This exhibit is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a picturesque walk across Central Park from the Beacon. I'm guessing many of the folks attending the last run will enjoy looking at the guitars and learning about how the American guitar came to be.
This from the Met's web site:
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/early-guitars
Early American Guitars
The Instruments of C. F. MartinJanuary 14–December 7, 2014
Gallery 684
Christian Frederick Martin, founder of the great American guitar firm C. F. Martin & Co., was the son of a cabinetmaker in Markneukirchen, Saxony. Martin learned to build instruments from the famed Johann Georg Stauffer in Vienna. Due to the restrictive guilds in Markneukirchen, Martin moved to the United States in 1833, settling first in New York City and later moving to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. In the United States, Martin encountered the Spanish-style guitar and incorporated elements from that tradition into his own Viennese style of instrument construction. The result was a new form of the guitar, a style that would become important as a basis for other American makers of the instrument. This exhibition includes approximately thirty-five instruments from the Martin Museum in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and several private collections.
There is a recorded, in depth video lecture available at the link as well.
Remember the posted admissions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art are only "suggestions". You can pay as much or as little as you want.
My Aunt Judy first took me to the Met when I was 12 (1972) She told me, "No real New Yorker ever pays more than a nickel."
Nowadays I pay more than a nickel but I don't pay the suggested price.
I've owned a few acoustic guitars in my time but when I bought my CF Martin 000-16 I understood why people rave about Martin guitars. I brought it home and even my wife said she could hear the difference between the other acoustic guitars I've had the the Martin. My 000-16 12 fret slot head guitar is by far the best acoustic guitar I've ever owned. Just so Piano like in sound. I had a high end Taylor previous to buying my Martin and the tone quality of the Martin just put the Taylor to shame. The Taylor was also a much bigger instrument, a "D" size, but sounded like plastic compared to the Martins full rich wood tone.
I would love to own an old Martin but the prices are just so out there....Thanks for the link
I've owned a few acoustic guitars in my time but when I bought my CF Martin 000-16 I understood why people rave about Martin guitars. I brought it home and even my wife said she could hear the difference between the other acoustic guitars I've had the the Martin. My 000-16 12 fret slot head guitar is by far the best acoustic guitar I've ever owned. Just so Piano like in sound. I had a high end Taylor previous to buying my Martin and the tone quality of the Martin just put the Taylor to shame. The Taylor was also a much bigger instrument, a "D" size, but sounded like plastic compared to the Martins full rich wood tone.
I would love to own an old Martin but the prices are just so out there....Thanks for the link
Great post.
I bought mine in 1978, and it was a new 1976 D28 back then. The sound gets better & better each year.
Went to the exhibit earlier this year when it opened-- its pretty small, but really interesting. Really beautiful stuff to see. There's also some really cool OLD gibson instruments next to the exhibit worth seeing. I play a D28 as well (any self-respecting bluegrass player has to!), so it was especially cool to see.
Thanks, I may mosey over at some point.
I own no Martins, but will check this out.
