00:21 - So after the robotic polishing,

00:23 - we go in to about 15 minutes of

00:25 - hand polishing just to get

00:27 - everything perfect. The Martin

00:30 - lacquer finish the finest finish

00:33 - in the woodworking world. The

00:36 - very, very high gloss finish is

00:38 - extremely thin for good tone.

00:49 - So he's using a very, very fine

00:51 - pumice and really, really soft

00:55 - pad here just to get any micro

00:59 - scratches out in the hand

01:13 - polishing station.

01:14 - He has two or three different

01:17 - types of bonnets as well as

01:19 - several different breadths of

01:20 - compound depending on what they

01:22 - need to accomplish.

01:29 - We've also found robots to be

01:31 - extremely effective in the

01:32 - lacquer area for consistency of

01:36 - application of the finish.

01:38 - The robots basically are

01:41 - delivered the product either

01:43 - bodies are next to each of the

01:46 - robotic stations where the

01:48 - lacquers applied.

01:50 - If we find that the lacquer is

01:52 - being applied too thin to one

01:53 - specific area, we can adjust the

01:56 - robotic program to increase

01:58 - lacquering and solve any

02:01 - production problems we have in

02:02 - polishing.

02:03 - So this is really, really

02:04 - valuable and has tremendously

02:07 - improved our finish from hand

02:11 - spraying to a more mechanized

02:14 - process.

02:16 - We have a curing oven too that

02:19 - after the lacquer has been

02:21 - applied heats the environment

02:25 - and just lets the lacquer cure

02:28 - before it gets its second coat.

02:34 - All in all there is about eight

02:36 - coats of lacquer on the top and

02:38 - about 11 coats of lacquer on the

02:40 - back and sides with sandings in

02:42 - between.

02:43 - And that's not even counting the

02:45 - filler and the sealer coats so

02:47 - it proceeds the lacquering

02:48 - process.

02:50 - So the next bodies are going to

02:52 - go through lacquering and

02:54 - they're going to come out the

02:55 - other side and that's where

02:56 - we're headed.

03:01 - So we were just looking at the

03:02 - John Mayer guitar. John is

03:04 - certainly one of the most

03:05 - popular guitarists of our

03:08 - generation and one of the best

03:12 - acoustic guitar players.

03:13 - We're really proud to have him

03:14 - as one of our signature artists.

03:18 - Probably our best selling

03:20 - signature artist hands down is

03:22 - Eric Clapton. Really honored to

03:24 - be associated with all of our

03:26 - artists.

03:27 - Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits,

03:30 - Merle Haggard, Paul Simon,

03:34 - Crosby Stills, and Nash.

03:37 - Johnny Cash.

03:40 - Gene Autry. And just about

03:45 - anybody else you can think of.

03:47 - Here's some great shots of Paul

03:49 - McCartney. Early and late shots

03:53 - of the Beatles. John Lennon with

03:56 - the Martin guitar that he

03:57 - acquired before going to India

04:00 - to meet the Maharishi.

04:03 - Tom Petty. Great picture from

04:08 - the video of Hello, Goodbye with

04:11 - John Lennon with his Martin.

04:14 - McCartney with his whole family

04:16 - here with his left handed D28.

04:21 - Woody Guthrie. Jethro Tull.

04:25 - Even the king of rock n roll

04:28 - Elvis Presley. So this is the

04:34 - pearl inlay area and what's

04:36 - happening here is the very, very

04:37 - careful miring and excavation of

04:41 - the area around the tongue of

04:42 - the fingerboard prior to the lay

04:45 - of the abalone pearl shell.

04:48 - So she has the neck and the body

04:50 - together so that everything is

04:53 - going to match up. This is

04:55 - really exacting work and this is

04:58 - done on on our top of the line

04:59 - models.

05:01 - I'd like to show you what it

05:02 - looks like after it's all done.

05:05 - Many, many pieces of abalone

05:07 - shell are very, very carefully

05:09 - inlaid into the perimeter of the

05:11 - bindings also around the rosette

05:15 - and around the pickguard.

