a way that lets people find themselves in it.

What role does the guitar play in that?

I don’t like to put something out unless I feel like I can play it with a guitar by myself. I think there is something to that. I mean, we saw it at the Grammys when Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs performed. There was this visceral response to just two people playing and singing. That is where the intimacy in my songwriting comes from. I really do strive for this feeling of being just some goofball in a coffee shop with an acoustic.

What’s your history with Martin guitars?

I actually got my first Martin not too long ago. I got it in Austin, Texas. It used to be owned by an old worship leader – funny, as that’s what I used to do. So I’ve, like, defaced it with duct tape. Now it says “smoke weed not bombs” on it. But I’m really stoked about it. Some of my favorite people play Martins. And you know, the acoustic was my first instrument, so to continue this journey of growing as a guitar player is really exciting.

Drayton FARLEY

Raw Americana inspired by greats like John Prine and James McMurtry is what Alabama native Drayton Farley does best. Twenty on High, his latest album, is out now.

What drew you to music and the guitar?

Guitar was always just that thing that was mine that no one else could have. I would think about guitar all day at school, and then when I got home I’d go to my room, shut the door and play guitar all night. All of my friends would go and play baseball or football. I would go home and play guitar instead.

As I was graduating high school, I hadn’t really touched acoustic guitar in a long time because I was infatuated with playing in metal bands. And then I discovered the world that I now exist in professionally, the singer-songwriter, countryfolk Americana world: artists like John Prine, Jason Isbell, and James McMurtry. That really turned me back around to the acoustic guitar.

How did that turn into a professional career?

I was playing these three-hour or four-hour bar gigs around Birmingham, Alabama. Playing in the corner with a TV above me. Bars, breweries, restaurants, pretty much anywhere that would pay you a hundred dollars to sit in the corner for four hours and play music.

Eventually I’d written enough songs and become confident enough as a songwriter that I just recorded and released my own album by myself – just me and my acoustic guitar. I had done two EPs the same way but nothing had happened with them. But when I released the album, A Hard Up Life, there were a few songs on there that were very successful given that I was an independent artist who literally no one knew. They were successful enough to let me quit my day job.

Your song “Pitchin’ Fits” is a particular success story from that album. Why do you think it resonated with people?

It was a really tense climate in America in 2021. It didn’t matter where you went, there was just this sense of dread that blanketed things. But that’s also something every person feels at some point, regardless of where they are or who they are. It’s a human thing. It wasn’t anything I did intentionally – that song was me just venting. It features super-thrashy strumming

and I’m practically screaming, not singing. I think that rawness made it really easy for people to believe the song. It’s as raw as you can get, just me and a guitar and one mic. It was a culmination of where we were at, with everything going on in the world. Everything was this new level of stress.

You expanded to a full band on Twenty on High. Did you change your writing process to accommodate the bigger production? I wrote that album the same way I’d written every song I’d ever written before. I’d just go about my day and get an idea and write it down. When I spoke to Sadler Vaden about producing, I only had one stipulation: that we didn’t change what I wrote. That was my first experience being in a studio with a band. It was magical. I’ll never forget having the headphones on and hearing my songs played with a full band, in real time, for the very first time.

Did your time playing in metal bands influence the way you play acoustic guitar ?

To me, metal guitar is all in the picking hand – the gallops and so on. So it leaves the left hand free to go off and do weird things. But the main thing that ties the music that I’m into together is lyrics. I want to call myself a songwriter before I want to call myself a guitar player or a singer. So when I listen to metal, it’s this different, vast universe. But I’m into bands like Kublai Khan, Gideon, and Knocked Loose for the lyrical content. I could almost take any of their songs and make it a folk song. That’s my link between those two worlds.

Nate SMITH

California native Nate Smith’s selfdescribed ‘anthem country’ channels organic rock sounds into uplifting and inspirational songs. His self-titled debut album is out now.

Where did music start for you?

I started singing along to Elvis and Garth Brooks songs when I was nine years old. I would try to mimic them. I joined the school band in middle school and played trumpet. I picked up guitar when I was 13 and started singing and playing and writing songs. My dad bought me my first electric and I started trying to learn rock songs by blink-182 and Nirvana. Then I started singing and playing guitar at the same time, so they have always gone together for me.

What’s your history with Martin guitars?

I got my first Martin guitar almost 10 years ago. It was a cut above all the other acoustics I’ve owned throughout my life. Martin has always been my absolute favorite. They sound the best. They play the best. They are the best.

Your debut single, “Whiskey On You,” was certified platinum. What has it been like watching that song get so huge? It’s amazing to see the fans sing “Whiskey On You” with such passion, night after night at all the shows. I always thank them if they say they’ve sent the song to their toxic ex.

Your song “World On Fire” has garnered more than a hundred million global streams since its release. Why do you think it resonated with people?

I think “World On Fire” is just a super-relatable song. We all go straight to the bar after a break-up and it usually doesn’t end well. Time is the only thing that helps us get through things.

You’ve cited a variety of influences on your sound, from Elvis to Garth Brooks to Nirvana. With that in mind, how do you keep your sound and your songwriting focused?

I think elements from all of these artists and genres are implemented into my music now, whether it’s sonically or lyrically. Country music is in a really unique position right now, where leaning into your influences and the sounds you like is accepted. Radio is really supporting that now.

Does the time you spent playing worship music have any influence on the music you play today?

Absolutely. I will always have my faith. Leading worship taught me how to play for a crowd, create a setlist, make mistakes on stage, and connect with humans on a deeper level. Some people got their chops on Broadway. I got mine in churches.

Since your career has taken off, has your songwriting process changed at all? And what have you learned since relocating from California to Nashville?

I don’t consider myself a songwriter. I consider myself a songfinder. Rusty Gaston at Sony Music Publishing told me to find the greatest song in Nashville, whether I wrote it or someone else did. I take great pride in mining great songs and that will never change.

After the 2018 wildfire in which you lost your home, you wrote the track “One Of These Days” in tribute to the town of Paradise, California. How did you approach responding to such devastation with a song?

If you haven’t found hope in the answer, you have to keep looking. Everything you do has to have hope in it. Without it, we are just reacting to all of the bad things that happen to us.

Hailey WHITTERS

Prolific songwiter Hailey Whitters also releases joyful, tongue-in-cheek country music under her own name. The Iowa native’s new EP, I’m in Love, is out now.

What drew you to music? And what made guitar a part of that?

I grew up in a small blue-collar farming community in Iowa. I had a very creative family but no one had made that leap to do it professionally. I always sang as a kid – when I used to ride the tractor with my grandpa and my dad out in the field, I was always singing little songs to myself. It wasn’t until my mom got me my first guitar when I was 14 that I was able to start playing along to myself. The guitar, for me, was when I really started taking it seriously. The first song I ever learned on it was “Three Wooden Crosses” by Randy Travis. I don’t really know where that came from – I love Randy Travis, I’m a big fan of his, but it’s kind of an unusual pick for a 14-year-old girl.

When did you commit to making a career out of music?

Right when I graduated high school when I was 17, I was like, “Right, I’m moving to Nashville, I’m gonna try and be a country singer.” And that’s exactly what I did. The minute I graduated, I just moved to Tennessee!

