We arrived in Easton, Pennsylvania last night for our visit to the Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth. We took the amazing tour of the factory, with our equally amazing tour guide Jolene, and I--who have always loved guitar music--walked away with a renewed appreciation for these instruments and their amazing history. (Yes, I know I am using the word amazing a lot here, but it is hard to think of any other word for this day.) Not only was it fascinating to see how the Martin guitar is made, and walk through the factory seeing the people who craft these instruments, carrying on the fine tradition of the first C. F. Martin, and hearing how each step of the more than 350 steps in creating the Martin guitar is done, I was totally immersed in the history of this company. I especially enjoyed learning about how they survived the Great Depression, since I do New Deal research and have become more interested in learning about that era.
After the tour, R tried out guitars in the Picking Room, prior to selecting his next Martin. He played a few of them, and although he is right-handed, he just had to try the D-28 authentic 1937, which was a left-handed model. The D stands for Dreadnought. Apparently, there have been left-handed artists who learned to play on right-handed guitars, but R found it pretty difficult to do the opposite. Nonetheless, he could not pass up the chance to play the guitar he would love to own--in a right-hand model, of course.
Afterwards, we had lunch in the local Nazareth Diner, and then did some New Deal research in Nazareth and Bethlehem before heading back to Easton. Tomorrow is our last day and the all-important VIP night at Martin and meeting Chris Martin IV. Early Friday morning, we will leave for home.
3 comments:
How awesome (or amazing)! I would have loved the tour, too. Though I don't play an instrument, I love music so much. I bet R was in heaven! Can't wait to hear about the evening event with Chris Martin (not of Coldplay fame). :)
On Thursday of the event, they took vintage Martins out of the museum showcases and had them set up in the museum. One of the employees was going around tuning them, and another was placing the name card that told what type of guitar (like the Lennon guitar), one signed by Johnny and June Cash, etc. You could play one there in the museum. Randy first wanted to play a particular one, but then decided he did not want to, but it was still interesting.
What fun!
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