05:17 - This is a beautiful tortoise

05:19 - coloured pickguard. The most

05:22 - expensive models are forty five.

05:24 - And this is a custom 45. We also

05:27 - inlay pearl at every single seam

05:31 - with very, very careful miring

05:35 - here at the pace, here at the

05:38 - back down the centre stripe.

05:40 - Beautiful Madagascar rosewood.

05:43 - This is as good as it gets.

05:46 - Of course the pearl doesn't help

05:47 - the tone, but it sure does help

05:50 - its collectability, its stage

05:52 - beauty, and its value. It's

05:55 - valued down the line.

06:05 - So now the necks and the bodies

06:06 - are out of lacquering and the

06:08 - first thing that we do is apply

06:11 - the jewelry. There are the

06:13 - tuning machines, tuning gears to

06:17 - the back of the headstock and

06:24 - will protect space so that we

06:26 - don't mark the finish.

06:28 - There they are.

06:36 - We use many, many different

06:37 - types of tuning machines. Gold

06:40 - plated, chrome plated, nickel

06:41 - plated. And open geared or close

06:44 - geared for a slotted head or a

06:47 - solid headstock and we use the

06:51 - finest quality tuning machines

06:52 - that are made. So this is a

07:00 - beautiful neck with a pearl

07:02 - inlaid logo and some special

07:04 - hexagon pearl inlays on the

07:06 - fingerboard. Neck is being

07:08 - cleaned and prepared for final

07:10 - neck fitting. Making sure

07:15 - everything is perfect before we

07:19 - actually get to the neck and to

07:20 - the body.

07:27 - So after the lecturing is

07:29 - complete and the tuning machines

07:31 - have been mounted, the neck and

07:33 - body are final fit to ensure

07:36 - that everything is perfect.

07:38 - And then it's actually glued

07:39 - into place.

07:42 - It's really starting to look

07:43 - like a guitar at this point.

07:51 - The final fit cleans up the

07:54 - little shelf of lacquer that

07:55 - overhangs the neck and ensures

07:58 - that the seam from the neck to

07:59 - the body is perfect and also

08:03 - double checks the playability

08:04 - and make sure that the bridge

08:06 - height and the neck angle are

08:08 - going to be perfect.

08:20 - So once the glue is dry then it

08:23 - will come out of the clamps and

08:24 - come over in this direction.

08:29 - We have a special tool here

08:33 - which skims the material where

08:36 - the bridge is going to be. You

08:38 - can see it happening up here on

08:39 - the monitor.

08:41 - It skims the material where the

08:42 - bridge is so that we have a wood

08:44 - to wood glue join.

08:46 - This is a fairly new process

08:49 - which really does the job quite

08:50 - nicely preparing it for the hand

08:54 - gluing of the bridge.

09:00 - You can see that right here the

09:05 - little patch where the bridge is

09:07 - gonna lay is cleaned right down

09:09 - to the natural wood so that the

09:15 - bridge can be glued on.

09:17 - Can I show them? You've just

09:19 - glued this one?

09:21 - So.

09:21 - So this has just come out of

09:23 - clamps.

09:24 - The bridge has been glued down

09:25 - nicely and ready to be strung

09:30 - up.

09:32 - So we can watch the bridge

09:34 - gluing process. Here. That's

10:10 - right.

10:45 - So this is a rosewood bridge.

10:48 - Oh, I'm sorry.

10:49 - Morado bridge. Bolivian morado

10:51 - is referred to as Bolivian

10:53 - rosewood because it looks a lot

10:56 - like the regular east indian

10:58 - rosewood. And checking for

11:02 - bridge height.

11:27 - So those holes are for your

11:28 - alignment pins here. There are

11:34 - pins that go in there.

11:35 - Right.

11:36 - Right.

11:36 - They've changed haven't they?

11:40 - These had the little pins on

11:42 - before. So these go down into

11:44 - the outside holes and make sure

11:47 - nothing shifts our glue up.

11:52 - So this is called a toothing

11:53 - iron here.

