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Martin Guitar to Debut Four New Models

The company will debut their third Arts & Crafts-inspired guitar, a D-28 Bigsby guitar, a Jimmy Buffett Custom Signature Artist Edition guitar, and a D-16EPD (Poker Dogs) guitar.

OM-Arts & Crafts 2018

Nazareth, PA (June 20, 2018) -- C.F. Martin & Co. (Martin Guitar) will offer four new models at the 2018 Summer NAMM Showheld in Nashville, Tenn., from June 28-30. The company will debut their third Arts & Crafts inspired guitar, a D-28 Bigsby guitar, a Jimmy BuffettCustom Signature Artist Edition guitar, and aD-16EPD (Poker Dogs) guitar.

OM-Arts & Crafts 2018

This is the third instrument from Martin that pays homage to the Arts & Crafts design movement that datesback to the late 1800s and often presents in the form of romantic, folk, or medieval style decoration. The movement was thought to be anti-industrial and advocated for economic and social reform. This ornate orchestra model features Arts & Crafts inspired pearl inlay designs throughout, paired with German white oak back and sides and Adirondack spruce top with a Guatemalan rosewood headplate, fingerboard, and bridge. The tonewoods for this guitar were selected for their significance in the movement because they were used by craftspersons and designers as alternatives to traditional industrial materials and excel tonally in the voice of the guitar. The OM-Arts & Crafts includes a comfortable high-performance neck, a Vintage Tone System (VTS) top, and vintage copper open gear tuners. This model is limited to 100 instruments and includes an engraved plate label signed by Chris Martin IV. $13,999

D-28 Bigsby

Martin partnered with Gretsch to debut a second Merle Travis inspired model that pays tribute to the artist and the guitar he made famous in the late 1940s. Merle Travis is one of the most important guitar players of all time and is known for his unique playing style that is still known by guitarists as ā€œTravis Picking.ā€ The D-28 Bigsby is built on the foundation of a newly reimagined D-28 (2017) and is crafted with East Indian rosewood and features a maple high-performance taper neck fitted with the Bigsby headstock. The maple neck offers a unique tonal quality that adds sustain and brightness and pairs nicely with the warmth and depth of rosewood. The interior label is numbered and signed by Chris Martin IV and Fred Gretsch. $3,999

Jimmy Buffett Custom

Legendary artist and chief Parrot Head, Jimmy Buffett, has used Martin guitars throughout his career, with multiple Martin signature models in his collection. Always looking for new and exciting instruments, Jimmy was inspired when he discovered Chris Martin’s CEO-6 Black model from 2013. Along with his guitar tech Dan Cook, Jimmy worked with the Martin Custom Shop to create a version of this guitar all his own. The result is a striking, sloped shoulder dreadnought finished completely with black lacquer and Jimmy’s signature mother of pearl palm tree swaying in the breeze on the headstock. The Jimmy Buffett Custom features a comfortable high-performance neck, a Fishman pick up, and a customized interior label bearing Jimmy Buffett’s signature. The model is released as Jimmy debuts his theatrical production ā€œEscape to Margaritavilleā€ which is currently running on Broadway before setting off on a national tour. As one might imagine, the show includes a slew of Martin guitars and ukuleles. $5,999

D-16EPD Poker Dogs

Inspired by classic Americana art from artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, this playful guitar features a 1903 painting called A Friend in Need, which is printed on a Sitka spruce top. The artwork is part of a series of 16 oil paintings that were commissioned by Brown & Bigelow in the 1900s to advertise cigars. The Style 16 Dreadnought guitar includes sycamore tonewoods, a high-performance taper neck, and comes equipped with Matrix VT Enhanceā„¢ electronics. $2,799

For more information:
Martin Guitars

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Reader: Federico Novelli
Hometown: Genoa, Italy
Guitar: The Italian Hybrid

Reader Federico Novelli constructed this hybrid guitar from three layers of pine, courtesy of some old shelves he had laying around.

Through a momentary flash, an amateur Italian luthier envisioned a hybrid design that borrowed elements from his favorite models.

A few years ago, at the beginning of Covid, an idea for a new guitar flashed through my mind. It was a semi-acoustic model with both magnetic and piezo pickups that were mounted on a soundboard that could resonate. It was a nice idea, but I also had to think about how to make it in my tiny cellar without many power tools and using old solid-wood shelves I had available.

I have been playing guitar for 50 years, and I also dabble in luthiery for fun. I have owned a classical guitar, an acoustic guitar, and a Stratocaster, but a jazz guitar was missing from the list. I wanted something that would have more versatility, so the idea of a hybrid semi-acoustic guitar was born.

I started to sketch something on computer-aided design (CAD) software, thinking of a hollowbody design without a center block or sides that needed to be hot-worked with a bending machine. I thought of a construction made of three layers of solid pine wood, individually worked and then glued together in layers, with a single-cutaway body and a glued-in neck.

For the soundboard and back, I used a piece of ash and hand-cut it with a Japanese saw to the proper thickness, so I had two sheets to fit together. Next, I sanded the soundboard and bottom using two striker profiles as sleds and an aluminum box covered in sandpaper to achieve a uniform 3 mm thickness. A huge amount of work, but it didn't cost anything.

ā€œIt was a nice idea, but I also had to think about how to make it in my tiny cellar without many electric tools and out of old solid-wood shelves I had available.ā€

The soundboard has simplified X-bracing, a soundhole with a rosewood edge profile, and an acoustic-style rosewood bridge. For the neck, I used a piece of old furniture with straight grain, shaped it to a Les Paul profile, and added a single-action truss rod. The only new purchase: a cheap Chinese rosewood fretboard.

Then, there was lots of sanding. I worked up to 400-grit, added filler, primer, and transparent nitro varnish, worked the sandpaper up to 1,500-grit, and finally polished.

Our reader and his ā€œItalian job.ā€

For electronics, I used a Tonerider alnico 2 humbucker pickup and a piezo undersaddle pickup, combined with a modified Shadow preamp that also includes a magnetic pickup input, so you can mix the two sources on a single output. I also installed a bypass switch for power on/off and a direct passive output.

I have to say that I am proud and moderately satisfied both aesthetically and with the sounds it produces, which range from jazz to acoustic and even gypsy jazz. However, I think I will replace the electronics and piezo with Fishman hardware in the future.

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