Founder
C. F. Martin Sr.
1796–1873 · Markneukirchen, Sachsen / Saxony
The German cabinetmaker who became the Delta's quiet foundation
He fled a guild dispute in Saxony. In a Pennsylvania workshop he built the instrument the blues learned to whisper with.
Christian Frederick Martin trained as a guitar maker in Vienna. Back in Germany the cabinetmakers' guild had him by the throat — they argued guitar builders had no right to make guitars. He gave up and sailed for New York in 1833, soon moving to Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
There Martin Guitars was born. X-bracing — the cross struts under the top — was Martin's innovation, and it's still why an acoustic Martin sounds the way it does: open, balanced, with a bass that carries without dominating. Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mississippi John Hurt — they all played small Martins in 00 and 000 sizes.
Anecdotes & moments
- The company is still family-owned, six generations in. Barely another guitar brand in the world can say the same.
- Eric Clapton's 1992 Unplugged was played on a Martin 000-42. Afterwards Martin sold so many copies they had to build a new model around the demand.
Links
Photo: Wikimedia Commons