THE DEFINITIVE MARTIN SOUND for another maker ’ s guitar , you would immediately discern that it has a different voice — a voice that is also consistent with that particular company ’ s sound .”
Fred Greene amplifies this notion . “ When I play other makers ’ guitars , I often hear elements that I like . Some will have a nice mid-range or a strong , responsive bass . They all have a piece of it . But Martin products always seem the closest to having everything . They have that high-end bite that you need when playing bluegrass and want to get out over the top of the mix . And yet they also have that rhythm-driving bottom end thump . And then there ’ s that sense of balance you need when playing complex fingerstyle arrangements . It ’ s all there . It just seems to do everything well .”
Scott Sasser agrees . “ I grew up to be a bit of a studio rat ,” he says . “ And I never experienced an engineer complaining about having all of that dynamic range to work with . If you ’ re recording an instrument that just doesn ’ t bring the oomph , it ’ s difficult to get it sitting behind the board . You just can ’ t engineer into a mix this organic energy , this presence . You see a lot of full-bodied instruments out there in the marketplace and you hear them in person or in a live performance .
Oftentimes , they ’ re packed full of midrange . And you find yourself wondering , where are the highs that just linger and hang around a little bit ? Where ’ s the bass that slaps you in the chest ? To me , that ’ s what the Martin sound is about . It ’ s one with Martin . We want it to be where one plus one equals three . We want to have someone pick up a Martin guitar and be surprised by this unexpected dynamic range within that body , to give it a lick and go , ‘ Wow ! I wasn ’ t expecting that !’ That ’ s the Martin sound . It ’ s hard to define , but players know it when they hear it , and that reaction is absolutely the most gratifying for the player AND for us .”
We wondered , then , how the company manages to retain those special Martin-esque qualities in the Custom Shop , where builds are more individualized , versus the dialed-in consistencies — with all their
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