Was it intimidating entering such a competitive industry at such a young age?

That’s where ignorance was bliss, for me. I was just so young and dumb and naive. I didn’t know how great the talent pool was, I just knew that I wanted to do it. In my mind, it was always like, “I don’t know when it’s gonna happen. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. But I just believe it’s gonna happen.” My first EP was what got me my first publishing deal. I was working at a hair salon at the time – I was taken out to breakfast before my shift started and offered the deal. That was year six or seven that I’d been in town.

Tell me about the writing of “Everything She Ain’t,” What about it resonates with people to make it your biggest track?

It’s the hand claps! Those catchy little suckers seem to be the mystery drug in that song. But I also like to think it’s the sass, the lightness, the fun. When we were writing that song, it was my first session back in person after the pandemic. Everything

just felt so heavy – the world just felt heavy. We were in this co-write and onto this heavier kind of idea and I was like, “Guys, let’s just write something fun – this is too much right now.” I threw out the line, “I’m everything she is and everything she ain’t.” Ryan Tindall, my co-writer, started playing those chords along to it. It ended up taking us an hour and a half to write –it kind of just happened, caught me by surprise. I thought my album was done but we played it for the label and they were like, “This has to go on the record.” It ended up being my first platinum record and my first single on country radio, which was something I’d always dreamed of as a kid.

What’s your history with Martin guitars?

I went Martin and I never went back. I feel really drawn to Martin guitars. I got my first Martin guitar about eight years ago. They’re everything I love about music – they feel very honest. I’m drawn to voices like Vince Gill. To me, he’s just a pure, classic country voice – and Martin guitars are like that in instrument form. I’m a simple songwriter. I try to write simple songs. And I think Martin is kind of a lot like that too. Not too many frills – it’s just about simple, authentic music. And that’s why I love them.

Remembering THE SONGWRITERS

For nearly two centuries, Martin has been a byword for quality, reliability, and stunning sound – trusted by the best in the business to get the job done on stage, in the studio, and anywhere else. Martin guitars are working guitars, and have been at the side of some of the most legendary artists in the instrument’s history. In 2023, we bid farewell to three of them…

ROBBIE ROBERTSON

1943–2023

The Martin D-28 has inspired countless songwriters but perhaps none more directly – or more famously – than Robbie Robertson, when he penned The Band’s debut single, “The Weight.” “I’m sitting there with a guitar, noodling around,” Robertson reflected in the 2019 documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band. “I look in the guitar and, inside, on Martin guitars, it talks about where they’re made, in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. ‘I pulled into Nazareth…’ and it just, it was all coming to me.”

Inspired by and crafted in skeleton form on a Martin D-28 in just 45 minutes, “The Weight” is a song for the ages. But it wouldn’t be until January 1968 that its potential was fully realized, in New York’s A&R Studios with producer John Simon. There, the iconic staggered vocal harmony that follows the chorus emerged. The rest is the kind of quasi-mythical rock ’n’ roll history that surrounded Robertson throughout the rest of his career. Whether he was following the creative muse at Big Pink, the band’s shared house, or dealing with the aftermath of Dylan’s controversial electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, the Canadian musician’s ability to support other songwriters and drive musical collectives was never in doubt.

“Everybody did something that raised the level of what we were doing to a stronger place,” Robertson told The Guardian in 2019, reflecting on The Band. “What everybody gravitated to was what they could bring to the table. So they leaned on me, in the best sense of the expression, to really take care of business.”

After organising The Band’s star-studded 1976 farewell concert, The Last Waltz, as well as multiple retrospective releases, Robertson withdrew from touring and threw himself into creative collaborations with friend and filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The 2023 film Killers Of The Flower Moon features Robertson’s 11th and final collaboration with Scorsese, for which he received a posthumous Academy Award nomination. The guitar played a central role in Robertson’s life until the end. “I wanted to build an orchestra of guitar sounds with different variations of the instrument,” said Robertson, in a posthumous statement announcing Killers of the Flower Moon’s original score. “I kept building and building the orchestra and then I tore it down and tried to keep its soul.”

DAVID CROSBY

1941–2023

David Crosby looms large over American folk and rock music. As a founding member of The Byrds, the California native helped pioneer the folk-rock genre. Later, he became the C in folk-rock supergroup CSN, after recruiting fellow songwriters Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, and later Neil Young. Crosby mined a fiercely independent spirit while creating indelibly sweet harmonies with his bandmates. His legacy, however, lives on beyond his lyrics, vocals, and guitar playing.

In his final interview with Rolling Stone before he passed away in January 2023, Crosby fielded readers’ questions for his regular advice column, ‘Ask Croz,’ with typical honesty and hardearned wisdom. “I don’t have a real explanation for why my voice is the way it is,” said Crosby, reflecting on the remarkable late-stage condition of his singing voice that helped make his final years so prolific and memorable. “People ask me all the time since everyone else’s voice seems to be going to shit. I’m extremely grateful. I figure as long as it works, I should use the hell out of it.

“This is going to sound a little corny, but I’m an old hippie and I think music is a lifting force,” he added. “I think it makes things better, it makes people happier. Considering the generally shitty state of affairs, at least in this world that I know about, more music is a good thing.”

It was Crosby’s belief in the power of music to carry us through changing and challenging times that guided the artist in his own life. Throughout his struggles with addiction and the various fall-outs and reunions with his CSNY bandmates, Crosby’s music remained deeply embedded in the hearts and minds of listeners. But while his melodies and words will linger for generations, his influence as a creative player with a deep knowledge of guitar theory should not be overlooked.

“I play guitar every night and keep five guitars in different tunings in my bedroom, so I’ll pick one up and start fooling around to see where it goes,” he told Guitar.com in 2018, discussing his search for inspiration in alternate tunings. “If it takes me someplace I’ve never been before, I end up writing a song.”

Crosby treasured the guitars that sparked his creativity. Late in life, he was still in possession of a trio of Martin D-45s that he had owned since 1969. “Two of them I take on the road all the time,” he told Guitar.com. “Obviously, I’m not a lead player: I’m a picker. My strength is writing songs in strange tunings. ‘Guinnevere’ and ‘Déjà Vu,’ for example.”

The influence of such strange and wonderful Crosby songs can be heard in those of younger musicians who became friends and collaborators with him in recent years, among them Jason Isbell. “It’s rare that anybody lives as many lives as David did,” Isbell told Variety in January 2023, shortly after Crosby’s passing. “We knew so much about David because, on one hand, he was really honest and open, especially toward the end of his life. And on the other hand, he just lived a long time for somebody who made that many mistakes and had that many resurrections. He still had a really powerful voice, as far as his physical singing voice, but also his personality. David was always 100 percent in there, up until the very end.”

JIMMY BUFFETT

1946–2023

When asked by Rolling Stone in July 2020 how he would like to be remembered, Jimmy Buffett responded: “‘He had a good time and made a lot of people happy’ would be good.” For his fans, affectionately known as ‘Parrotheads,’ the tropical troubadour did that and much more.

