Sunday, February 27, 2005

The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum

The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum is an independent Internet forum which is not in any manner related to or affiliated with C. F. Martin & Co. This website has an unbelievable amount of information. For a guy that has been playing the same two guitars for more than thirty years, it’s amazing how much I didn’t know. My EZBoard username is "kev01".

Also visit:

C. F. Martin & Co.
Tobias Music, Downers Grove, IL "The only place to buy a guitar. They have the best price and they keep their guitars in the case."
Sounds like a Martin - CA Guitars
Bryan Kimsey's Website
My Guitar Photos

Saturday, February 19, 2005

On the prowl for a Martin Guitar...

I saved up and purchased my first new guitar somewhere around 1973. It was a Gibson Blue Ridge and it has been my baby ever since. It went everywhere with me for a long time. It gained a lot of character over the years and it always sounded great. The only guitar that sounded better, much better, was my best friends Martin Herringbone. I can’t remember what year he purchased it. I do remember the scalloped bracing was something new that Martin was doing at the time. He was a much better player than me and received a little more purchasing power from his parents. We made a lot of reel-to-reel recordings back then and I always was amazed how good his guitar sounded. Even today when I play the tapes that we recorded I can’t believe how good that Martin guitar sounds. Anyway, He went on to play professionally and he still plays and records with his Herringbone. This is the main reason I have been on the prowl for a Martin the last several years. I could not find that sound I wanted. I did not realize until recently that the store background noise and poor acoustics was the problem. I thought I found a good sounding Taylor until I brought it home. It sounded great in the store and very bad when I got it home. I ran back to the store the next weekend and returned it.