C.F. Martin Guitars at Met Museum

[j44ke]

I know there are guitar fans here, so I thought I would post this just in case anyone finds themselves in New York City. The Metropolitan Museum is opening an exhibit of C.F. Martin guitars built in the early to mid 19th century when the styles were shifting towards the modern guitar Martin made so popular. There will evidently be 35 guitars in the show, so if you are into Martin history and guitars in general, it should be a pretty cool show. The show runs for a while, so keep it on your list. There is even going to be a Rosanne Cash show in association with the exhibit, which seems a little strange but hey, I might go just to see what's what.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Early American Guitars

Personally I suck playing guitar and living in an apartment has essentially stopped me from practicing to spare my neighbors the unpleasantness of plinking from above, but I sure like classic wooden guitars as objects and plenty more as musical instruments.

[e-RICHIE]

Thanks atmo I wanna see this one.

[christian]

I'm definitely going one day after work. If anyone wants to coordinate a bike-geek-go-guitar-date, I'm game.

[Tim Porter]

Being even more of a guitar freak, especially about Martin guitars, than I am a bike geek, I'm definitely going. So hit me up or I can start coordinating a meet. On April 27, my friend, Dick Boak from Martin, will be speaking about this exhibit at the Met. So I'll be going then, too. I own two guitars from the Martin "Golden Era" that many feel was the culmination of what CF Martin started in 1837.

Below, 1935 000-28 (with shaded top--extremely rare) and 1930 OM-28 (Martin holy grail for some . . .):

[IMG][/IMG]

[Tim Porter]

Hmm, can't find the Dick Boak presentation in the Met calendar. So I'll hunt it down if it exists and let people know. . . . Tim

[zetroc]

I'd love to see this show. Maybe I'll make it out there this summer.

[RickM]

Thanks a lot for posting...I will check this out for sure.

[Cookietruck]

Below, 1935 000-28 (with shaded top--extremely rare) and 1930 OM-28 (Martin holy grail for some . . .):

Tim, have you had these guitars for a long time?
the OM28 seems to be in extremely nice condition...but i love an instrument that gets played so i dig the 000-28 more

[Tim Porter]

Cookietruck: I resisted the vintage Martin world for most of my life. . . . Until about 5 years ago via a friend of mine in the Boston area who is a master of repair and restoration of vintage Martins helped me find these two old Martins. One was a bit of a basket case (the 000) and had to be restored, and the OM was in pristine condition (but well played). I bought them both on the same day. So I haven't had them long at all given their lifespan but I'm glad I did it despite the crazy expense. The OM has certainly been played. : ) It has the most amazing trebles, which is one of the things I find that differs between the old guitars and the new models (of which I have many ). I have a handful of boutique-y handmade guitars but I keep coming back to Martin and its variants.