Buffett penned much-loved staples such as “Margaritaville,” “Come Monday,” and “A Pirate Looks At Forty.” His live shows were as breezy and feel-good as his recordings, while his reputation and success as a businessman and philanthropist highlights his commitment to matters beyond music. His story as a guitar player, however, is equally deserving of the spotlight.

The island escapist was a keen Martin collector and continued to work on expanding his vocabulary as a player right up until his passing. His 1969 Martin D-28, which was purchased from George Gruhn’s original downtown Nashville guitar shop in the 1970s and later nicknamed the “Painted Lady,” was a mainstay of Buffett’s career. “That was my ‘A’ guitar,” Buffett said in an Acoustic Guitar magazine interview in 2021. “Around that time I had begun hanging out with writer Tom McGuane and landscape painter Russell Chatham. We were kind of running around in the mountains in those days doing some psychedelics. Well, we were hanging around the lake with these girls who kinda looked like mermaids, and I said, ‘Russell, why don’t you paint a mermaid on my guitar?’”

The uniquely adorned D-28 was the instrument on which Buffett would write his biggest song, “Margaritaville,” in 1976. From then on, the guitar remained his most trusted songwriting partner. Other Martin models would provide inspiration too: the 1951 D-18 that Buffett bought in Paris would be celebrated on the 2013 song “Rue de la Guitare,” while his 1887 0-28 would form the foundation of “Tonight I Just Need My Guitar.”

Buffett’s Martin patronage was reciprocated over the years with a signature Custom Dreadnought, an LX “Little Martin” Special Edition, and a D-18. But it’s the Martin 00-18 that Buffett named as his desert island instrument, in an interview with Guitar Player in 2021 –“because it’s small and sturdy and made of all mahogany,” he said, “which doesn’t warp as easily as rosewood or spruce.” More importantly, he added, “a mahogany guitar goes with a boat.” The songwriter’s ability to channel his dual passions for guitar and island life was a massive part of his appeal, musically and personally, and was always reflected in his onstage energy. Despite his worldwide success, though, Buffett remained laidback, grateful, and humble.

“Through that gauntlet of experiences, I knew I wasn’t that good a guitar player or singer, but I could perform well on stage,” he said in that 2020 Rolling Stone interview, reflecting on the early days of his career. “That was my go-to while trying to create other opportunities. I wanted to be a working musician, playing on stage.” The mayor of Margaritaville achieved all that and more.

SONGWRITERS within The

From the boardroom to the factory floor, Martin is populated with talented musicians whose passion for their work extends into their play. Here, we celebrate the company’s very own songwriters and tell you where you can hear them.

Words • DERRICK KROM

This issue of the Martin Journal focuses on songwriters, from the iconic artists who have used Martin instruments to craft timeless songs to the next generation of musicians who will use theirs to expand the Martin songbook. But Martin doesn’t just make tools for songwriters – it’s a company of songwriters. From top to bottom, the brand is blessed with people who are dedicated not just to building guitars but to playing them. Many Martin employees write, record, and perform solely for the love of the craft, because creativity scratches an itch like nothing else can. Here, we give them their moment in the Journal spotlight, as they tell us about the first and best songs they’ve ever written.

GABRIEL CORA

(performing as Atari+Mari)

RIBBONING

The first thing I wrote was named “Ambulance Song.” I had put a band together and learned guitar in six months. We were gonna do three covers to open for a friend who was making waves at the time. No one bothered to learn the third cover so I came up with a song about American healthcare. It was a punk song, a little three-chord jam. I could probably still play it but I don’t remember the order. Half the lyrics are gone too! But the best song I’ve written so far is called “Caught Me at a Bad Time.” It’s the second track from my album, “Standing on the Verge of Getting Worse.” You can find it on Spotify, Apple Music, anywhere you stream. It’s about corruption, stuff like that.

“Martin is basically the whole inception for me. I have an uncle who has a wonderful custom-made Martin 45-style guitar. I’d go over to his house during summer. He knew I was the musical one of my siblings, and I couldn’t get enough of it. He’d take it in-hand and play a version of “Folsom Prison Blues” that would put Johnny Cash to shame, and I thought, ‘That’s where I need to be.’ He gave me a lot of tips on songwriting and made it really easy with the acoustic. So oftentimes I’ll pick one up around at the factory, or borrow his if he’s feeling generous, and I’ll strum out a song if the backing is already there from my writing partner. It makes things very fluid.”

OWEN COURSEN

MAINTENANCE

Ithink the first song I wrote was called “Monkeys In The Sky.” My dad was showing me The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” so I just took something different and went with monkeys. ‘Monkeys in the sky, they fly so high, monkeys in the sky, you catch my eye.’ That’s all it was. I was 13.

“As of right now, the best song I’ve written is “Love Isn’t Easy.” It’s on Spotify, anywhere you listen to music. I was in a relationship at the time and, you know, catchy things are always simple. I was just thinking about how love isn’t easy and was like, ‘That’s good!’, so I went with it. I was big into, yet again, Sgt. Pepper, so I was experimenting with different organs and sounds.

“My Martin guitar, which is my main songwriting guitar, is from my uncle, who worked here in the 1980s and built it in this factory. Working here now, it’s almost like a sense of accomplishment, legacy. It makes me feel proud whenever I get to play it. It feels different. I’ll play anything else but that one just feels different.”

DAVE DOLL

(performing as The Beautiful Distortion)

MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT MANAGER

The first songs I ever wrote were instrumental and didn’t have lyrics. I was about seven years old. I remember them and can still play some of that stuff, but they didn’t have names. In high school, I wrote a song with lyrics on piano called “The Music Box.”

“I feel like the best thing I’ve done to date is a song called “Left in Flames.” It’s probably the most complete work I’ve done. It’s on The Beautiful Distortion album Voices, which we put out in 2014. It’s on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, all that stuff. There were a couple guitar riffs that I was going to use for separate songs but, the way I write, things can come together quickly – I can do a whole song in one sitting. That was one where I had these riffs and I put them together and then structured a verse around it. It works great with the band because the girls do the harmonies and we bounce vocals off one another.

“Nothing sounds like a Martin guitar. I’ve written all of our songs on one of our guitars. I always start with acoustic guitar. Whether it’s heavy rock, metal or not, everything can always be broken down and played acoustically, and we can perform that way too. These instruments shape the voice, fit the voice and vice versa. They’re a great tool.”

RYAN

FERNANDEZ

(performing as Bad Rhino & Solo)

FINISH SANDING & INSPECTION

The first song I ever wrote was named “Nothing’s Changed.” I remember it just poured out of me. I had a line in there, ‘make a prophet of a preacher in me,’ and to me that was about will she or won’t she turn me around. I’m standing there saying, ‘I’m giving her my all but what could that even mean? And will she reciprocate?!’ I remember sitting in my underwear on my floor at 3 a.m. – I’m choosing songwriting over everything and I have nowhere else to go now that this thing’s written.

“I wish I could say my best song is one of these winding wicked moments, a clearly thought-out retrospective or the moody love letters I wax emotional on. But the best song I’ve written is a little two-minute thing that I consider forever unfinished. It’s a really sweet, sadistic little tune about toxic love-making through extreme weather events. It doesn’t seem to fit in with any of my other music and I can’t imagine hearing it on an album. You can hear me play my mystery song and all these others on social media and music streaming services, and keep tabs with us on our official site, badrhinoband.com.

