What is best martin guitar
Martin Guitars Top 10! | The Ten Things You Should Know About Martin Guitars before buying one!
all right here we go ten things that you
should know about Martin guitars before
you go out and buy one stay tuned
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hey you're watching Alamo music TV this
is Chris McKee with Alamo Music Center
in San Antonio Texas you can find us
online at Alamo music.com
before we get started I want to show you
guys this cool new shirt that we have
just come out with for our 90th
anniversary that's right
Alamo music has been around since 1929
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located here on youtube where you can
order one of these very cool shirts now
90 years is a long time 1929 seems like
a long time ago but you know it's been
around longer
Martin Martin guitars has been around
since 1833 and that's not one of the top
10 things were going to be talking about
today because frankly that's on most of
their head stocks so that's already a
given but we are going to tell you ten
things that you should know about when
it comes to Martin guitars before you
purchase one and help you appreciate the
history of this very storied guitar
manufacturer so let's get started with
number ten ten so number ten why is
martin guitar so important when we talk
about flat top steel string acoustic
guitars well
there's one simple reason they invented
them prior to christian Frederick Martin
coming out with the first steel string
guitar all guitars were nylon or really
at the time gut strung guitars they were
carryovers from the designs that were
made popular in Spain and spread
throughout Europe and yet this German
luthier who immigrated to the United
States and set up shop in Nazareth
Pennsylvania developed a steel string
guitar and it was all with one idea in
mind it's got to be louder that was the
whole point
by having steel strings you could put
more tension on the top and therefore
have a louder instrument prior to
amplification which was really not
existent at the time so the flat top
acoustic guitar market really owes its
entire existence to Martin guitars and
they've been building them longer than
anybody else as a result so like we said
since 1833 number nine
so they invented the flattop steel
string acoustic guitar that invention
was made possible by CF Martin's
invention of the X brace that's right
the X brace which you see on just about
every acoustic guitar of steel string
acoustic guitar that is in existence
practically was invented by CF Martin
and it was really initially done on the
gut string guitars getting away from fan
bracing which is still popular on
classical guitars as a means of
basically allowing more tension and
controlling the belly on the top and
things of that nature so X brace that's
where it started
steel strings is where it went to and
then a host of other innovations that
we're about to discuss so let's move on
to number eight your played your guitar
or you're just starting out and you grab
a guitar you take a look at that neck
and if it's a steel string guitar I bet
you 90% of the time when you look down
there's two dots right here right here
at the 12th fret and the 12th fret is
two frets away from the body that's what
we call a 14th fret neck well that's
another invention from Martin it was
actually at the request of a banjo
player who played guitar and he wanted
more of that space mourn neck before you
hit the body of course this was at a
time before you know things like a
cutaway would be normalized in the
industry so 14 frets to the body made
just a little bit more real estates to
play around with before you ended up
hitting your hand against it so Martin
guitars came out with it and then
popularized it and now it's very hard to
find an acoustic guitar that has 12
frets they are more of the exception
than the rule and now you know why
number 7
another invention would the idea of
volume behind it is this guy
the dreadnought body shape now it's
pretty common when we're looking at
acoustic guitars but Martin invented
this shape the dreadnought was named
after the HMS dreadnought which was a
British warship and it's square shoulder
shallow waist and deep body design was
all with one thing in mind two
acoustically out-perform
at least try to equal the volume coming
from the mandolin and banjo player that
wouldn't shut up do you know how to tune
to banjo players you shoot one so Martin
guitar players back in the day and
bluegrass bands had to compete for
volume because again not much
amplification going on the idea came
about to invent a body that would push
out as much air as possible and that's
how we came out with the dreadnought
body shape which again is pretty much
common all across the place is the most
common body shape in all of steel string
acoustic guitars still made produce and
play by millions today so there you go
from warship to musical instrument
number six so a lot of people don't know
