Post by jubbo on Jan 6, 2018 20:48:00 GMT
I was in the US on business visiting clients and had to drive from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. I was headed to Bethlehem, when i recalled that Martin was based somewhere "Jesusy" and discovered that Nazareth was not too far away.
The current facility is based on the outskirts of the town, the original factory is in the high street which I drove past. There is plenty of parking and the facility looks both daunting and welcoming from the outside. I was really impressed with how it didn't feel like a tourist attraction. I was honestly expecting just park up, take a selfie, buy my Dad a key ring and get back on the road.......I was there nearly 4 hours and late for my meeting.
You are free to just walk into the reception area, the museum, shop and "picking parlour" as you please. There is a desk where you can book tours of the facility. I wandered around the museum a couple of times, there are some incredible exhibts on display. I was really impressed with care and thought taken to preserve the history. I struck up some interesting converstaions with a couple of other visitors. One guy there was there to collect his guitar, he was hoping to see Mr CF Martin himself, who promises to come and say hello if he is in on a day you come and collect from the factory.
Outside the museum is the picking parlour. Here there are about 20 guitars ranging from $700 X series all the way up to $12k custom shop guitars. There are no locks, just pick up and play. This is where I spent about two hours. It was a great experience, I had some nice conversations with other visitors and members of staff. The best I played was the D-28 John Prine signature edition. It just felt great. If i didn't think it would get me divorced I would have bought one there and then.
One member of staff was so impressed that I had come from the UK and had "bunked off work" he let me join a factory tour for free. The tours are arranged by guitar model, so you can essentially follow the production route. I work for a manufacturer and my customers are manufacturers, so i have probably been on 300 factory tours in my life. Everything from cars, to morphine, to Birdseye potato waffles. Essentially, modern factories are all the same and follow the same best practices. Martin is no different.
It is no surprise that the Martin factory has more in common with Toyota than with the luthiers on this forum. However, as a place to visit, if you have an interest in guitars , I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was made to feel very welcome (and it felt genuine) and there is plenty of great stuff that can be seen for free.
J
Front of the factory
The entrance with a nice bit of patio!
Letter in the museum from George Harrison
Kurt Cobain's D-18
One of the many guitars in the picking parlour, you can just pick up and play
The current facility is based on the outskirts of the town, the original factory is in the high street which I drove past. There is plenty of parking and the facility looks both daunting and welcoming from the outside. I was really impressed with how it didn't feel like a tourist attraction. I was honestly expecting just park up, take a selfie, buy my Dad a key ring and get back on the road.......I was there nearly 4 hours and late for my meeting.
You are free to just walk into the reception area, the museum, shop and "picking parlour" as you please. There is a desk where you can book tours of the facility. I wandered around the museum a couple of times, there are some incredible exhibts on display. I was really impressed with care and thought taken to preserve the history. I struck up some interesting converstaions with a couple of other visitors. One guy there was there to collect his guitar, he was hoping to see Mr CF Martin himself, who promises to come and say hello if he is in on a day you come and collect from the factory.
Outside the museum is the picking parlour. Here there are about 20 guitars ranging from $700 X series all the way up to $12k custom shop guitars. There are no locks, just pick up and play. This is where I spent about two hours. It was a great experience, I had some nice conversations with other visitors and members of staff. The best I played was the D-28 John Prine signature edition. It just felt great. If i didn't think it would get me divorced I would have bought one there and then.
One member of staff was so impressed that I had come from the UK and had "bunked off work" he let me join a factory tour for free. The tours are arranged by guitar model, so you can essentially follow the production route. I work for a manufacturer and my customers are manufacturers, so i have probably been on 300 factory tours in my life. Everything from cars, to morphine, to Birdseye potato waffles. Essentially, modern factories are all the same and follow the same best practices. Martin is no different.
It is no surprise that the Martin factory has more in common with Toyota than with the luthiers on this forum. However, as a place to visit, if you have an interest in guitars , I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was made to feel very welcome (and it felt genuine) and there is plenty of great stuff that can be seen for free.
J
Front of the factory
The entrance with a nice bit of patio!
Letter in the museum from George Harrison
Kurt Cobain's D-18
One of the many guitars in the picking parlour, you can just pick up and play
Jo whoever he is.