“Martin guitars are the world’s finest instruments. The wood and construction, the technology behind it, the craftsmanship and 190 years’ experience – that’s the secret formula. When you pick up a Martin it just warps to your body immediately. There’s a sensation. Magical moments come out almost too easily. I’m incredibly grateful to have grown up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, just a stone’s throw away from the Martin factory in Nazareth. When I was a child, I was gifted a Martin by my grandmother, and then purchased another of my own as an adult musician.”

THOMAS

RIPSAM (performing as Seeds of Imagination) PRESIDENT & CEO

The first song I ever wrote is called “Stranger.” I was about 17 or 18 years old. I don’t know exactly how it started but the chord sequence was a G and a C on guitar. I had a line in my head, ‘I was not born in a modern city.’ What it turned into was a song with a vague vision of a life that’s out there for you, as a 17 or 18-year-old – this idea that it will be different, and not knowing what it will be but knowing it’s not where you are and how you feel now. I still play it. I like to sing it. It’s still with me.

“If I spend time on a song and take it from an idea to a point where I feel, ‘I have a song,’ it’s more about the experience of creating it, and if I enjoy it, if I learn something in the process and find that the finished song is something I will listen to, that’s my standard. I have two published albums out there and probably have enough recorded material for seven others. At some point I’ll release at least some of that music. The two that are published, The Soul Shrine and Lichtenstein, are from my band Seeds of Imagination. If I had to pick one song that’s a good example of how I go about my music, it would be “Castle,” from the most recent album, Lichtenstein

“There’s something special about Martin guitars. I have some Martins that I use pretty much every day but I also have a few that are usually in a case. When I open the case, sometimes the smell is already inviting. There’s a warmth to the sound of Martin guitars that, to me, kind of stimulates my emotions. I’m very emotionally connected to the guitars. There’s also the knowledge, probably more in your subconscious, of how many artists have played these guitars and the stories behind them. You feel part of something that is mindboggling when you actually think about who has played these guitars.”

ERIC MEULMAN

FINISH SANDING & INSPECTION

The first song I ever wrote is “Like A Smoke Ring.” The music video is on YouTube. It feels great to express feelings and emotions through music, the kind you wouldn’t normally through everyday conversation. I’ll be releasing a self-titled album soon on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and other platforms. My favorite song on there is “Whistle For Me.”

“Martin guitars have a classic tone that keeps on giving. To quote a song I wrote, “There’s Nothing Like a Martin Guitar:” ‘Through Clapton, Mayer, Johnny Cash, Petty, and Dylan too, that Nazareth, PA factory has helped out quite a few. So, if you’re searching for the sound that’ll shine like a star, I’ll tell you right now, there’s nothing like a Martin guitar.’”

SCOTT REAGAN

(performing as Blohbariyer & Solo)

POLISHING

Istarted writing songs when I was 10 or 11 years old. I wrote lyrics and chords for my songs in a little notebook that I threw out recently because all the songs were terrible.

One song from when I was about 15 years old, which I remember writing and recording, was called “Mysterious Recipient.” I find it difficult to choose one best song from my 2020 album What a Life. I’m proud of a lot of them, especially on the second half of the record. You can stream it anywhere and check it out on Bandcamp, which has lyrics and liner notes. A lot of the songs were written after returning home from living in Würzburg, Germany, for two years. I wrote almost all the songs on my trusty 1999 000-R Martin, which I’ve owned since I was five. I also wrote and recorded a few with my grand-uncle’s 1971 0018 while borrowing it to get it spruced up at the factory for him.

“Almost all of my best songs have been written on my Martin. I’ve written songs on other instruments, but lately I’ve been able to best express myself through acoustic guitar. My Martin has always been there – I could hold it and start to play at about eight years old – to pick up and strum. I’m currently waiting on a D-X2E 12-string that I ordered. I’m excited to write and record new songs with it. I’ve spent the last four years writing songs in the Pennsylvania Dutch language, some of which I’m particularly proud of, and I’m releasing some of that material this year under the artist name Blohbariyer.”

JASON LEE HAINES

(performing as Maple & Mahogany)

BODY ASSEMBLY

The first song I wrote is called “Whispers.” I had written hundreds of songs that got buried in notebooks and on an old laptop. With idols like Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan, you wanna capture a bit of the unexplainable, from somewhere deep down, and not just write your day-to-day feelings. I was writing all these songs and it was just not there. Then I sat down one night and was like, ‘My life is good,’ and this song just appeared: the lyrics, the chord progression, the melody, the story. It was as if the subconscious wrote it. When I stopped trying, it just came out. It’s about death but I wasn’t going through anything at that moment. But then two months later, I flew back home to the Lehigh Valley and the next night my dad had a heart attack and died out of the blue, before I got to see him. It’s so weird that I wrote that song, almost foreshadowing. I played it at the funeral. A lot of people like my song “The Other Side,” which is on YouTube. That’s one I haven’t recorded yet but I’ve been playing it live for years. The other one people like is “Clover Street,” which is on my EP.

“Building guitars here, as someone with PTSD, it’s very somatic. I get to feel the glue, smell the wood – you’re in your body. With trauma you’re in your head, you’re reacting to past events. Trauma survivors can lose touch with their body. This job grounds me. Building guitars allows me to hold and play them. The job allows me to heal and to be creative.”

RAMEEN SHAYEGAN (performing

as Rameen)

INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENT DESIGN MANAGER

Oh boy. I think the first song I wrote was “No Lay in Lazy,” written with one of my high school friends, who is a great pianist and drummer. We were complaining about our dating lives and his dad called us out for being too lazy to go out and meet girls – voilà, a song was born! That was back during the era when Tenacious D and ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic were putting out hilarious comedy rock, so we were inspired by that.

“The two most radio-ready songs I’ve recorded so far are “Northampton Street” and “Plastic Heart” but my favorite is “Timberline.” All three are on the album Foreign Land, which is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music, and if anyone’s feeling generous they can buy it on Bandcamp.

“Every day, both inside and outside of work, I’m surrounded by creative and thoughtful folks and wonderful guitars. The instruments and the people are a constant inspiration. When I get home, I often reach for my old Size 2 Martin and there always seems to be a song in there waiting to come out. Last but not least, Martin has a great program with the local healthcare providers to help employees quit smoking. It took a couple tries but I’m proud to say I’ve gotten off the cigarettes and my voice has improved dramatically.”

THE Craftsman MASTER

Words • JOSH GARDNER

Vince Gill is one of the finest songwriters of his generation. From the moment he cashed in everything he owned to buy the guitar that would accompany him over the next 50 years, his singular career has been defined by one maker: Martin.

Idon’t ever remember a time I wasn’t banging on one, y’know?” When you challenge Vince Gill to remember a time he didn’t have a guitar in his hand, the country icon comes up blank. “My mom has a picture of me,” the 66-year-old tells us from his Nashville home. “I was maybe two years old, sleeping face down on the couch, with my arm around a guitar. So it seems like forever.”

