What would a NAMM Show be without Martin’s Signature and Limited Edition acoustic guitars?
As always, Martin had quite a few great new instruments to show us. First up, a Martin Signature Guitar honoring none other than famous guitarist David Crosby. The man’s probably done more to put acoustic-driven, folk-tinged rock on the pop music map than anyone, first with his work in the Byrds, then in Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Crosby is most often associated with Martin’s famous D-45, but for his signature guitar he chose to base it on a Martin D-18, the first Martin he owned and one he continued to play up through the early days of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The D-18DC David Crosby Signature Edition combines rare and beautiful solid tonewoods for exceptional sound. The back and sides are crafted from exquisite quilted genuine mahogany, among the scarcest and most prized woods in the world. Abalone dot position markers on the fingerboard lead to David Crosby’s signature, inlaid between the 19th and 20th fret. The body of the D-18DC is finished entirely in polished gloss nitrocellulose lacquer.
The new 000-28ECB Eric Clapton Signature Edition marks Martin’s third limited edition signature Eric Clapton guitar and their fourth in a “suite” of Eric Clapton models – a testament to the man’s influence and the esteem in which he is held. The 000-28ECB features sides and back of solid Brazilian rosewood, and the top is bookmatched from select Sitka spruce for optimum tonal response. A genuine ebony fingerboard features abalone diamonds and squares bordered in mother of pearl. Eric Clapton’s signature is inlaid in mother of pearl between the 19th and 20th frets. Premium Waverly nickel-plated open-geared tuning machines are equipped with vintage style “butterbean” knobs. The squared headstock bears Martin’s tasteful but elegant old-style decal logo. This is a VERY limited run, and each instrument will bear an interior label, individually numbered in sequence with the edition total and personally signed by Eric Clapton and Martin Chairman and CEO C. F. Martin IV.
Martin honors another member of the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame with “The Wanderer” Dion Signature Edition Model. Presumably for the type of guy who likes to roam around, the Wanderer is a limited edition model. Each guitar will be numbered in sequence with the edition total and personally signed by Dion DiMucci and Martin C.E.O. C. F. Martin IV. One of the coolest things about the Dion Signature Guitar is the beautifully designed headplate. Crafted of prized African ebony, it is carefully inlaid with the New York City skyline and Dion’s signature, both in pearl. African ebony is also for the fingerboard, inlaid with long-pattern abalone “diamond & squares” position markers. “The Wanderer” is inlaid in mother-of-pearl between the 18th and 19th frets. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Dion Signature Edition guitar will be donated in support of the S.O.S. Children’s Village in Coconut Creek, Florida, a children’s charity that provides homes, parents, families and support services for children in foster care.
Martin gave props to another groundbreaking musician with not one but two signature editions. Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle, is honored with the 000-28LDB and 000-28LD Lonnie Donegan Signature Editions. The Glasgow-born Donegan became famous playing “skiffle,” a mix of American country, Dixieland jazz, blues, and folk. In post-WWII Britain, Donegan’s guitar playing served as an inspiration to the generation of musicians that would follow him; Van Morrison, the Beatles, and others have cited Donegan as an enormous influence. The 000-28LDB is crafted with back, sides, and headstock overlay of beautiful, rare C.I.T.E.S. certified Brazilian rosewood, while the 000-28LD showcases fine East Indian rosewood. The fingerboard provides a “canvas” for some truly unique position marker inlays – a crown representing Donegan’s MBE status on the 3rd fret, “SKIFFLE” spelled out in pearl at the 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 17th frets, and Lonnie Donegan’s name in stylized letters between the 18th and 20th frets. The headstock is fitted with Grover gold enclosed tuners. The headstock overlay combines the “C. F. Martin” gold foil logo with “Water Rat” and “G.O.W.R.” pearl inlays that honor the Grand Order of Water Rats, the musician’s aid society whose members include Mark Knopfler, Brian May,Eric Clapton, and many other important U.K. musicians (many of whom cut their teeth on Lonnie Donegan’s music). The Water Rats will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Lonnie Donegan Signature guitar.
Martin also showed us their Godfrey Daniels 25th Anniversary Edition guitar, named after the legendary South Bethlehem, PA coffee house which played host to a number of famous and influential folk acts over the years. The Godfrey Daniels guitar features a black Micarta fingerboard, gracefully ornamented with colorful mother-of-pearl inlay including a pair of eighth notes between the 4th and 5th frets, “GODFREY” between the 11th and 12th, “DANIELS” between the 12th and 13th, and “Est. 1976” between the 19th and 20th frets.
The past few NAMMs have given us successive entries into Martin’s “Cowboy Series” acoustic guitars. Winter NAMM 2002 marks the beginning of Martin’s Limited Edition Hawaiian Theme Guitars with the Hawaiian X. The Hawaiian X features original soundboard artwork by illustrator and cartoonist Robert Armstrong, the same artist who created the images that adorned Martin’s popular series of three “Cowboy” Limited Editions. Ukuleles and acoustic guitars have sported a variety of native motifs for decades, and it is the artwork on these guitars that inspired the Hawaiian X. Like the three Cowboy Limited Editions, the Hawaiian X takes advantage of state-of-the-art HPL photo laminating technology to reproduce Robert Armstrong’s unique Hawaiian scene. Limited to just 500 guitars, each Hawaiian X will bear an interior label individually numbered in sequence.
Martin showed us a few more beautiful instruments, but we thought we should get back to the electronic end of things in the space we have left today with a trip to the Aardvark booth.
Aardvark had a couple new and notables sure to be on the must-have list of every artist who records and produces audio on a computer. Their nifty USB3 is a portable, rugged, self-powered USB audio interface with mic/guitar and line in. You can record from any analog source directly to your computer – without the need of an outboard mixer or preamp.
They also showed us their Direct Pro LX6. True maybe the Direct Pro LX6 isn’t exactly new, but they were featuring it this NAMM and it is pretty darn cool. This is a high-performance, all-in-one interface providing 4 in / 6 out, 24 bit, 96 kHz multichannel audio, PLUS powerful, realtime DSP effects. This means you no longer need your outboard mixer and effects with all their latency problems. The LX6 allows you to record and monitor your effects in real-time, just like an outboard effects processor, but with all the convenience and power of a computer-based system.