this but early on in the endeavor to try
to find a way to again for volume sake
amplify the acoustic guitar mark guitars
was front and center with another famous
guitar company Fender guitars in fact if
you get the chance to go to Nazareth
Pennsylvania to the Martin guitar
factory there is a museum there where
you can see a lot of the early Martin
guitars that became famous some of their
instruments that didn't do too well back
in the 60s like keyboards and amplifiers
and all sorts of other stuff and the
earliest example that I've ever seen of
an acoustic electric guitar it's a
triple o 18 with a Fender single coil
pickup basically hacked into the top of
the guitar now we know from experience
at this point that just hacking a single
coil electric guitar pickup into the top
of acoustic guitar could be the perfect
recipe for feedback but it's one of the
earliest endeavors to try to figure out
this convention of taking the beautiful
sound of an acoustic guitar that we all
know and love and amplifying it so that
an audience can hear without us having
to be hampered by standing in front of a
microphone that's kind of feedback on
its own anyway so that was the earliest
endeavor martin was there at the
forefront with a lot of these
innovations really creating what we know
of today as the modern flattop steel
string acoustic guitar number five
there's a lot of guitars on the market
that are signature models from other
players maybe most famously something
like the Les Paul we often forget that
the Gibson Les Paul is in effect
probably the most successful signature
model
ever fender has tons of signature model
guitars but if you ever want to actually
get a signature model or guitar played
by one of your most favorite musicians
the likelihood is that you need to look
to Martin guitars let's go over a few of
them famous musicians that have played
Martin guitars in the past
Elvis John Lennon let's see Willie
Nelson Eric Clapton John Mayer Kurt
Cobain
that's quite an eclectic list Lester
Scruggs we could keep going Hank
Williams jr. you get the idea Martin
guitars has been around since 1833 and
it has basically been the go-to when it
came to quality professional level
instruments that players could play
enjoy and trust the quality of and so
for that reason if we go through and
look at it who's who of artists over you
know decades and decades have recorded
music then they are most likely if they
are acoustic guitar players at some
point or another playing
a Martin guitar so if you've got someone
in mind look back in their history I can
almost guarantee you they played a
Martin guitar of one model or another
number four so what is the sound of a
Martin you know that's one of the big
things when it comes to the acoustic
guitar that you prefer and Martin
guitars are synonymous with a big bold
woody warm tone this is what they've
been known for and it's what has
garnered them fans for decades literally
over a hundred years now that sound is
not simply based upon the shape of the
Martin or the tone woods use it's a
combination of all of those things
including the neck joint and the bracing
that's used even the glue that's used on
different models will affect the tone of
the guitar but it doesn't matter what
you pick up whether it's a D 18 and D 28
modern deluxe like I have here or one of
their x-series guitars made in their
plant in Mexico all their guitars have
this quintessential Martin tone with an
emphasis on the roundness of note and
girth in the low end that really makes
it enjoyable to play and just resonates
against your body as you do it that's
why so many people love to pick up a
Martin guitar and just strum away
number three Martin guitars makes
probably the
broadest range of acoustic steel string
guitars when you're looking at price and
features they make guitars both in
Mexico and in their Nazareth pa factory
here in the United States they have
guitars starting from a few hundred
dollars all up to hundreds of thousands
of dollars on a very ornate limited
edition guitar and so it can be said
that no matter what you're looking at
for Martin guitars has something for you
whether it's price or feature you can
get something that is incredibly vintage
inspired something like an authentic
series that's made with the same woods
the same glues the same finish no truss
rod just like they were making it back
in the 30s or you could buy something
that's very modern like this a d-28
modern deluxe with titanium and liquid
metal and carbon fiber and all of these
things in a wooden steel string acoustic
guitar so you could say that Martin
guitars are still innovating to this day
and offering musicians of all walks of
life and aptitudes and and interests
guitar to meet their needs so big big
big catalogue to go through and that's
kind of going to our next one number two
so one of the things you should know
about Martin if you are not too familiar
with Martin is that they have a bit of a