11:54 - Toothing iron's a really, really

11:56 - ancient tool that simply roughs

11:59 - up the grain of the bridge so

12:03 - that the fibers interlock.

12:06 - She's also using the toothing

12:07 - iron on the spruce itself.

12:23 - And now the glues applied.

12:34 - There's a lot of pressure

12:35 - pulling on this bridge so we

12:36 - don't want it coming off, so the

12:41 - bridge is set in place and the

12:45 - alignment pins are inserted.

12:52 - And then the posts are retracted

12:54 - so that the clamping device can

12:56 - be put in place.

13:02 - And this is called an inside

13:04 - gluing call, which gives us a

13:06 - good surface for the clamp and

13:10 - the outside gluing call, which

13:13 - fits the bridge perfectly. That

13:17 - gets clamped into position and

13:19 - then the individual clamps are

13:22 - tightened and they are tightened

13:25 - to the exact right pressure so

13:28 - that we don't over clamp and

13:29 - actually crimp the top.

13:32 - So we've got a little bit of

13:33 - glue that's out, which is what

13:34 - we want.

13:37 - Clean it all up and then it will

13:41 - sit on the shelf.

13:42 - How long? How long for gluing?

13:47 - 35 to 40 minutes before the glue

13:49 - has set enough for it to take

13:53 - out of clamps and then it'll

13:55 - sit. We won't string it up until

13:57 - the following day.

14:01 - So a lot of pressure to put on a

14:02 - bridge. So we want that glue

14:04 - dry. It'll dry overnight at

14:07 - minimum.

14:12 - So now we're in final inspection

14:14 - and this is where we keep all of

14:15 - our famous musicians, rockstars.

14:18 - This is Junior tuning up the

14:20 - guitar. What's done at this

14:23 - location is we'll string and

14:24 - tune the instrument, set the

14:26 - action at the knot, and at the

14:28 - saddle make sure that the guitar

14:31 - is set up for easy play.

14:33 - We call it butter reaction and

14:37 - we also are installing

14:38 - electronics. Electronics here

14:42 - has been carefully installed

14:44 - into the side of the guitar and

14:46 - as you can see you can adjust

14:47 - the treble, the bass, and

14:49 - mid-range.

14:50 - You also have an onboard tuner.

14:52 - You can adjust your volume and

14:55 - and sweep from different images

14:57 - that will give you different

14:58 - microphone sounds.

15:00 - So really very sophisticated

15:02 - electronics packed in under the

15:05 - saddle pickup and it resides

15:08 - right under here and that is

15:11 - functioning.

15:13 - Now he's ready to string and

15:14 - tune the guitar and apply the

15:16 - pickguard. Pickguard has a

15:22 - protective coating.

15:25 - All of the last little

15:27 - components of the guitar

15:28 - installed here and in addition

15:31 - we're also inspecting every

15:33 - square inch of the guitar to

15:34 - make sure there's no dents,

15:36 - scratches, or buzzing of the

15:39 - notes. Anything that would would

15:42 - kick it out of production.

15:45 - We want to get that taken care

15:46 - of now.

15:47 - Once the guitar is inspected, it

15:49 - will be packed in its case and

15:54 - all of our guitars above the x

15:57 - series line come with a hard

16:00 - shell case and we're going to go

16:03 - into the warehouse where they'll

16:06 - stay for eight days. During that

16:08 - eight days under all the tension

16:11 - of the strings, the neck will

16:13 - come up a little bit and the top

16:16 - will swell a little bit.

16:18 - We'll need to adjust the trust

16:20 - rod back to bring the neck flat

16:22 - and also set the saddle perhaps

16:26 - a little bit lower. Get

16:27 - everything readjusted so that we

16:29 - can ship it out to the dealers.

16:41 - So George is one of our better

16:42 - players and he's working on an

16:44 - OM28-V, which is prized by

16:47 - fingerstyle players.

16:49 - And George is a good player.

16:51 - Give it a whirl, George. You

17:50 - haven't lost it yet, George. So

17:55 - that's it.

