Martin BEHIND THE SCENES Factory Tour
Jun 29, 2016 12:30:52 GMT -5
Stud Muffin and CaliGull like this
Post by CTGull on Jun 29, 2016 12:30:52 GMT -5
I wrote this after our first trip to Martin 2 years ago. We went back last summer and will probably go back this summer too. It never gets old!
The Martin Guitar "Behind the Scenes" Factory Tour - July 10th, 2014
When reading the brochure about the Martin factory tour there 2 sentences mentioning the Behind the Scenes tour. The regular tour is 1 hour and is free. The Behind the Scenes tour takes 2 hours, costs $25, and must be scheduled in advance. The Behind the Scenes tours start at 9:30am only. Long pants and closed toe shoes required.
I had planned on leaving at 4:30am but my wife, as usual, took 20 minutes to get dressed so we left at 4:45am. I wanted to completely avoid NYC so I selected the I84 route on Waze. The drive was going great until just after the NY border and it told us to get off onto I684, only after did it say we’d be heading towards White Plains! Noooo!! The next exit was in about 10 minutes so we turned around and went back to I84, losing at least 20 minutes. After a pleasant 1 hour+ ride down 209, we finally arrived at the Martin factory at 8:50am.
To the left of the front entrance, the factory wall has been finished to look exactly like the outside of the old factory, only a few blocks away. Outside the front door to the lobby is a headstock of a Martin guitar made from colored concrete. The fretboard continues into the lobby ending at the reception desk, sitting on the shape of a guitar body set into the floor.
We had over a half hour to kill so we went to the “Play Me” wall in the lobby. Hanging there are some of the less expensive Martin models. Then we went into the gift shop, with the usual assortment of t-shirts and trinkets. In the back of the gift shop is a door that goes into the “Pickin’ Parlor”. In there are some of the higher end stuff, nothing really expensive but some good ones to compare models, sizes and materials. The model of each guitar is written on a small chalkboard above the guitar so they can change the guitars occasionally. D18, D1228, 00028VS, HD35, OM42, D28 Authentic, etc. I’ve resisted picking up a Martin (or anything over $300) when we go any music stores due to a lack of talent, memory and not wanting to look like a fool. I was obviously not the only untalented person in the room, so I went for it. To the untrained ear I sound like I know what I’m doing, but I know/remember very little. A little strumming, a little fingerpicking. My favorite was the D28 Authentic, with endless bass and dripping with tone. The 000 was surprisingly loud. The acoustics of the room is fantastic!
Our tour guide Barbara worked in the factory for 20 years before retiring 3 years ago. She came back 2 years ago to do the tours. She’s only been doing the Behind the Scenes tour for about 3 months. We started the tour on time at 9:30am, going through the machine shop to get to the incoming wood area, then to the wood storage area. In the wood storage area are many, many of at least 30 foot high racks, stacked floor to ceiling with cut boards and pieces of every wood imaginable. The room is climate controlled to keep the wood at 7% moisture content. In there is an area we weren’t allowed to take pictures of, a huge set of racks about 30 feet high and 100 feet long full of guitars in cases. Chris Martin’s personal guitar collection. His goal is to have 2 of every model they have ever made, from 1833 on up. If he decides to part with one he puts it up for auction to the employees. Another area we couldn’t take pictures of is Chris’s exotic wood collection, racks of colorful goodness. People who buy high end custom guitars can select wood from parts of this collection. These areas aren’t included in the regular tour.
Then we toured the machine shop (had to wear ear plugs, very loud) and then the assembly area. While in the assembly area the power went out. After a few seconds a generator kicked in and some emergency lights came on. All visitors were escorted immediately back to the lobby. This happened about 11:12am, shortly after the first free tour had just started. After about 10 minutes all of the employees walked out of the shop, through the lobby, and waited outside. After about 20 minutes they were told to go to lunch so they all walked past us again back into the shop. We also went to lunch. The few places in the area to eat were packed, and no place to park. So we kept driving until we found the highway and stopped at a large shopping area with restaurants. A Chick-Fil-A is being built in our town so we decided to go there. The food was good, the people were pleasant and friendly, or it could be that we weren’t in Connecticut anymore.
When we resumed the tour about 12:45pm we went back to the exact place we left off. As you walk into the factory, on the front wall is a huge 30 foot long acoustic guitar, built by the factory workers, with much of the top removed to be able to see the bracing. You can have your picture taken in front of it, as we did. All over the factory there are racks and racks of partially assembled guitars, the curved sides glued together with the neck & end blocks, tops with braces glued on, plain and ornate fingerboards and necks made from a single or 2 pieces of wood or from thin laminates. At each stop was a display board with examples of parts being worked on in that area in various states of completion. The shop is full of modern CNC machinery but all the fine detail and assembly work is done by hand. The backs and tops are cut out with a laser, the necks are cut on a CNC machining center, the sides are soaked and then bent in a press to set the curve, the bracing is located on the top in a jig and then the assembly is heated in a press to set the glue. After the preliminary machining/assembly is done, the hands and tools of these craftsmen and women chisel, sand and shape the unique soul into every guitar. The final shaping of the bracing is done by hand, with a chisel that each person sharpens themselves. The various neck profiles are cut with drawknives and sanded by hand to exact templates. The rosettes and bindings are installed and glued by hand. Each set of guitar body and neck have matching serial numbers. They take different paths through the shop but in the end the dovetail of the neck joint is fine tuned with a chisel by hand, to get a perfect fit.
