PROJECT 91
“ INSTEAD OF BUILDING 91 VERSIONS OF ONE INSTRUMENT, WE’ RE ESSENTIALLY BUILDING 91 DIFFERENT GUITARS— EACH WITH ITS OWN NUANCES, AND EACH REQUIRING ITS OWN LEVEL OF HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION AND CRAFTSMANSHIP.”
make it even more complicated, those early instruments weren’ t truly identical— more often than not, each one had its own subtle differences.
When we launched the Artist Model program, our first release was a reproduction of Gene Autry’ s D-45, and we built 91 of them. In that case, we were recreating the same guitar 91 times. Project 91 is much more demanding. Instead of building 91 versions of one instrument, we’ re essentially building 91 different guitars— each with its own nuances, and each requiring its own level of historical interpretation and craftsmanship.
Here’ s an interesting little fact: Gene Autry bought the first one during the Depression. Jackie“ Kid” Moore bought the second. Then we sold number three and number four. It took four years to sell the first four D-45s! In today’ s world, if we introduced a new model and only sold four in four years, we’ d discontinue it. We wouldn’ t keep making it. We’ d ask, why are we bothering! We’ re only selling one a year. I give my ancestors a lot of credit for sticking with it!
Why did they bother? You know, it was the Depression. If someone wanted a style 45 guitar, we took the order!
In that sense, how does Martin think of what constitutes“ Golden Era?”— especially since it can be argued that the company is building its best instruments ever? You’ re asking the wrong guy because I think we are in another Golden Era. You need to ask people who think it means more than I think it means. And again, I mean no disrespect. But if people can’ t acknowledge— and many have— that the Martins we’ re building today are every bit as good as, if not better than, the ones from the 1930s … then I don’ t know what else to say. That’ s the best we can do. We can’ t do more than that.
Let’ s get back to Project 91— and the price tag. A $ 150,000 recreation only makes sense if it occupies a very specific economic, cultural, and epistemic niche. How do you view this offering in that context? When I talk to people about vintage guitars— about values and prices— I always think back to a conversation I had years ago with George Gruhn. Before the internet, before Reverb, guys like George, or Rudy, or Norm— they were the knowledge. They understood why a particular old guitar was special and why it deserved to be priced the way it was.
COLLECTIBLE GUITAR | 81