17:56 - Guitars are shipped worldwide

17:59 - and find their way into the

18:00 - hands of the best upcoming and

18:04 - famous musicians all over the

18:06 - planet. Bringing you tremendous

18:08 - music doesn't get any better

18:12 - than that.

18:18 - So we're in the Martin custom

18:19 - shop and this is where we do one

18:21 - of a kind.

18:22 - Very special pieces for

18:25 - individual orders. Custom

18:27 - orders.

18:28 - This little guitar is a size

18:30 - OO-12 fret. Done it in the

18:33 - traditional old style of Martin

18:36 - as a very intricate 45. A double

18:40 - 045 with abalone pearl all the

18:44 - way around every seam. A

18:46 - beautiful little instrument.

18:48 - So the way the custom shop works

18:54 - is that we produce a set of

18:56 - instructions and each worker

18:58 - finds his particular item on the

19:01 - instructions and follows the

19:04 - specifications very carefully.

19:08 - This guitar looks like it's

19:12 - going to Japan. And over here.

19:17 - Chris Eckard is one of the

19:18 - custom shop people. He's working

19:21 - on one of our new models, which

19:22 - is called The Performing Artist

19:24 - series and this is a guitar

19:27 - that's specifically designed for

19:29 - stage use.

19:30 - It's an attractive guitar with

19:33 - very unique features. See that

19:38 - you can tune your guitar and

19:42 - adjust all types of tonal

19:46 - settings right from the

19:47 - instrument.

19:48 - Chris, give us a little...

19:50 - It's a brand new model just

20:28 - going out for review by Acoustic

20:29 - Guitar magazine.

20:54 - We're in our shipping department

20:55 - and warehouse.

20:56 - And this is where the guitars

20:58 - get packed and shipped all over

20:59 - the world.

21:00 - That's what's going on here.

21:02 - These are all Martin strings.

21:03 - This is a major part of our

21:05 - business. Probably about 20 to

21:07 - 25 percent of our business is in

21:11 - Martin strings. And here these

21:14 - guitars are being staged after

21:16 - final inspection to go to

21:19 - various distributors and dealers

21:21 - all over the world.

21:25 - Interestingly enough the Martin

21:27 - family saved just about

21:28 - everything and in the attic of

21:30 - North Street where there was

21:31 - plenty of room to save things.

21:34 - They packed away tools and

21:37 - letters and documents.

21:39 - And the result is that Martin

21:41 - Guitar has one of the best

21:43 - musical archives in the world.

21:48 - Here's a great letter.

21:49 - I've used guitars in vaudeville,

21:51 - radio, and entertaining and I

21:53 - prefer Martin to any of them

21:55 - including our competitor. Signed

21:59 - Gene Autry.

22:00 - So these letters from Gene Autry

22:02 - are worth quite a lot of money

22:04 - there.

22:05 - They tell the story of the

22:09 - evolution of his various

22:10 - guitars, some of which are

22:12 - valued at more than a million

22:13 - dollars.

22:15 - We have an incredible collection

22:18 - of photography.

22:20 - This is a very recent photograph

22:23 - of Eric Clapton.

22:24 - We've got photography that goes

22:26 - all the way back into the very

22:30 - birth of photography.

22:32 - We've also been acquiring things

22:34 - for our museum.

22:37 - This was purchased at Christie's

22:40 - at one of the music auctions at

22:42 - Christie's.

22:43 - This is a Nudie suit made by

22:46 - Nudie in North Hollywood,

22:47 - California.

22:49 - This suit was worn by Roy Rogers

22:52 - on Rogers and Dale Evans a

22:55 - television show and we bought

22:58 - two other suits like it.

23:02 - We also have all the original

23:04 - journals and and I don't know if

23:07 - you can see this here, but we

23:09 - have just an incredible array of

23:13 - journals.

23:14 - This one here is from 1830s.

23:20 - These are transactions by C.F.

23:22 - Martin Sr. Our founder.

23:25 - Here is a repaired guitar for

23:29 - two dollars and twenty five

23:30 - cents. That's a lot of money

23:31 - back then.

23:32 - Here is a harmonica for thirty

23:34 - one and a quarter cent.