Long before Gill had won more Grammy awards than any other male country artist, sold more than 25 million albums, or joined the Eagles, he was just a guitar player. And a shy one at that. His earliest memory of playing for others was in second grade assembly. “And then, little by little,” he says, “through bands and gigs and junior high school dances, it seemed like the only thing I was ever meant to do.” The Oklahoma native had the benefit of a supportive family who encouraged his musical impulses. It was his country-loving dad who introduced a young Vince to what would become a lifelong obsession: Martin guitars. “I started playing bluegrass when I was 15 or 16 and my folks got me a 1971 D-41. That was a big deal,” says Gill. “So away I went. A couple years later I moved away from home, after I got out of high school, and found a pre-war 1942 D-28 herringbone in beautiful condition. I had to have it. So I traded in the guitar I had, the D-41, and gave the guy $1,650 – and this was 1975. It was a lot of money in 1975.”

A lot of money indeed. Adjusted for inflation, that comes to more than $9,000 today. Vince says that such an outlay locked him out of one path and set him on another – the path that led him to where he is today. “The best part – though maybe not at the time – is that it was all the money I had saved for my future,” he says. “I couldn’t go to college or anything, so I just took off and started playing in bands. My rent was only $15 a month. When we played a club, we were getting maybe a couple hundred bucks a week.

“So I started out with this sweet old D-28 herringbone but no money. And I still have that guitar to this day. I’m actually working on trying to find that D-41 too. If I could get it back that would be unbelievable. It’s out there somewhere, y’know? One day it’ll turn up. I’ll look on the internet and see a D-41 for sale. I’ll see it’s a ’71. I’ll call and ask, ‘What’s the serial number?’ I’ve gotten close before. I’ve gotten just a few serial numbers off… someday.”

COLLECTOR’S CHOICE

In the decades since Gill picked up that pre-war D-28, he has become an avid collector, especially of vintage Martin guitars. “I’ve just always been crazy about guitars and crazy about picking them up,” he says, “because there was such a long time that I was crazy about them but couldn’t afford them. As my wife, Amy, would say, ‘Well, you’ve made up for it.’”

Gill’s guitar collection features about 75 Martins, mainly from the pre-war era. But he doesn’t collect just for the sake of collecting. “A lot of people would look at my collection and say, ‘This seems completely over the top.’ And I’d reply, ‘Well, fancy yourself a painter… would you only want to paint with one color?’ I don’t think so. I have maybe a dozen pre-war D-18s but they all sound different. They all make a different noise. And when you’re recording, that’s what you’re looking for: the right sound to fill the space. One guitar doesn’t do everything. It took me a while to understand what a 00 can do, what an OM can do. Now I’ve got a nice array of models and they’re magnificent.

“Most people sadly equate the greatness of a guitar with how loud it is,” he continues, “and they couldn’t be more misled. I’m trying to get [its sound] into a microphone. I understand why big guitars were necessary in bluegrass bands – they had to be loud enough to compete with banjos and fiddles and mandolins and stuff like that. But in the studio, you just have to get it into a microphone, and a small guitar can sound huge.”

© Jason

Kempin/Getty

Images for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

“I’m at my best now, at 66 years old. I sing the best I’ve ever sang, I play the best, and I think a lot of that is the just years of repetition”

An avid guitar collector, Vince loves buying instruments now because for so many years he couldn’t afford the guitars he really wanted to play

WORKING ON YOUR CRAFT

Gill has become a curator of one of the world’s finest collections of vintage Martins. But he’s best known as one of its most cherished songwriters. Over the past three decades, the awards have arrived at such a rate that it’s a wonder he has any space left in his house for guitars. He won three consecutive CMA Song of the Year awards from ’91 to ’93, plus another in ’96. There’s his astounding 22 Grammy awards (from 44 nominations), which include Best Country Song and Best American Roots Song. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. And all that barely scratches the surface. Yet, for a long time, Vince struggled to find his voice as a songwriter.

“I was a pretty good singer and a pretty good player,” he says. “The last thing that showed up for me was writing songs – and it took a little time for them to be worth a flip. When I first joined [country rock band] Pure Prairie League in 1978,

Over the last three decades, Vince Gill has become one of country music’s most respected and cherished songwriters and musicians

we were making a record and they said, ‘Do you have any songs?’ I said, ‘I’ve written seven.’ And they were all horrible! But they recorded five of them and all of a sudden I’m a songwriter, but I wasn’t any good, y’know?”

That record was 1979’s Can’t Hold Back. The following Pure Prairie League album, 1980’s Firin’ Up, features six songs penned by Gill. The next, Something in the Night, released in 1981, has five. By the time Gill departed the group the following year, he had amassed some seriously valuable songwriting experience. But he wasn’t quite there yet. “Then I started my country career in 1983 and wrote all my own songs but had no success,” he says. “And that was probably the main reason why: the songs weren’t quite good enough.”

“I wrote a new verse. It’s a great exercise – waiting 25 or 30 years and changing your most popular song”

As the 1980s gave way to a new decade, everything changed. “In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had [the singles] ‘When I Call Your Name,’ ‘Never Knew Lonely,’ ‘Pocket Full of Gold,’ and ‘I Still Believe In You.’ These songs started showing up and I was getting better at it. Finally, the songs caught up with the way I could play and sing. But it was tough in those early years. It really did a number on me, thinking I wasn’t a very good songwriter – and there are still times when I agree!” Gill sees songwriting not as an innate talent but a true craft – one that requires hard work and can be improved upon throughout the course of a lifetime. “It’s interesting,” he says, “because in all aspects of creativity – playing, writing, and singing – I think I’m at my best now, at 66 years old. I sing the best I’ve ever sang, I play the best, and I think a lot of that is just the years of repetition. The years of knowing what not to do, it’s so important.”

The most important thing Vince has learned during that time though? To be critical of himself in a constructive way. “When you’re young, you’re not willing to edit yourself very much,” he says, with a chuckle. “Y’know, I was playing on a record as a young kid, and I played my part and the guy on the talkback says, ‘Man, that was impressive! Let’s try it again but this time just play me half of what you know.’ It was like getting slapped in the face. But it made sense. And it’s the same with songs. I’m willing to edit out all the words that are unnecessary, that don’t play a part in telling the story.

“And the more life I live, the more perspective it gives me to write a song from. I’m loving how my creativity has turned out. People think my best stuff is the successful stuff, the hit records and stuff like that, but it’s really not. Everything I’m doing now is much more appealing to me. I don’t think you peak when you’re in your twenties. You were maybe at your hottest then but hottest doesn’t always mean the best.”

A LITTLE PATIENCE

Gill’s early career experiences, especially his work alongside legendary songwriters and musicians, were enormously formative when it came to his own writing. “I think it all rubbed off,” he says. “No matter who you work with, good or not, you can learn something from them – something you should do or

“The things that matter to me as a listener are emotional things — that’s what I’m drawn to”

something you shouldn’t. When I was knocking around as a 19 or 20-year-old, I was hanging out with guys like Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell – the greatest songwriters ever, y’know? The bar is so damn high that you don’t have a chance. It’s like, ‘Hey, you got any songs?’ Yeah but I’m not gonna play them for you!”

