Martin Guitars. A Family Business

Maybe the heart of The American Dream is private ownership. You want to be able to own your own home and maybe your own business. You want to pass something down to your kids or grand kids. It is basic in America. A new survey says family businesses account for 84 million jobs and 74% of family businesses stay in operation for more than 30 years, but only 10% make it over 100 years of operation.

Martin & Company is an American Dream that many of us have held in our hands. The founding C.F. Martin established the company in 1833 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. C.F. ‘Chris’ Martin currently sits on the board as Executive Chairman and is the great-great-great grandson of the founder. It is the oldest guitar company in America. The list of accomplishments are too numerous to list in this post, but Martin just passed the milestone of making 3 million guitars.

They are very collectible, but also very playable. You can tell by the list of famous Martin players.

Willie Nelson plays a Martin N-20 named “Trigger”

Dolly Parton usually has a Martin on stage

Johnny Cash had a D-35

Bob Dylan’s first guitar was 1949 Martin

Eric Clapton has several signature Martins

Neil You preferred the D-28 Martin

Hank Williams also preferred his Martin D-28

Kurt Cobain played a Martin D-18E on MTV UnpluggedPaul Simon had many Martins on stage

Avett Brother have a signature Martin

John Mayer has a signature model

The list is both stellar and endless.

Here’s an episode from Every Guitar Has A Story. This Martin sold immediately after the cameras were turned off.

1955 Martin D-28

Do you own a Martin? Please drop a comment on YouTube about yours.