Stephen G 
This article looks at some of the best finger-picking guitar songs and the people who played them. However, this is not the only genre of music we cover in our best fingerstyle list. Simplicity is the best when it comes to choosing songs in a fingerpicking style. The best fingerstyle guitar songs are not limited … Read more
Learning to play the guitar is lots of fun, but it can be a challenge, especially without a guitar teacher. It is possible to teach yourself the fundamentals of guitar on your own, with a few simple steps. The Guitar The first step is to choose the right guitar. Beginners often choose a guitar that … Read more
C.F. Martin & Company is one of the oldest, if not the oldest guitar company in the United States. Christian Frederick Martin founded the company in 1833. After years of developing their guitars and setting a standard for excellence, it is easy to say that Martin is one of the most popular acoustic guitar companies … Read more
I think the heart of every guitarist falls in love instantly upon seeing a Martin 1833 logo decal upon an acoustic guitar’s headstock, no matter how it looks there’s something that makes it irresistible to play and hear how it sounds. Although the factory may not put as much time and effort into every guitar … Read more
Percussion Instruments | Vintage Gretsch Drums | History of Gretsch Drums That’s the sound, the anthem that began when Friedrich Gretsch, an immigrant from Mannheim Germany, founded a small shop in Brooklyn in 1883. He was to create a dynasty lasting to this day. Yet Friedrich Gretsch died unexpectedly in 1895 before he could see … Read more
The size of the Martin Arch Top C-2 body is equal to the 000 size of the flat top type and it is 15” wide. The top is carved but the back is arched. The sides and the back are made of rosewood. The vintage Martin guitar has a trapeze styled tail piece and all … Read more
The Style 28 Martin guitar includes the D-28, 000-28, OM-18, 0-28, 00-28 models which have a spruce top and a rosewood body. This theme has been the most popular line of vintage Martin guitars since the late 1800s. It has an awesome sound which is the main reason why these guitars have been the favorite … Read more
Purchasing a Vintage Martin Guitar If like millions others, you too are a fan of the vintage Martin guitars and are planning to buy one for yourself, then you need to take care of some important points before making the deal. Observing the Manufacturing Year: It is very easy to determine the year of making … Read more
Martin Guitar’s Other Brands Since 1900, Martin did make guitars, mandolins and ukes for other brands and guitar studios. No, this was not “common”. Just because your guitar looks like a Martin, doesn’t mean it is. Even if your instrument is one of the brands listed below, that does NOT mean it was necessarily made … Read more
Martin Mandolin Serial Numbers | Date your Martin Mandolin Year Last Serial No. 1895 23 1896 112 1897 153 1898 359 1899 577 1900 800 1901 881 1902 1171 1903 1348 1904 1507 1905 1669 1906 2026 1907 2357 1908 2510 1909 2786 1910 3098 1911 3431 1912 3847 1913 4162 1914 4462 1915 4767 … Read more
A 1932 Martin C-1 Archtop with round sound hole. Style C-1 arch top.Collectibility Rating: D– Arch top body size is equivalent to the flat top 000 body size, 15″ wide across the top, carved spruce top, back is not carved but is arched by bracing, mahogany back and sides, style 18 flat top trim, trapeze … Read more
SOME IMPORTANT DATES 1620- Explorer Richard Jobson mentions “gourd with neck and strings”in Africa1678- “Banza” noted in Martinique as played by blacks1769- white banjo players performed in blackface1813-1860 Joel Walker Sweeney1843-first documented minstrel show by Dan Emmett & Virginia Minstrels1840s-1850s Minstrel Craze; Banjo becomes urban instrument1830s to 1850s Boucher of Baltimore first “shop-made” banjos1850’s- metal … Read more
History of the Banjo – Part 3 – THE FIFTH STRING Joel Walker Sweeney of The Sweeney Minstrels, born 1810, was often credited with the invention of the short fifth string. Scholars know that this is not the case. A painting entitled The Old Plantation painted between 1777 and 1800 shows a black gourd banjo … Read more
White men began using blackface as a comic gimmick before the American Revolution. The banjo became a prop for these entertainers, either individually or in groups. By the early part of the 19th century, minstrelsy became a very popular form of entertainment. Joel Walker Sweeney and his Sweeney Minstrels were already popular by the 1830s. … Read more
EARLY STAGES – by William Reese Banjos belong to a family of instruments that are very old. Drums with strings stretched over them can be traced throughout the Far East, the Middle East and Africa almost from the beginning. They can be played like the banjo, bowed or plucked like a harp depending on their … Read more
A 1942 Martin C-2 Archtop. Style C-2 arch top. Arch top body size is equivalent to the flat top 000 body size, 15″ wide across the top, carved sruce top, back is not carved but is arched by bracing, rosewood back and sides, unbound elevated tortoise pickguard, style 28 type multiple bound top and back … Read more
The only right way to make a “high string action” Martin guitar play correctly is to do a “neck set”. This repair involves removing the neck on the guitar, and refitting the neck at a slightly increased angle, which lowers the string action. If done correctly, this does not affect the value of the guitar … Read more
Martin has been making some of the best flat top acoustic guitars since the mid 1800’s. Martin’s other lines of instruments (electrics, archtops, mandolins) is not nearly as desirable or collectible as their flat top models. Because of this, any models other than flat tops (such as Martin’s archtops and electrics) are not very collectible. … Read more
Martin Guitar Serial Numbers: Find the Year – Lookup Martin Serial All Martin guitars since 1898 (except solidbody electrics from the 1970s, basses, and tiples) are numbered in consecutive order. Ukuleles do not have serial numbers. Mandolins use a different serial number system than guitars. Martin guitar serial numbers start at 8000 in 1898 because … Read more
Most Martin guitars made are “flat top” models. That is, they have a round sound hole in approximately the center of the flat top of the guitar, with a “pin” style bridge. Martin also made some vintage instruments like archtop models during the 1930s. These can have a round sound hole, or two “f” style … Read more
There are very many styles of mandolins made by many manufacturers. But, typically referred to in the USA are those made by the Gibson Co.. Prior to about 1900, a typical mandolin was the Neapolitan style. The oldest instrument was made by the Vinaccia family of Naples, Italy around the mid-1700’s. This type of mandolin … Read more
The origin of Marimba isn’t known, but it seems it started off as wooden bars laid over a hole on the ground which was struck with some sort of stick. In the myth of Zulus (of South Africa), there is a story about a goddess called “Marimba” who made an instrument by hanging gourds below … Read more
First introduced in 1960 as the “Deluxe Model”, the Fender Jazz Bass was marketed as a stablemate to the Jazzmaster guitar which was also marketed as a “Deluxe Model” in its own right; however, it was renamed the Fender Jazz Bass as Fender felt that its redesigned neck – narrower and more rounded than that … Read more
First made in 1955, the D-21 is a rosewood dreadnought that’s just the same as a D-28 except for a few cosmetic elements. Where a D-28 has ebony fingerboard and bridge, the D-21 has rosewood. The D-21 has plainer soundhole rings, and black or tortoise colored binding instead of the white or ivoroid featured on … Read more