In 2024, though, Vince Gill is a songwriter in full command of his powers. So much so, in fact, that he’s preparing to look back at his own canon and make a few alterations that many might consider sacrilegious. “What I love now is my patience,” he says. “My willingness to wait for it. I have a song called “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” which I wrote 30 years ago, after my brother passed away. I’ve been singing it all these years – at every funeral and in every arena you can imagine, funerals for hillbilly singers, friends, parents, you name it –but the song never felt finished to me. It was a long song with just two verses but, in my heart of hearts, I never felt like it really buttoned-up the story. Then a couple years ago, I sat down and wrote the third verse I think it should’ve always had. And I’ll probably record it in the not too distant future. I’ve been singing it out some and it’s really beautiful, how it encapsulates everything up to that point. It’s a great exercise – waiting 25 or 30 years and changing your most popular song!”

When you think of Vince Gill songs, you probably think about their profound emotional resonance. “I’m a pretty emotional human being, period,” he says. “The things that matter to me as a listener are emotional things – that’s what I’m drawn to. That’s the reason I like music, the emotion, not how impressive it is.” When it comes to Gill’s songs, that emotion is usually forlorn. Of all the great country songwriters, few can craft a heartbreaking ballad like Vince.

“I’ve always liked sad songs,” he says. “Y’know, the majority of my idols moved that way too – and they moved me. So if you don’t like sad songs, you’re probably not gonna like me very much. Townes Van Zandt said there’s only two kinds of music: there’s the blues and “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” Well, I don’t do “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” I want to get moved by a song. And that’s what I’m always shooting for.”

Vince has a deep love of vintage Martins, and in particular shade top models like this one

TOOLS SONGS that make the Making the

You won’t get very far writing a song without something to write it on. Here are the stories of the craftspeople who assemble, pearl, and polish the instruments that inspire us every day, from Nazareth to New Zealand.

• DERRICK KROM & SEAN MCGEADY

What is a workman without his tools? Thanks to the good folks at Martin, guitarists and songwriters the world over haven’t had to worry about that for the better part of two centuries. But how do these craftspeople feel about their work and the creative uses that musicians put their instruments to?

To find out, we walked the shop floor of the Martin factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania and spoke to people throughout the production process. Whenever you pick up a Martin guitar, you can sense the care, love, and attention that has been put into every aspect of its build, from the binding to the rosette. These are the makers who make it all possible…

LEA COLLINS

CUSTOM SHOP

Prior to joining Martin 10 years ago, Lea Collins worked in sales at Guitar Center. Today she handles stringing and final inspection at the Martin Custom Shop. Working here has given Lea a whole new appreciation for the work and detail that goes into the maker’s instruments.

“That’s definitely inspirational for me,” she says of the knowledge that the instruments she works on are used by songwriters to unlock their own creativity. “It gives me an awesome perspective, being the first person who’s actually stringing and playing these guitars. It’s really cool to think about who’s gonna get it and what they’re gonna do with it. The fact that I get to be part of that is amazing.”

HEATH

HOFF

SUBASSEMBLY

In 1990, the borough of Nazareth, PA celebrated its 250th anniversary with a parade through town. To commemorate it, the craftspeople at Martin constructed and marched alongside a giant 9:1 scale guitar displayed on the back of its parade float. This is Heath Hoff’s earliest memory of working at Martin. Heath has been with the company for more than three decades. He oversees the daily operation and inventory of the subassembly department. “It gives me a sense of pride knowing that almost every guitar built here within the past 30 years has touched my hands in some way.”

STEVE KRESGE

ROSETTING

Responsible for one of the most delicate and artistic jobs in the factory, Steve Kresge has been working at Martin for more than 20 years. It’s his role to create the elegant rosettes that decorate the company’s guitars.

Despite being the proud owner of some interesting Martin models – including one of the most eccentric instruments the company has ever made: the 2001 aluminumtopped Alternative X – Steve wouldn’t describe himself as a songwriter. “I’m more of a craftsman,” he says, “so that’s why I like this job so much.” But it brings him great pleasure to see artists using the instruments he has put so much time and effort into.

“It’s a good feeling, seeing anybody play a Martin guitar, because the first thing you see when they’re playing is the top and I know I made a big contribution to that. Anytime I see someone playing a guitar, I always look to check whether it’s a Martin. That’s all that matters.”

CHRIS PULLI

It’s been nearly nine years since Chris Pulli had his first interview at Martin, but he can still remember the smell of wood as he drove up to the factory. It’s the same scent that has greeted him every working day since. Chris’s primary role is touching up the lacquer necks after they’ve been polished – a job he takes great pride in. “I make the guitars look the best they’re gonna look,” he says. “It’s the final point where they become beautiful, and I think that’s what’s rewarding about being here.”

Chris writes instrumental jazz-fusion, which can be found on MySpace, if you have a time machine, and he plays in a Nirvana tribute band. As a musician, it means a lot to make tools for other creatives to enjoy. “It feels special,” he says. “And it makes you feel special, like you’re here to do something more than just make a guitar. I take pride in my work.”

JOEL TOTH

PEARLING

Another long-tenured Martin employee, Joel Toth has been with the company for 23 years. His job is one of the most demanding in the factory. Applying pearl inlays and making miter joints requires meticulous craft and concentration, but that’s why Joel loves it. That and the fact that he works only on the company’s high-end instruments.

Even after all these years at the company, seeing Martin guitars on stage is still something that excites Joel. “It’s an amazing feeling,” he says. “It’s really cool seeing Martin guitars on TV, at festivals, and at live shows, and knowing there’s a good chance I worked on them.”

ZACHARY FEHNEL

NECK ASSEMBLY

For the past five years, Zach Fehnel has been responsible for assembling the components that make up Martin necks and readying instruments for the next stage of production: refining and finishing. “I’m responsible for, more or less, what you’re going to feel on the guitar,” he says. “To have the opportunity to get good at that and to have such an impact on the way everybody experiences our guitars is very gratifying.”

The potential for the instruments Zach has worked on to be used to write new songs, maybe even lasting songs, gives him pause. “I’ve wondered: have I touched a guitar that’s going to write a great American song? It’s pretty humbling. You take your job seriously because it’s like, who’s going to touch this? Every guitar we make is going to be a part of someone’s story.

“Whether it’s going to somebody who’ll write something amazing or to a regular blue-collar guy who worked hard to get it and is going to write a song for his wife and children, it gives you a lot of pride. It’s a real honor to make these. It keeps me honest. I make sure I do the best job I possibly can, because these things are going to mean a lot to somebody.”

INCEPTION Immaculate

The most eye-catching Martin guitar of 2024 may be its most important for decades to come. Made using a combination of FSC-certified and domestically abundant tonewoods, the Inception offers a fascinating glimpse into the future

Words • JOSH GARDNER

You don’t need to have paid close attention to the world of acoustic guitars in recent years to know that, if the industry plans to still be producing inspirational instruments long into the future, then it needs to evolve – and fast.

In 1992, CITES added Brazilian rosewood to its list of restricted materials, preventing its export. More recently, in 2017, the conservation group added all common rosewoods to its list. Though the common rosewood restriction was lifted two years later, global supplies of rosewood and other tropical hardwoods such as ebony and mahogany remain scarce. What’s more, the time it takes to mature trees means any reforestation efforts are very much long-term projects. And time is a luxury we don’t have.

