For years, C.F. Martin & Co. has produced some of the most popular and world renowned acoustic guitars, which have been used by players like Johnny Cash, Clarence White, Tony Rice, Willie Nelson and Eric Clapton. Some of the most coveted instruments among acoustic players, however, are not the brand new, straight off the assembly line Martin guitars but rather the older ones.
The reason so many guitarists drool over vintage Martin guitars is simple; the sound. Simply put, older Martin guitars just sound fantastic. They have a well-balanced tone and a perfect clarity that can only be achieved through years of aging. And because so many people don’t want to wait 50 years for their new Martin to sound that good, the company recently decided to take a look at some of their vintage guitars and see if they could make some of their new guitars sound just as good. The results can be seen in their new “Vintage Tone System” lineup.
The new Vintage Tone System guitars were unveiled at this year’s National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in California. According to the company, the guitars are made using a new process that actually ages the wood by treating it in a vacuum at extremely high temperatures. So does it work? Martin said in a recent promo video they released on YouTube that they conducted a blind test with both the new Vintage Tone System guitars and the original vintage guitars and that everyone agreed that the new ones sounded just as good, if not better than the old ones.
The guitars are set to be in stores soon but if you’re hoping to get one you should be prepared to put a dent in your bank account. The new guitars start at around $6,000 and go all the way up to $100,000.
