Guitar Hero~

***Another post loaded with pics...you've been warned :) ***

Steve is now the proud owner of a Martin HD-28...the guitar he received as a graduation gift from his dad.  

The man, the myth, the legend!

Can I confess...I LOVE how this photo turned out :)

She's a pretty one~

He was so very excited about the guitar that he wanted to see where it was made...which just happens to be a little over an hour from our home in Nazareth, PA.  So the whole family took a fabulous field trip when Steve was off for a few days after his defense. 

Yep, the C.F. Martin & Co. Guitar Factory is pretty much "down the road" from us...and they give FREE tours.  It was a field trip match made in heaven for this cheap home school mom and her guitar enthusiast husband...yes, a match made in heaven, my friends :) 

We arrived just after lunch time...just in time for the next tour...perfecto!  We got to wear headsets to hear our tour guide because parts of the factory can be a little loud.  Our guide walked us through the entire factory...and while we walked, we learned about guitar making from beginning to end and watched a lot of guitar making in progress.  We also learned a lot about C.F. Martin (the founder) and the history of guitars and his company.  It was fascinating!

We watched craftsmen and artists at work.  We watched robots and machines at work too.  I found the factory to be a fascinating mix of "old world" craftsmanship and modern-day machines.  Steve and I have slightly different takes on the guitar making we saw that day;  Steve was somewhat sad to see how much of the process is now done by machines while I was amazed at how much of the process is still done by hand.  All the fine details and actual constructing are still mostly done by hand...it really was very interesting to learn about the process and see it in action.

Wonder how many guitars this guy has shaped?

 How many guitars has he helped make?

This robot is buffing a guitar on a cotton wheel~

The girls want me to include this short video clip of the robot because they thought it was SO COOL...it was definitely one of their favorite parts! 



My favorite part of the guitar building was the rim assembly.  To assemble the rim, you have to glue kerfing (don't I sound like I know what I'm writing about? :) to the inside of the guitar body so the top, sides, and back can be joined.  The kerfing has to be kept in place while the glue dries.  Guess what they use to hold it steady?  Clothespins!  That's right, clothespins and carpenter's clamps...very high tech :)

Rim assembly~

I also loved learning how inlay work is done...wow, what art!  It is so beautiful.  This was one of Sophia's favorite parts too.   

Learning about pearl inlay~

Hand carved, hand cut...wow!

Another of Bella's favorite parts was how lasers are used in guitar making.  Look at the right side of the next picture...see the bright light?  It's cutting a guitar top from this piece of wood.
The second picture is also of a laser cutting holes for guitars that will have electronics.

Lasers are cool!

After the factory tour, we toured the museum.  It's a small, but very nice museum.  It focused on the history of the Martin company, but also included general guitar and music history.  I was just in awe of how beautiful the instruments were and the artistry that goes into them.  

Signature series guitars~

Beautiful mandolin~

Gracia is excited to find something her size...ukeleles!

We also saw some pretty spectacular guitars that were made to commemorate special times in Martin's history.  

Martin's 500,000th and 750,000th commemorative guitars~

This one was made to commemorate Martin's 500,000th guitar.  All the detail is hand carved, cut, and inlaid~

This Peacock Guitar was made to commemorate Martin's 750,000th guitar.  Again, all hand done~

The decorated front of the 750,000th Peacock Guitar~

Here's a video clip of the over-the-top guitar that was made to commemorate Martin's 1 millionth guitar...it is so ornate and not quite my "style", but I still very much appreciate it's artistry.  It's not the best video quality, but you get the idea.  

 
After the museum, we spent a bit of time in the Pickin' Parlor.  This was Steve's favorite part of the day...he got to play lots of really nice guitars.  Here he is strumming on an Eric Clapton signature model...

Steve may already be picking out his next Martin~

Serenade~

Music lovers~

The girls got to try out a Martin too~

My beautiful girls!

I think Gracia had a nice time too...she liked learning about guitars even though she did fall asleep during part of the tour.  However, for her, the most fascinating thing seemed to be her fingers :)

Baby Gracia...sweet dreams!

Hope I didn't miss much of the tour~

This Pickin' Parlor is cool...but check out my fingers~

My fingers are fascinating!

We ended our time in Nazareth with a romp in the open area by the parking lot before buckling up for the drive home.

Sweet sisters~

Daddy and his princesses!

Oh look, a picture with me in it :)

This is definitely one of the best field trips we've ever been on.  All our local friends need to head up to Nazareth for a visit to the Martin & Co. guitar factory...pronto!


Here are two slideshows of more pics...the first one is made of pictures from the factory tour and the second one is of our time in the museum...enjoy~ 


Hope you make a trip to Nazareth soon~
Rach