23:36 - I don't know what a quarter cent

23:37 - is, but apparently they were

23:39 - using them back then.

23:41 - This tells a very, very

23:44 - definitive story of how business

23:46 - was conducted and what his

23:48 - business was like as he started

23:50 - in America back in 1833.

23:53 - So everywhere you dig in these

23:55 - archives, you come up with more

23:57 - and more fascinating things.

24:00 - Little day books like this that

24:03 - recorded the financial

24:05 - transactions of the names of the

24:07 - employees, the distributors, and

24:10 - people that he was dealing with.

24:12 - So one of the best archives in

24:16 - American companies in existence.

24:24 - This is our fairly recently

24:26 - constructed visitor center and

24:29 - museum.

24:30 - And I'd just like to take you

24:31 - around a little bit.

24:33 - Customers are greeted and if

24:36 - they want to sign up for a tour,

24:38 - they go into our gift shop here.

24:41 - This is called The 1833 shop.

24:43 - It's named after the year that

24:44 - Martin was founded so customers

24:48 - can sign up for a tour, they can

24:51 - buy a sweatshirt or a T-shirt or

24:53 - books about Martin guitars,

24:56 - posters. Anything that's related

24:59 - to guitar from guitar strings,

25:01 - guitar straps, picks, even some

25:05 - CDs of Martin Guitar artists and

25:09 - we get a lot of great guitar

25:11 - players that visit.

25:13 - And so...do you have the

25:16 - She has the key if if a musician

25:23 - wants to play guitar.

25:24 - This is our players room.

25:26 - Hi there.

25:28 - We didn't know you were in here,

25:29 - but this is PCN television and

25:31 - they're doing a little spot

25:32 - about Martin Guitars.

25:34 - Where are you from?

25:37 - Palmyra, which is down near

25:38 - Philadelphia?

25:40 - Near Hershey.

25:41 - So that's not too far. You know

25:42 - about PCN then, everybody knows

25:44 - about PCN.

25:45 - So you're trying one of the John

25:47 - Mellencamps?

25:48 - So kind of a bright crisp sound

25:51 - that he likes.

25:55 - So this is a place where an

25:58 - individual can try guitars that

26:02 - you wouldn't normally see

26:03 - perhaps in a music store.

26:06 - These are higher end guitars.

26:08 - Here's a Porter Wagner

26:11 - commemorative model with

26:13 - Porter's special pickguard and

26:18 - the authentic models are made

26:21 - with animal hide glue in the

26:24 - same way that they were made

26:25 - back in 1830.

26:29 - I'm sorry, the 1930s. And lots

26:32 - of different models.

26:35 - This is, of course, the Johnny

26:38 - Cash.

26:40 - Johnny Cash D35. Limited edition

26:44 - model that we make. So it's a

26:47 - great place to come in and try

26:50 - some guitars.

26:52 - Thanks.

26:53 - Keep playing.

26:57 - So out in the lobby we get a lot

27:04 - of people that come and have a

27:05 - guitar for repair.

27:09 - This is our repair diagnostic

27:12 - room.

27:14 - We'll take a careful look at

27:17 - somebody's instrument, diagnose

27:19 - it if it needs some work. If it

27:21 - needs some work or if it's

27:23 - normal wear and tear or warranty

27:25 - work or whatever.

27:27 - They'll check the guitar in and

27:30 - get a quotation out of the

27:31 - customer. In some cases, the

27:33 - work is done for free.

27:35 - And out here this is our Wall of

27:41 - Fame.

27:42 - We're very proud of the artists

27:46 - that play Martin guitars.

27:48 - Here is Arlo Guthrie. Flatt and

27:52 - Scruggs.

27:54 - Here's Joan Baez and the

27:56 - Kingston Trio.

27:57 - Of course more modern guitar

27:59 - players like John Mayer. John

28:02 - Mayer's first album. Lots of

28:06 - historic players like Elvis and

28:08 - Paul Simon.

