C . F . MARTIN & CO .
“ THINK ABOUT THAT PERSON WHO ’ S ENTHUSIASTIC ENOUGH TO COMMIT TO A COLLECTION OF SPECS AND THEN PAY FOR IT BEFORE THEY ’ VE HAD A CHANCE TO LAY THEIR HANDS ON IT . THAT ’ S A GIGANTIC LEAP OF FAITH .”
predictabilities — built into the production line . “ You know , that ’ s what makes things exciting ,” says Sasser . “ Think about that person who ’ s enthusiastic enough to commit to a collection of specs and then pay for it before they ’ ve had a chance to lay their hands on it . That ’ s a gigantic leap of faith . The question often comes up , ‘ How do how do I know this is going to sound good ?’ The answer is grounded in the confidence we have in the superb work done by the generations before us who optimized the various Martin designs , and the pursuit of refinement here that never ends . The inside of a Martin guitar is definitely not a one-size-fits-all arrangement . Our bracing patterns , profiles , and placements vary instrument by instrument . The tone bars are shaped in such a way that they act like a built-in tone control . Mother Nature is still going to have her way in the final assembly , but each build , each bracing layup — every detail — is optimally developed within each guitar . There ’ s something real in that . And that gives confidence to that new owner who may be waiting the better part of a year for their guitar to be built and delivered .”
Fred Greene adds that everybody seems to want to ascribe the Martin sound to a particular feature . “ It ’ s the neck joint or it ’ s the truss rod or it ’ s the bracing pattern ; it ’ s the thickness of the top or it ’ s the use of hide glue or some other element . After working here for nearly 20 years and overseeing design , I can say that everybody ’ s right ! It ’ s all those things . But they all work together . It ’ s like saying what makes a great apple pie is just the crust . Or is it the apples ? Is it the amount of sugar you put in there ? Well , it ’ s all that stuff . Likewise , the Martin recipe in and of itself is pretty spot on , whether the guitar is built in the Custom Shop or on the standard factory line . It ’ s hard to improve , I can tell you that . Not that we don ’ t continue to try !”
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