The Martin Book: A Complete History of Martin Guitars [Hardcover]

Walter Carter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1995

The name C.F. Martin and Company is synonymous with the highest standards of American acoustic guitar making. This book chronicles the history of an instrument that mirrors the development of the acoustic guitar and acoustic music in America. 130 color photos.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 108 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books; First American Edition edition (February 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879303549
• ISBN-13: 978-0879303549
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,522,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Carter is the former historian for Gibson Guitar Corporation and the author of ten books on guitars, including Gibson Guitars: 100 Years of an American Icon and Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he has also written a how-to for co-writing songs and a biography of the Oak Ridge Boys.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A short history of Martin guitars., July 31, 2000

By 

Old Fisherman "Jim" (Orange, California USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Martin Book: A Complete History of Martin Guitars (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent story of the Martin family and how they came to be guitar manufacturers for the past 133 years. It gives you a brief history of the family and the many guitar styles that have been produced through the years. The book also touches briefly on the history of guitar playing in the United States and how the Martin family rose to meet the challenges of the era of the banjo and the mandolin. The book also contains many fine photographs illustrating the Martin line from the beginning until the mid 1990's (when the book was written).

The second half of the book is a reference section that lists each Martin guitar style and gives information on how to date particular instruments. This is valuable, especially for collectors since on the early instruments only the cases were labeled and not the guitars themselves.

All in all I found the book interesting. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is since the book was published in 1995 Martin has come out with many special run guitars. Unfortunately they're not covered in this book. If you have even a passing interest in Martin guitars you'll find this book interesting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice book, but I prefer the previous edition, February 8, 2008

By 

J. Van Veen (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Martin Guitar Book (Softcover) (Paperback)

I already had the 1995 edition and was very curious to this 2006 update since a lot has happened at CF Martin.
The front cover states 'new pictures and revised text' and that is true. But they also changed the format, layout and paper quality. And so it has lost all the magic of the 1995 version. That one had very nice fold out pictures, was very easy to read because of font types and color, and had those body size sketches and charts and style charts.

If you haven't seen the 1995 edition you will probably like the 2005 edition. But for me the 2005 edition has become a book as many others already available.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written book on Martin Guitars, February 10, 2011

By 

Music Lovin Mark - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Martin Book: A Complete History of Martin Guitars (Hardcover)

This book starts at the beginning tracing the evolution of the Martin family business and the instruments they produced. It is well written with photo illustrations. I have never owned a Martin guitar, but enjoyed reading about this long lasting American company.