28:09 - Van Morrison, Don McLean. And

28:13 - just about anybody that plays

28:15 - guitar has played Martin's. So

28:21 - while people are waiting for the

28:22 - tour, they're invited to come in

28:25 - and take a look at our museum

28:27 - and the tours are are free. For

28:31 - families it's best to get here

28:35 - I'd say between 11 and 1.

28:39 - There's a great place to eat

28:40 - right across the street called

28:41 - Miva Joe's.

28:42 - And you get here and take the

28:47 - afternoon tour afterwards.

28:48 - You're invited to visit with the

28:50 - museum, which is fairly new.

28:54 - About four years old. As you

29:05 - enter the museum on the wall, a

29:08 - great quote by Eric Clapton.

29:11 - If I could choose what to come

29:12 - back as, it would be a Martin

29:13 - OM-45.

29:14 - So we've got music playing in

29:17 - here and I'll make sure that

29:19 - that's turned off in a moment.

29:20 - But we're going to just give you

29:23 - a taste of the museum because we

29:24 - don't want to spoil it by giving

29:26 - you everything.

29:27 - We really would like you to come

29:29 - visit.

29:30 - It's so much better to see this

29:32 - in person.

29:33 - PCN does a great job in whetting

29:37 - your. Whistle for what this is

29:38 - about.

29:39 - So make sure you come back and

29:40 - visit in the past our museum was

29:47 - a very small room with a couple

29:48 - of guitars and a bench to wait

29:50 - for the tour.

29:50 - But as we've grown, became

29:53 - increasingly more important for

29:54 - us to be able to tell our story.

29:56 - And so Chris Martin's vision,

29:58 - Chris is the sixth generation of

30:00 - Martins to run the business.

30:02 - His vision was to build a museum

30:05 - that really was on par with the

30:08 - factory tour, which people come

30:10 - from all over the world to see

30:12 - how the guitars are made, but

30:14 - they never really got a sense

30:15 - for our story.

30:16 - And so we built the art museum

30:19 - about five years ago and it

30:21 - really has become a tremendous

30:24 - magnet for people from all over

30:26 - the world to come learn about

30:28 - the Martin story.

30:31 - The interesting thing is that at

30:33 - the age of 15, C.F. Martin

30:35 - Senior was sent to Vienna,

30:38 - Austria by his father to study

30:40 - guitar making with Johanne

30:42 - Stauffer. Johanne Stauffer was

30:44 - the best guitar maker of the

30:47 - day.

30:48 - The guitar was just coming into

30:51 - being and Martin was from the

30:54 - small town of Mark Newkurchen,

30:57 - which is on the eastern border

30:58 - of Germany and in Vienna, Martin

31:05 - rose to the level of a foreman

31:08 - of the plant.

31:08 - He learned all the jobs. Rose to

31:11 - the level of foreman.

31:12 - He met his wife Otilia and they

31:15 - got married and had a child and

31:17 - their desire was to move back to

31:19 - the town of Mark Newkurchen,

31:20 - which they did and in that town,

31:23 - the violin makers guild

31:26 - prohibited them from hanging out

31:28 - a shingle.

31:29 - They hadn't gone through an

31:31 - apprenticeship and so the violin

31:34 - makers didn't want anybody

31:37 - making guitars.

31:38 - They thought guitars were

31:39 - furniture or lowly instruments.

31:42 - They didn't like them at all.

31:44 - And even though there was a long

31:46 - protracted kind of court battle,

31:50 - Martin won the battle.

31:52 - After about a year, but there

31:54 - was enough bad feelings left

31:56 - over that he picked up and moved

32:00 - to the United States landing in

32:03 - New York City.

32:04 - In November of 1833 with his

32:06 - wife and his son C.F. Jr. and a

32:12 - young baby girl.

32:16 - So they set up shop in what is

32:19 - now the mouth of the Holland

32:20 - Tunnel right near that spot and

32:23 - began building guitars.

32:26 - This is the oldest guitar that

32:28 - we have that was made in

32:30 - America.

32:31 - It was still very much a

32:32 - European guitar innovative and

32:36 - very highly ornamented with

32:39 - ebony and ivory and a little

32:41 - clock key on the back of the

32:44 - neck.

