Hi again.
My shop will be closed for a couple of weeks while I catch up on a backlog of repairs.
Those of you who are long-time customers will know that I have to do this once or twice a year to stem the incoming jobs so that I can finish the outgoing ones.
I'll be back open on Tuesday June 17th.
I will respond to emails every day.
Andrew
MYSTERIES
The world is full of mysteries and questions that can’t be answered:
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
Where does your lap go when you stand up?
Why does a loaf of “sandwich” bread always have an uneven number of slices…?
Why can’t Martin stick the binding on properly?
We may never know the answers, and it may even be pointless asking “why”? The older (and hopefully wiser) I get, and regarding some of the deep mysteries of the universe (especially the guitar universe), the more I realise that “Y” is a letter, not a word.
For example, I will never know why, that for the last twenty years or so, Martin have been unable to stick the plastic binding on to their guitars properly. They have used several different glues but, seemingly, not the one that actually works – cyanoacrylate.
Martin make wonderful guitars and have done so for almost two hundred years. They basically wrote the template for how steel-string guitars should be made. Almost every acoustic guitar, regardless of brand, is either a direct copy of Martin’s design or at least owes a very serious debt.
I am a Martin fan. I currently own and play three and have owned several others in the past. Almost all of the great music that you have heard, that featured an acoustic guitar, was played on a Martin.
The current build-quality of Martins, especially the traditional models, is exemplary and so close to the quality of the guitars that were truly hand-made by craftsmen in decades past that it is remarkable. Especially as they are making LOTS more guitars that they did thirty, fifty, seventy or more years ago.
I have had the privilege of working on many hundreds of Martins that were made across more than a century and the quality of woodwork is astonishingly consistent. Yes, they now use some modern technology, but all tools need to be operated by a skilled craftsman whether it be a chisel or a CNC machine. They continue to make great guitars.
So why can’t they stick the binding on properly?
Every other manufacturer, great and small, has managed it.
It’s not just local issue – a quick scoot around the internet will confirm that this is a global problem.
If you have a Martin guitar that has had the binding become detached then this is clearly a manufacturing problem. If you bought the guitar new, from a Martin dealer, then you surely have a warranty claim.
Mysteries…