Nazareth is the Home of the C. F. Martin Guitar

The Martin Guitar Factory, located at 510 Sycamore Street in Nazareth, PA hasn't always been the home of these famous acoustic guitars. The City of New York, 196 Hudson St., to be exact, was the original home where the guitars were first produced and sold in the United States starting back in 1833.

C. F. Martin Sr., (Christian Frederick), was originally a cabinetmaker like his forefather's in Markneukirchen, Germany. After beginning apprenticeship at the age of 15 under Johann Stauffer, a celebrated guitar maker in Vienna, he quickly became Stauffer's shop foreman and soon returned to his hometown to open his own shop.

Due to conflicts between the Cabinet Makers Guild and the Violin Makers Guild over whose right it was to produce guitars, it was defended that Christian's father George was the "discoverer" of the guitar 35 years previous and that Christian was producing guitars which were extremely high in quality and should be allowed to continue. Although it was deemed by the magistrates that Cabinet Makers could produce guitars, they were limited by regulations of the guild system and that's when Christian decided to bring his guitars to the United States.

Following a visit to a friends home in Nazareth by Christian's wife, she convinced him upon her return home that they should relocate. In 1838 Martin Guitar's new home was in Nazareth, PA and has remained there ever since. It wasn't long before the factory was too small and in 1850 it began it's expansion to be able to keep up with it's growing popularity.

Upon his death, Christian's company was passed down to his son, C. F. Jr. and the business was able to sustain itself even throughout the civil war. In an unexpected event in 1888, the company passed into the hands of a 22 year old. The untimely death of Christian Jr. now gave ownership to his son, Frank Henry Martin.

Making a bold move Frank decided to become his own distributor instead of continuing to use a longstanding friend and business associate. It proved to be a good decision. With the addition of the mandolin to his product line, Frank sustained his business using newspaper ads, direct mail, and much of his own legwork.

The addition of the ukulele in the 1920's caused such a jump in sales that the plant needed expansion to handle the increase. C. F. Martin grew steadily every year until the great depression of 1929 where they had to branch out into other smaller businesses just to keep the plant going and their employees working. The 14 fret neck and the "Dreadnought" guitar were created to try to boost sales. It worked, and now almost all guitars are built with 14 instead of 12 frets and almost all guitar makers have their own "Dreadnought" design.

C. F. Martin, through the years and even now, has never changed it's name or left the family. It has grown and prospered and is considered to be one of the best guitar builders throughout the world. The guitars today are still produced with the same care they were when C. F. Martin Sr. started the business. On that, they have never wavered and it is probably one of the major reasons for their great success.

Tours can be scheduled at the plant and you can see first hand how the Martin Guitar is built. Many great guitarists have traveled, and continue to travel, to the Nazareth plant and use the Martin Guitar as their instrument of choice. If you wish, a Martin guitar can be designed and built to your own specifications but you should remember that quality doesn't come cheap. It will, however, be money well spent. A custom made Martin guitar will only increase in value as the years go by.

C. F. Martin, and the acoustic guitar, are here to stay.

For further information or to schedule a tour go to their website at:
http://www.martinguitar.com

While there be sure to take a look at celebrities who own a C. F. Martin guitar: http://www.martinguitar.com/artists/famous.php