32:44 - That was useful in setting the

32:48 - action and adjusting the neck

32:51 - really.

32:52 - Martin was instantly recognized

32:55 - as the finest guitar maker in

32:58 - the United States and anybody

33:01 - that was doing that was copying

33:04 - him.

33:05 - But gradually in the six years

33:07 - that he spent in New York City.

33:10 - Gradually the guitar began to

33:13 - evolve from a very European type

33:16 - of instrument to a purely

33:18 - American guitar. I'm holding a

33:26 - style 2-34 guitar.

33:30 - This guitar would have been made

33:32 - roughly around the time of the

33:35 - civil war.

33:36 - You see that ivory is still

33:39 - being used for the bridge and

33:40 - for the decorative trim of the

33:42 - guitar. A 2-34. 2 refers to the

33:48 - size and 34 refers to its cost.

33:53 - This guitar would have cost

33:54 - thirty four dollars.

33:56 - Pretty good deal back then.

33:59 - I'm sure 34 dollars was plenty

34:01 - of money.

34:02 - The interesting thing is that

34:04 - the numbers began to stick.

34:06 - So a 1-28 would have been a size

34:11 - one for 28 dollars.

34:14 - A 3-18 would be a size 3 guitar

34:18 - for eighteen dollars.

34:19 - And gradually those numbers

34:21 - stuck and began to exemplify the

34:24 - styling of each particular

34:26 - instrument.

34:26 - So D-28 and D-18.

34:29 - The famous guitars that we make

34:31 - today hearken back to this

34:35 - original nomenclature.

34:38 - Beautiful little guitar.

34:39 - Now that guitar has changed from

34:41 - its European style to a strictly

34:44 - Martinesque American style.

34:48 - Original designs and a very

34:52 - unique system of expressing

34:54 - inside the guitar.

34:58 - So this area complete with

35:00 - Edison light bulbs and many of

35:02 - the original tools, which were

35:04 - brought to the United States by

35:06 - C.F. Martin Sr. in 1833.

35:09 - Many of these items were found

35:11 - under the eaves of the old North

35:13 - Street plant.

35:15 - Here we can see a picture of the

35:16 - North Street plant with the

35:19 - entire workforce as it would

35:21 - have been in the turn of the

35:24 - century with nine workers, three

35:26 - of which were Martin's.

35:28 - This is Frank Henry Martin and

35:31 - his two sons C.F. the third and

35:33 - Herbert.

35:36 - So it's very special to have

35:38 - these old tools around the turn

35:43 - of the century. 1895.

35:48 - With the influx of immigrants

35:51 - from Italy, the mandolin came

35:53 - along with them and everybody

35:57 - started playing mandolin here in

35:59 - the United States and Martin

36:01 - jumped in in a big way and began

36:04 - making mandolins.

36:05 - By the same token when the 1920s

36:10 - rolled around, the ukulele had

36:12 - become incredibly popular

36:14 - because of Hawaiian influences

36:16 - and culture.

36:18 - People were playing slide guitar

36:20 - like the Hawaiians and really

36:23 - fascinated with the exotic

36:25 - culture of Hawaii.

36:26 - So the ukulele became popular

36:28 - and Martin jumped in and just

36:31 - built thousands and thousands of

36:33 - ukuleles.

36:34 - More so than guitars during that

36:36 - period.

36:38 - During this time the guitar grew

36:41 - in size and shape mostly because

36:46 - more volume was needed to

36:47 - compete onstage and to have the

36:49 - larger audiences be able to hear

36:52 - the guitars.

36:53 - So the guitars rose to a fairly

36:55 - large size and then the cowboys

37:02 - came in. Cowboys like Roy

37:05 - Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong

37:07 - Cassidy, Montana Slim.

37:12 - We have many of those guitars

37:13 - here in the museum. Famous

37:15 - guitars. And the guitar rose to

37:21 - the size of a dreadnought.

37:23 - Dreadnought being the name of a

37:25 - very large battleship in World

37:28 - War One.