The guitar industry plays a small part in the global use of these materials. Nevertheless, Martin has long experimented with alternatives to prepare for a time when the traditional recipe – spruce and rosewood or mahogany – is no longer viable. In the past, the X Series guitars – made in Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico – have been the vehicle for testing sustainable alternatives, which have included HPL (high-pressure laminate) bodies and Stratabond necks. But what about the guitars made in Nazareth, PA? Is there a way to produce instruments that sound and feel like the Martins you know and love, only with a lower carbon footprint? Enter the GPCE Inception Maple.

The back has a wedge of black walnut that improves the guitar’s bass response as it reflects the sound back from the bridge

MAPLE TRAIL

“It’s our solution to using non-traditional tonewoods,” says Fred Greene, vice president of product management at Martin. “With the GPCE Inception Maple, we’re using mostly domestic tonewoods and trying to create something that sounds like a Martin, but taking a fresh approach to how we build instruments from the inside out. It’s sort of creating a new generation of products for Martin.”

When Greene talks about building a new Martin from the inside out, he’s not kidding. The Inception does not look like a traditional Martin guitar – inside or out. Maple isn’t a wood traditionally used on Martin acoustics. Nor, for that matter, is black walnut. Yet it’s these materials that combine with an FSC-certified European spruce top to make up the Inception’s back, sides, bridge, binding, neck, and fingerboard.

The Inception is designed to meet the needs of the modern songwriter and artist

Why? It’s simple. Both maple and walnut are more abundant and, crucially, more sustainable than tropical hardwoods such as rosewood and mahogany. A rosewood tree can take more than four decades to reach maturity. Meanwhile, maple and walnut trees planted today will be ready to be harvested in just a few short years.

So why hasn’t Martin been using maple and walnut exclusively for the past two centuries? In the correct contexts, maple can be a superb tonewood – anyone who’s ever played a good electric can tell you that. For acoustics, however, the wood’s sonic profile generally makes it better suited to large-bodied instruments. The Inception is not a large-bodied instrument. It’s a modern Grand Performance shape, which is designed to be more comfortable for guitarists of all body types. The solution? A lot of research and development.

“With maple in particular,” says Tim Teel, director of instrument design at Martin, “the tone it produces is very bright and compressed.”

“So we had to overcome that with R&D,” adds Greene. “The Inception has a lot of things going on under the hood.”

SKELETON KEY

Peek under that hood and you’ll see that the Inception’s bracing looks very little like the design company founder Christian Frederick Martin drew up back in the 19th century.

The guitar’s amber fade sunburst is another departure for the Inception

“The first thing you’re going to notice is the weight-relief bracing,” says Greene. “We have not used this style of bracing before. I won’t say we’re the first to put holes in braces but we think our approach is a little different.”

It certainly is. Each FSC-certified European spruce brace features scores of neatly cut hexagonal holes (which also form an X in a nod to one of Martin’s most famous inventions – X bracing). But how did Martin achieve this extraordinary feat of woodworking? Lasers, man. “We’re using lasers to cut the hexagonal pattern in there,” says Greene. “But crucially it does not weaken the structure at all. We developed a skeletonized pattern that would keep the structural integrity of the bracing in the top. We just wanted it to be lighter and more responsive.”

It’s not just the bracing that’s working hard to make the Inception sound as much like a Martin as possible. The guitar’s top has an innovation of its own: ‘sonic channels.’ According to Martin, these precision-routed grooves contribute to the guitar’s resonance. “The R&D guys figured out a way to carve in a tone channel around each of the braces,” says Teel. “Again, this lightens that structure but does not affect its stability.”

The unconventional bracing and sonic channels were new methods to Martin. But they were not necessarily intended to work together – until the Inception came along. “The R&D department had been experimenting with some of these components and ideas previous to this design,” says technician Josh Parker. “But when we were tasked with making a guitar using domestic hardwoods, we found that it was perfect to marry the two concepts.”

Initially, the team experimented by marrying these innovations in a prototype guitar made purely out of maple. Ultimately, though, its tone wasn’t good enough. “So after the skeletonized bracing and sonic channeling had been developed,” says Parker, “we began working with Tim Teel in instrument design to bring some warmer qualities to the tone. Tim was instrumental in the walnut back wedge.”

WALNUT WHIP

Ah yes, the walnut back wedge. You might think the GPCE Inception Maple’s striking three-piece back is there just to look pretty – and it absolutely does look pretty. But as with nearly everything on the Inception, there’s a lot more thought, engineering, and expertise to it than its good looks suggest.

“The back wedge was developed with the position of the bridge on the top in mind,” says Teel. “If you look through the guitar and go to the back, the widest part of the wedge is located where the bridge is, because the back reflects the energy that the top produces. So in that area, we chose walnut because it’s a softer wood and has a little more bass response, which helps balance out the harshness of the maple.”

What about the curved shape of the walnut insert, which differs from the traditional straight-lined three-piece back wedge? Well, sorry, there’s no sonic-engineering reason for that. The team just thought it looked cool and different.

TO THE SOURCE

Now that the team had hit on the perfect mix of maple and walnut to make the Inception sound and feel like a Martin, they had to design the rest of the guitar and source the right materials. “We wanted to use as many sustainable products as we possibly could,” says Greene. “We tried to avoid plastics wherever possible, and used wood binding and maple inlays.”

Key to ensuring this wood is sourced sustainably and consistently is sourcing specialist at Martin, Mike Dickinson. “The cool thing about maple and walnut is that they’ve been used for hundreds of years,” he says. “Stradivarius was using European maple to make violins. It’s always been an amazing tonewood but, because it grows in our backyard, I think people were reluctant to use it. Now all of a sudden we’re going, ‘Hey, it grows in our backyard – that’s really cool!’”

SUBTLE CHANGES

The Inception may be based on the Grand Performance outline but, as with its internal structure, the shape had to be adapted to get the best out of the domestic hardwoods. “Maple is great for violins and archtop guitars,” says Teel, echoing Dickinson. “But for a flattop acoustic, it’s actually very difficult to get a warm, robust tone out of it compared to other woods that we use, typically rosewood and mahogany.”

While the Inception’s internal architecture and all-important walnut wedge go some way towards enhacing its tonal appeal, something more dramatic was required to really perfect the sound: a smaller soundhole, to increase the low-end response.

“In an effort to unlock maple’s true potential,” says technician Parker, “we measured the instruments using spectral analysis. We were able to narrow down the sonic impact of each of these unique design features. By doing this, we were able to prove that the skeletonized bracing improves sustain and the sonic channeling increases amplitude. Typically when you increase sustain, you lose amplitude, and vice versa. But the unique design of the Inception enables us to increase both.”

The Inception is made entirely with domestic and FSC certified tonewoods – even the inlays and binding are maple instead of pearl

SHARP LOOKS

Martin could have designed the Inception, with its gamechanging engineering and meticulously considered materials, and just added a lightly-stained top so that, to the casual observer, it looked just like one of the company’s traditional guitars. But that would defeat its purpose. The Inception isn’t intended to replace the D-18 or 000-28. It is its own instrument, which meant it needed to look different.