The Customer Repair department has less to do with repairing the customer and more about making damaged guitars like new. There are 6 racks x 4 high with guitars in various conditions, waiting to be made whole again. The display board for this area shows a few attempted repairs by customers that are not covered by the warrantee.
The Final Inspection area has a few craftsmen doing the final setups on each guitar. Afterward the guitars are put away for 4 days and are checked again. Many other steps in building the guitars are also double checked. Quality is of the utmost importance. They do not sell "seconds". Any guitar that doesn't meet their high standards is destroyed.
At the end of our tour we each got a goodie bag consisting of a small tour brochure, a Martin hat, and a round laser etched piece of spruce that is the scrap that was removed from the sound hole of a guitar top during machining. Ours said “Behind the Scene” but we also got one that said “Factory Tour” like the regular tours do. The hat costs $25 in the store (But these hats are embroidered "Behind the Scenes Tour" on the back) so the tour was essentially free.
After the tour we went to the museum. The first guitar you see is a D-100, a guitar with the most bling imaginable. It is serial number 1,000,001, made in 2004. Then you walk from left to right to each display with examples of guitars from many eras, starting C.F. Martin's teacher Johann Stauffer, progressing to modern times. There are 2 areas of examples of the old school craftsman's workshops, back when they made each piece by hand. There's also a room of Chris Martin's collection of exotic guitars and antiques. Two other "bling" guitars include the 1,000,000th guitar (entirely hand crafted and features more than 40 inlaid ruby & diamonds, worth an estimated $1,000,000), and the 1,500,000th guitar, made in 2011, called "DaVinci Unplugged", based in the top of the line D45 and took a year and a half to build. This marked the shortest period of time they have taken to produce a half-million guitars. Prior milestones have been the 500,000th in 1990, 750,000th in 2000, and the 1,000,000th in 2004. Stenciled on the wall as you are leaving the museum is "If I could choose what to come back as, it would be a Martin OM-45", by Eric Clapton.
Our last stop was the gift shop. Scattered among the displays of t-shirts and books are square glass displays with single guitars in them. Along the back wall is a display of Martin strings.
Even though I may never be able to own an expensive Martin guitar, I have a feeling we will be back to visit the factory again in the future.
The Martin Guitar "Behind the Scenes" Factory Tour - July 10th, 2014
When reading the brochure about the Martin factory tour there 2 sentences mentioning the Behind the Scenes tour. The regular tour is 1 hour and is free. The Behind the Scenes tour takes 2 hours, costs $25, and must be scheduled in advance. The Behind the Scenes tours start at 9:30am only. Long pants and closed toe shoes required.
I had planned on leaving at 4:30am but my wife, as usual, took 20 minutes to get dressed so we left at 4:45am. I wanted to completely avoid NYC so I selected the I84 route on Waze. The drive was going great until just after the NY border and it told us to get off onto I684, only after did it say we’d be heading towards White Plains! Noooo!! The next exit was in about 10 minutes so we turned around and went back to I84, losing at least 20 minutes. After a pleasant 1 hour+ ride down 209, we finally arrived at the Martin factory at 8:50am.
To the left of the front entrance, the factory wall has been finished to look exactly like the outside of the old factory, only a few blocks away. Outside the front door to the lobby is a headstock of a Martin guitar made from colored concrete. The fretboard continues into the lobby ending at the reception desk, sitting on the shape of a guitar body set into the floor.
We had over a half hour to kill so we went to the “Play Me” wall in the lobby. Hanging there are some of the less expensive Martin models. Then we went into the gift shop, with the usual assortment of t-shirts and trinkets. In the back of the gift shop is a door that goes into the “Pickin’ Parlor”. In there are some of the higher end stuff, nothing really expensive but some good ones to compare models, sizes and materials. The model of each guitar is written on a small chalkboard above the guitar so they can change the guitars occasionally. D18, D1228, 00028VS, HD35, OM42, D28 Authentic, etc. I’ve resisted picking up a Martin (or anything over $300) when we go any music stores due to a lack of talent, memory and not wanting to look like a fool. I was obviously not the only untalented person in the room, so I went for it. To the untrained ear I sound like I know what I’m doing, but I know/remember very little. A little strumming, a little fingerpicking. My favorite was the D28 Authentic, with endless bass and dripping with tone. The 000 was surprisingly loud. The acoustics of the room is fantastic!