37:29 - And Gene Autry played the large

37:33 - 12 dreadnaught and made that

37:36 - guitar famous on many of his

37:38 - recordings like Back in the

37:39 - Saddle Again.

37:40 - And even here comes Peter

37:42 - Cottontail. So the dreadnaught

37:45 - guitar has become our our pride

37:47 - and joy.

37:48 - And many of the dreadnought

37:49 - guitars that were made in the

37:51 - pre World War II era have become

37:54 - known as the holy grail of

37:56 - guitars.

37:57 - This particular one here is

37:59 - worth well over three hundred

38:00 - thousand dollars.

38:02 - Originally purchased for

38:03 - probably about 200 dollars.

38:06 - So we've had the pleasure of

38:08 - collaborating with many, many

38:10 - dozens of artists. Johnny Cash,

38:13 - Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Tom

38:16 - Petty, Eric Clapton up here with

38:20 - his triple-O 42 and more

38:23 - recently with Sting and

38:26 - everybody's aware.

38:27 - I believe. That Sting has been a

38:29 - proponent of saving the

38:31 - rainforests and we of course

38:34 - being a user of wood are very

38:36 - concerned about that too.

38:38 - So we've been doing projects

38:42 - that are in connection with the

38:45 - Forest Stewardship Council and

38:46 - Smart Wood to produce

38:49 - sustainable wood series of

38:51 - guitars.

38:52 - This one is called The Sting.

38:54 - It's a small guitar made with

38:59 - sustainable woods and it's

39:02 - strong. A full octave above

39:05 - standard pitch.

39:06 - Giving it a very unusual sound.

39:26 - Can I sit? It's strung with

39:39 - strings that are full octave

39:41 - above pitch, giving out a very

39:42 - unusual sound.

40:39 - Beautiful little thing.

40:44 - This is our one millionth

40:45 - guitar. Serial number 1 million.

40:48 - And as we saw this serial number

40:50 - approaching, we began early in

40:53 - our planning to build a special

40:54 - commemorative instrument.

40:56 - This instrument includes 18

40:58 - karat gold.

41:01 - More than 42 semi-precious

41:05 - jewels. Sapphires, diamonds,

41:07 - rubies, aquamarines, emeralds,

41:11 - mother of pearl, abalone pearl,

41:14 - estate ivory. And is just a

41:18 - priceless piece of art.

41:20 - It's so good that it probably

41:23 - shouldn't be played given that

41:25 - we do take it out and play it

41:26 - from time to time, but it has

41:29 - thousands and thousands of

41:30 - pieces of hand cut inlay on it

41:34 - and it took a full two years to

41:37 - make it. A beautiful piece and

41:42 - it will never be sold. So as you

41:53 - traverse through the museum, we

41:55 - move into the Elvis time period.

42:00 - Elvis with his leather covered

42:02 - Martin Guitar.

42:03 - Ricky Nelson thought that was

42:05 - pretty cool and copied him.

42:07 - Certainly the Kingston Trio had

42:10 - a tremendous impact on acoustic

42:12 - music's popularity in the United

42:14 - States and a tremendous impact

42:17 - on Martin guitars sale of D-28s.

42:22 - The Woodstock generation with

42:24 - musicians like Joni Mitchell and

42:26 - Crosby Stills and Nash.

42:28 - Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roger

42:32 - McGuane, and the Byrds.

42:35 - Tremendous growth period for

42:37 - Martin where we were actually

42:39 - backordered for four years.

42:41 - And this little guitar here was

42:43 - the very first guitar in outer

42:45 - space.

42:46 - This is the space guitar.

42:48 - It was made small so that would

42:50 - fit into the compartment on the

42:52 - shuttle, the compartment that

42:55 - each astronaut has for their

42:57 - personal effects. And he wanted

42:59 - to be the first person to jam in

43:01 - outer space.

43:03 - So that's basically what I

43:05 - wanted to show you. I want to

43:07 - leave a little bit to your

43:08 - imagination because we do want

43:11 - you to come visit.

43:12 - It's an incredible museum, one

43:15 - that's constantly evolving and

43:18 - changing.

43:19 - And we'd love to see you.