“You’ll notice there’s a walnut fingerboard and a walnut bridge,” says Greene. “There’s no pearl on this instrument. We tried to stay away from pearl on this guitar – the inlays are maple and the binding is walnut. We just really tried to work with a lot of materials we don’t normally put together in one instrument. I think that makes this instrument really special.”

A special instrument deserves a special finish. In this case, it’s the handsome satin amber fade sunburst. “We chose a satin finish in a sunburst we don’t normally do,” adds Greene. “It’s bursted on the sides, on the back and on the top, to brighten up the instrument and give it a really fresh look.”

PAST & FUTURE

As Chris Martin IV reiterated at the Inception’s public launch at NAMM 2024, the guitar isn’t intended to replace any of the existing instruments in the Martin lineup. The company has no plans to stop producing D-28s, OMs or any of its other iconic six-strings. Instead, this is America’s oldest acoustic guitar company planning for the future.

“When the player experiences this instrument, they should get a sense of familiarity because it is very reminiscent of a great Martin,” says Teel. “However, its voice is unique. That’s what’s so exciting for me.” Greene feels the same way. “I hope players get the opportunity for the first time to hear maple the way it should be heard. To hear walnut the way it should be heard. To experience something different.”

For CEO Thomas Ripsam, the GPCE Inception Maple encapsulates everything the company stands for. “We often refer to this term, ‘One foot in the past, one foot in the future,’” he says. “This guitar is a great example of ‘one foot in the future.’ I hope it adds to the palette, regardless of whether you’re beginning your playing journey or you’re a Martin lover with a number of our instruments. I think it adds something to the collection and it’s a wonderful instrument in its own right.”

North Street ARCHIVES

Words • JASON AHNER

Martin’s North Street home has turned out many iconic acoustics adopted by even more iconic players.

DON MCLEAN

Best known for his folk-rock anthem “American Pie,” Don McLean has a connection to Martin that has spanned his entire career. Whether it’s his 12-fret 00 or one of his Dreadnought models, the King of the Trail has often been seen with a Martin by his side. When McClean took to the stage alongside Garth Brooks and Billy Joel in New York’s Central Park for their iconic 1997 show, he played a ’91 D-45, which is now on display in the Martin Guitar Museum.

HANK WILLIAMS

Such a prolific and beloved songwriter that he was nicknamed the “Hillbilly Shakespeare,” Hiram “Hank” Williams wrote some of country music’s most memorable hits over the course of his tragically short career. The Alabama native owned several Martin guitars, including D-28s, a D-45, a highly customized 00-18, and the 1947 D-18 pictured above, which is today part of the Martin Guitar Museum collection.

WAYLON JENNINGS

More than 20 years since his passing, Waylon Jennings remains one of country music’s most popular and influential artists. His career spanned six decades. In his early days, he played bass for Buddy Holly. Later, he would be a key figure in the 1970s outlaw country movement. While Jennings owned numerous guitars, it was his 1946 D 28 that he wrote most of his songs on, at home and on the road. This was a transitional era guitar, in that it combined the most well known element of pre war D 28s – the herringbone top inlay – with the dot fingerboard that had featured on Standard Series D 28 models since the year Jennings’s was built. Jennings was a transitional musician too, blending traditional country music with outside influences to create new sounds.

JOHNNY CASH

The Man in Black once said “I feel safe with a Martin.” That explains why he relied on the company’s guitars from his earliest recording sessions at Sun Studio, in the mid‑1950s, to his final studio album, 2002’s American IV: The Man Comes Around. The D-35 was Cash’s Dreadnought of choice but, when he and Dick Boak co designed his signature model, they decided more inlay was in order. Released in 1997, the D 42 Johnny Cash retained the three piece back that the D 35 was known for but added Style 42 appointments for some extra flash. The D 42JC on display in the Martin Guitar Museum was used by Cash when his personal model was being repaired.

Economies of SCALE

When it comes to choosing an instrument, scale length is often overlooked in favor of other considerations, such as tonewood. However, it can have an enormous impact on how you play and bond with your Martin guitar. Here’s how to find the right scale for you.

Courtesy Of The Martin Blog

From body size to tonewood to finish, there is much to consider when it comes to selecting your preferred acoustic. The construction element that perhaps most significantly impacts a guitar’s playability and sound, however, is scale length. So whether you’re a seasoned player or a wideeyed beginner, this guide should shed some light on the topic and help you make informed decisions when faced with rows of rosewood beauties and mahogany marvels.

WHAT IS SCALE LENGTH AND HOW IS IT MEASURED?

Scale length refers to the distance between the nut (the anchor point at the top of the fretboard, typically made from plastic, graphite, bone or brass) and the bridge (the point at which the strings are anchored to the body). It is typically about 24 to 26.5 inches, although for baritone guitars it can reach 27 to 30.5 inches. Scale length is calculated by measuring the distance between the nut and the center of the 12th fret, and then doubling that number – a universal technique that’s used across all guitar types.

WHY DOES SCALE LENGTH MATTER?

Scale length affects fret spacing and string tension, both of which play an important role in the feel and playability of an instrument. Longer scale lengths typically result in higher string tension. For the player, that means slightly more effort is required to fret the strings. In contrast, shorter scale lengths offer a more relaxed string feel. Depending on your playing style and finger strength, you may prefer one over the other.

Scale length also influences the way the guitar’s strings vibrate and interact with the instrument’s body. Longer scale lengths mean more pronounced overtones and brighter, punchier timbres, while shorter scale lengths contribute to warmer and more mellow tonalities.

Guitars with longer scale lengths generally have wider fret spacing too, which can benefit those who favor flashy solos, lead licks, and the kind of chords that demand tricky fingering. Guitarists who specialize in fingerpicking or have smaller hands often opt for shorter scale lengths, as these can make playing more comfortable.

TYPES OF ACOUSTIC SCALE LENGTH

With their 24 to 24.75-inch scale lengths, short-scale guitars are prized for their playability and reduced string tension. Well suited to genres such as rock and blues, these smaller instruments, such as the Martin 000Jr-10, are ideal for anyone who finds longer scale lengths uncomfortable to play or want a little more ‘give’ in their strings.

Standard scale lengths, which range from about 24.75 to 25.5 inches, cater to a wide range of playing styles. Guitars such as the Martin 000-18 and OM-42, which have scale lengths of 24.9 and 25.4 inches, respectively, strike a balance between string tension, fret spacing and tonal characteristics that ensures versatility.

Ranging from about 25.5 to 26.5 inches in scale length, long-scale guitars feature higher string tension and produce brighter tones. Many fingerstyle players favor long-scale models for their increased sustain, projection, and volume. Selecting the right acoustic guitar scale length for you will depend on your playing style, finger size, and tonal preferences. Experiment with different scale lengths to get an insight into what feels most comfortable and sounds best to you. Whether you opt for a short scale for its comfort, a standard scale for its versatility, or a long scale for its tonal richness, understanding the nuances of scale length should help you make an informed choice and set you up for years of pleasurable and expressive playing.

25.4” scale

24.9” scale 24” scale

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