confusing catalogue and it's been
getting better but let me kind of tell
you what we're talking about in the
standard series you can get a D 18 or D
28 or a D 41 or D 42 or D 45 but you
can't get a d6 teen and you can't get a
d7 teen and you can't get a D 15 because
those aren't part of the standard series
but they're not part of their own series
there's a 15 series in a 16 series in
the 17th series but the 18 series
doesn't have its own series and there is
no 14 series yet so it can all be a
little bit confusing when you're trying
to go through the catalog that's why
music stores like us try to put things
out like this video and buyers guides on
our website in order to help you sort
through it all learn the differences
between what's available in the various
series from Martin guitars and why you
might like one model
over the other so if you feel confused
don't worry the rest of us have been -
we've sorted through it for you and
things are available so you're in good
hands
we'll help you find the right guitar but
you should kind of know where you're
getting into from the start number one
if you've heard all of these things and
you're thinking to yourself I want my
dream guitar and I want it to be a
Martin good news
Martin's Custom Shop is just about
unrivaled in the options that are
available and the means by which they're
able to execute a truly custom
instrument specifically from a factory
built guitar there's individual luthiers
out there that could make you custom
instrument because let's be honest most
of their instruments that they make are
already custom instruments but Martin is
unrivaled in the fact that they're
custom shop that exists as its own
entity within the factory can do just
about anything that you ask them to do
provided that you're willing to pay for
it they hand-carved next they
hand-carved bracing but that's just the
tip of the iceberg you want to come up
with a new color or maybe a different
type of inlay something that's never
been seen before maybe here's an idea
for you
relief glass etching use as inlays on
the neck you want something like that
they can do it for you unlike many other
custom shops that are out there so if
you are looking for custom instruments
something that's heirloom quality
something that you've never seen
anywhere and will probably never see
again Martin guitars will build it for
you I'm guarantee it number one a so or
one B we'll call it number one and be
number one a just a bonus for you guys
we've done our top ten but I'll say this
something that you should know about
Martin guitars and this is perhaps an
infamous quality that they have more
guitars can sometimes be a quirky
company that makes some interesting
guitars that are we could easily say
more art than instrument now sometimes
that is an incredible instrument - like
the Fire and Ice guitar with ornate
inlays of dragons and all sorts of stuff
on it that spins around and just is
absolutely gorgeous and beautiful to
behold sometimes it's something like the
clock guitar
again ornate inlays all over it a
bologna Formica pieces of glass and
metal all made to symbolize this motif
along with a custom timepiece in the
headstock but sometimes it's the brexit
guitar or it's the 420 guitar or it's
the Rock the Vote guitar which I think
we'll all agree is more art than musical
instrument and art as they say is in the
eye of the beholder I'll leave it at
that
so there's your top ten and a little bit
for Martin guitars we hope you enjoyed
this and that you learned something from
it
we love Martin guitars we think they are
a stellar instrument to this day and
here's something that you should know
there's a lot of manufacturers out there
that are basically making Martin copies
there's a reason we don't carry them
Martin is still around they're still
making fantastic instruments and so if
you want the feel in the sound of a
Martin you should get a Martin and if
you'd like more information about them
click on the link below it'll take you
to a page on our website with access to
all of the various series that Martin
offers and we're glad to answer any
questions that you have and navigating
that sometimes difficult to understand
series and model line that they offer if
you are new here make sure that you
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you doing all sorts of reviews and fun
videos like this as always thanks for
watching I'll see you next time
hey thanks so much for watching we hope
you are enjoying our channel you might
be interested to know that Alamo music
has two more youtube channels one for
piano and keyboard enthusiasts and the
other our alamo music audio lab channel
that focuses on synthesizers drum
machines and other things with Chris
Klein so if you're interested in
checking those out down in the bottom of
the description I have links to both of
those channels we hope to see you there
as well
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