John P Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) 11 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: If you look where the truss rod adjustment hole is inside the guitar body it should tell you on the wooden block. If it has a black label in it, chances are its Mexican. Edited February 2 by John P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 4 hours ago, John P said: Found this on a discussion on the Martin Guitar forum: “The "SPECIAL" designation was introduced in 2019 for large dealer runs.” Some other folks said it didn’t have to be a large run, but just a run requested by a store with some tweak to the standard build. Probably the equivalent of my “Limited” Autumn Burst finish DIF done for Sam Ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John P Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 I looked up the serial number and it was from 2017. I wonder what its story is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 15 hours ago, John P said: Yeah what P D said. Your Martin is a 2017. So made late in the year. Damn Martin made over 84,000 guitars that year. Here is the last SN stamped in 2016 - 2076795 Here is the last SN stamped in 2017 - 2161732 See how easy it is to find out what year your Martin is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Yeah what P D said. Your Martin is a 2017. So made late in the year. Damn Martin made over 84,000 guitars that year. Here is the last SN stamped in 2016 - 2076795 Here is the last SN stamped in 2017 - 2161732 See how easy it is to find out what year your Martin is? I thought that 2019 date for the “special” stamp was weird since I thought I saw it mentioned earlier, but figured what do I know about Martins? I bet 2019 is when they instituted a standard policy, and before that it could be arbitrary, depending on the order if they got the stamp or not. Or, maybe just one of those forum myths, and I perpetuated it, chuckle. At the risk of blowing up an old dead horse…. To compare, I wonder how many guitars “mass-produced” Taylor made that year? Kinda hard to envision 84,000 guitars being made at luthier benches 😁 (Prairie Dog quickly dives back down the burrow, dodging the flames of Martin loyalists.) Edited February 2 by PrairieDog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 3 minutes ago, PrairieDog said: I thought that 2019 date for the “special” stamp was weird since I thought I saw it mentioned earlier, but figured what do I know about Martins? I bet 2019 is when they instituted a standard policy, and before that it could be arbitrary, depending on the order if they got the stamp or not. Or, maybe just one of those forum myths, and I perpetuated it, chuckle. At the risk of blowing up an old dead horse…. To compare, I wonder how many guitars “mass-produced” Taylor made that year? Kinda hard to envision 80,000 guitars being made at luthier benches 😁 (Prairie Dog quickly dives back down the burrow, dodging the flames of Martin loyalists.) Martin is no different than Gibson both use CNC machines. I think Martin employs more people than Bozman, so they can crank out more, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Just now, Sgt. Pepper said: Martin is no different than Gibson both use CNC machines. I think Martin employs more people than Bozman, so they can crank out more, yeah, I was just tweaking at the snark that is often cast at Taylor for being “mass produced,” and observing obviously everyone is using tech these days. Some Martin folks feel there is some handmade mystique and want to believe their line-run guitars are somehow different because they are built by “Martin.” I’m just being cheeky. No real offense intended to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 9 minutes ago, PrairieDog said: yeah, I was just tweaking at the snark that is often cast at Taylor for being “mass produced,” and observing obviously everyone is using tech these days. Some Martin folks feel there is some handmade mystique and want to believe their line-run guitars are somehow different because they are built by “Martin.” I’m just being cheeky. No real offense intended to anyone. Martin, Taylor and Gibson are not HAND MADE. No way, no how. Is some stuff done by hand, sure. 100% No Way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 6 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Martin, Taylor and Gibson are not HAND MADE. No way, no how. Is some stuff done by hand, sure. 100% No Way. Sarge, I never said they were. Come on, it was a josh about “attitudes” and some insisting their guitar was glued together in luthier heaven by angels. Let’s just let my lame joke die a natural death, okay? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 10 minutes ago, PrairieDog said: Sarge, I never said they were. Come on, it was a josh about “attitudes” and some insisting their guitar was glued together in luthier heaven by angels. Let’s just let my lame joke die a natural death, okay? I know I'm not arguing, just commenting. People see hand made on Gibson's site or any guitar makers site. I guess technically by lawyer speak if one miniscule part is hand made they can make the claim it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 1/24/2024 at 5:08 AM, SteveFord said: The secret of the neck is to pour 2 ounces of Diet Coke on it and then give it 3 minutes in the oven at 150 degrees to get it to set. That give it that "on tour" feel. But then if you do that to any guitar, You just increased its value $5,00.00 Lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/2/2024 at 7:48 AM, Sgt. Pepper said: Martin, Taylor and Gibson are not HAND MADE. No way, no how. Is some stuff done by hand, sure. 100% No Way. Reminds me of the sign I have in the back Porch off the kitchen. "No One Gets To See The Wizard. No Way, No How!" I've had it there ever since I started showing Dobermans. And they get the run of the house. Lol. Someday I would like to have one very nice acoustic guitar though. No clue which I should look at. What is the big difference between Taylor & Martin? Which one was started first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retired Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 1/23/2024 at 5:07 PM, Sgt. Pepper said: No, I did not buy a new or used Martin. No Zappa or Beatles, either. I was in GC in North Myrtle Beach, and I saw hanging on the wall and UNLOCKED was a $7499 Tom Murphy light aged '59 (but let's be real, it was a 2023) LP. Well hell yeah I'm gonna be a 16 year old, and play the most expensive guitar in the joint. At first glance, it actually looked okay. It had a few chips of paint off of it, and the entire guitar had lacquer checking. Still seeing one up close I am still not a fan of fake aging. Now to the nuts and bolts. The guitar sounded really killer. It was set up really nice. This was a new one and not a used one. The worst thing about the guitar was the neck was really sticky. The salesman even stopped and talked to me for a few mins, and he said that it was the only thing he didn't like other than the price. After that I played a 2k LP. It was a great guitar, but the other did feel and sound better except for the sticky neck. Then I played a ES-335. Killer guitar. Was not a fan of how skinny it was up at the nut. My BB King was not like that. So they are nice, but even if I loved it, I could not justify a guitar that costs about 6 of my house payments. 2 house payments if you live in California. I know there are people who like a guitar that looks well played. Chips and all, and I've seen them like that brand new in stores priced pretty high. I never could see the purpose for it. If I wanted a guitar with chips and scratches, I'll put them on myself. I don't need someone else doing it for me. Then there's the price. I've taken guitars in to sell before. "Its got a chip and scratch on it. I'll give you $400.00 less!" But they want Thousands more for such things now. Think about that the next time you sell a beat up looking guitar! Tell them you want a few thousand more for the chips and scratches you put on it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 Martin was long before Taylor, Taylor has the necks bolted on like Herman Munster's head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 34 minutes ago, SteveFord said: Martin was long before Taylor, Taylor has the necks bolted on like Herman Munster's head. I had the neck off a Taylor GS Mini the other day and I was very favorably impressed with the way they bolt their necks on and control both the neck angle and the (no) gap under the fretboard extensions with proprietary shims. Damn them to hell for being so uppity and innovative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted February 5 Share Posted February 5 31 minutes ago, ksdaddy said: I had the neck off a Taylor GS Mini the other day and I was very favorably impressed with the way they bolt their necks on and control both the neck angle and the (no) gap under the fretboard extensions with proprietary shims. Damn them to hell for being so uppity and innovative. I gotta say, we’re having a lot of fun with the 2011 mini we just picked up. The first model they introduced in sitka/sapele, the entry level of the group they offer now. But gee has it opened up. For a build firmly ensconced in the “affordable” range, the little thing can really hold its own against our other “serious” guitars. We brought it back to GC because it was mislabeled as the all hog so we were way over charged. But when we played the new ones, including both a hog and this model, they were “nice,” but they all sounded super tight in comparison. So we came back home with the simple 13 year old one, (and a nice price adjustment.) Just goes to show age does make a difference, and even a modest guitar can come to sound great with enough of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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