Our tour guide Barbara worked in the factory for 20 years before retiring 3 years ago. She came back 2 years ago to do the tours. She’s only been doing the Behind the Scenes tour for about 3 months. We started the tour on time at 9:30am, going through the machine shop to get to the incoming wood area, then to the wood storage area. In the wood storage area are many, many of at least 30 foot high racks, stacked floor to ceiling with cut boards and pieces of every wood imaginable. The room is climate controlled to keep the wood at 7% moisture content. In there is an area we weren’t allowed to take pictures of, a huge set of racks about 30 feet high and 100 feet long full of guitars in cases. Chris Martin’s personal guitar collection. His goal is to have 2 of every model they have ever made, from 1833 on up. If he decides to part with one he puts it up for auction to the employees. Another area we couldn’t take pictures of is Chris’s exotic wood collection, racks of colorful goodness. People who buy high end custom guitars can select wood from parts of this collection. These areas aren’t included in the regular tour.
Then we toured the machine shop (had to wear ear plugs, very loud) and then the assembly area. While in the assembly area the power went out. After a few seconds a generator kicked in and some emergency lights came on. All visitors were escorted immediately back to the lobby. This happened about 11:12am, shortly after the first free tour had just started. After about 10 minutes all of the employees walked out of the shop, through the lobby, and waited outside. After about 20 minutes they were told to go to lunch so they all walked past us again back into the shop. We also went to lunch. The few places in the area to eat were packed, and no place to park. So we kept driving until we found the highway and stopped at a large shopping area with restaurants. A Chick-Fil-A is being built in our town so we decided to go there. The food was good, the people were pleasant and friendly, or it could be that we weren’t in Connecticut anymore.
When we resumed the tour about 12:45pm we went back to the exact place we left off. As you walk into the factory, on the front wall is a huge 30 foot long acoustic guitar, built by the factory workers, with much of the top removed to be able to see the bracing. You can have your picture taken in front of it, as we did. All over the factory there are racks and racks of partially assembled guitars, the curved sides glued together with the neck & end blocks, tops with braces glued on, plain and ornate fingerboards and necks made from a single or 2 pieces of wood or from thin laminates. At each stop was a display board with examples of parts being worked on in that area in various states of completion. The shop is full of modern CNC machinery but all the fine detail and assembly work is done by hand. The backs and tops are cut out with a laser, the necks are cut on a CNC machining center, the sides are soaked and then bent in a press to set the curve, the bracing is located on the top in a jig and then the assembly is heated in a press to set the glue. After the preliminary machining/assembly is done, the hands and tools of these craftsmen and women chisel, sand and shape the unique soul into every guitar. The final shaping of the bracing is done by hand, with a chisel that each person sharpens themselves. The various neck profiles are cut with drawknives and sanded by hand to exact templates. The rosettes and bindings are installed and glued by hand. Each set of guitar body and neck have matching serial numbers. They take different paths through the shop but in the end the dovetail of the neck joint is fine tuned with a chisel by hand, to get a perfect fit.
The Customer Repair department has less to do with repairing the customer and more about making damaged guitars like new. There are 6 racks x 4 high with guitars in various conditions, waiting to be made whole again. The display board for this area shows a few attempted repairs by customers that are not covered by the warrantee.
The Final Inspection area has a few craftsmen doing the final setups on each guitar. Afterward the guitars are put away for 4 days and are checked again. Many other steps in building the guitars are also double checked. Quality is of the utmost importance. They do not sell "seconds". Any guitar that doesn't meet their high standards is destroyed.
At the end of our tour we each got a goodie bag consisting of a small tour brochure, a Martin hat, and a round laser etched piece of spruce that is the scrap that was removed from the sound hole of a guitar top during machining. Ours said “Behind the Scene” but we also got one that said “Factory Tour” like the regular tours do. The hat costs $25 in the store (But these hats are embroidered "Behind the Scenes Tour" on the back) so the tour was essentially free.
After the tour we went to the museum. The first guitar you see is a D-100, a guitar with the most bling imaginable. It is serial number 1,000,001, made in 2004. Then you walk from left to right to each display with examples of guitars from many eras, starting C.F. Martin's teacher Johann Stauffer, progressing to modern times. There are 2 areas of examples of the old school craftsman's workshops, back when they made each piece by hand. There's also a room of Chris Martin's collection of exotic guitars and antiques. Two other "bling" guitars include the 1,000,000th guitar (entirely hand crafted and features more than 40 inlaid ruby & diamonds, worth an estimated $1,000,000), and the 1,500,000th guitar, made in 2011, called "DaVinci Unplugged", based in the top of the line D45 and took a year and a half to build. This marked the shortest period of time they have taken to produce a half-million guitars. Prior milestones have been the 500,000th in 1990, 750,000th in 2000, and the 1,000,000th in 2004. Stenciled on the wall as you are leaving the museum is "If I could choose what to come back as, it would be a Martin OM-45", by Eric Clapton.
Our last stop was the gift shop. Scattered among the displays of t-shirts and books are square glass displays with single guitars in them. Along the back wall is a display of Martin strings.
Even though I may never be able to own an expensive Martin guitar, I have a feeling we will be back to visit the factory again in the future.
