VIDEO What a 180 year old Martin guitar sounds like

bev

bev

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I know we have some musicians here. This popped up on my YouTube feed today, so I thought I’d share. It really sounds beautiful to this non-guitar player.

2:26 run time

Nicholas Hosford

This instrument is an 1842 Martin, which would have been built by C.F. Martin himself. Before electricity. Before the Civil War. Crazy. The piece is the Scottish Traditional "Wild Mountain Thyme" arranged by Scott Tennant. It was an honor to record this instrument at Oceanway. Guitar - 1842 Martin from the collection of George Gruhn https://guitars.com/


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME96nHFQ-L8
 
Countrymouse

Countrymouse

Country exile in the city
what material did he use to fasten the strings to? (sorry don't know the proper name for those parts). Is it some kind of bone? (Since plastic hadn't been invented in 1842)
 
bev

bev

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Countrymouse said:
what material did he use to fasten the strings to? (sorry don't know the proper name for those parts). Is it some kind of bone? (Since plastic hadn't been invented in 1842)
Click to expand...
It does look like bone in the first video, but I don’t really know for sure.
 
M

Marthanoir

TB Fanatic
night driver said:
SLIGHTLY MORE than just "All about the wood hand picked".

As has been exhaustively documented, old violins have a much greater voice than new ones. Has to do with the physics of sound and how wood ages.
Click to expand...

Yeah as the wood ages it changes the grain,
Also different build techniques, wood types, the climate the tree grew in, humidity of the room the guitar was kept in, everything is a factor.

I have an Ovation knock off that I bought for the kids to learn on and the fibreglass bowl back totally changes the tone & volume.
 
S

Squid

Veteran Member
Has a very chimey sound to me, more mids to highs. Not a bad sound just smaller body type sound.

Kind of funny how it still works while much of the pos plastic stuff today is trash after 5 years.

From a day we made stuff.
 
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WalknTrot

Veteran Member
Very bell-like quality. Nicely balanced, and the sustain is incredible for a little parlor guitar. (Ladies played them as well as the men). Yup - the bridge and saddle have to be bone. I doubt that the originals survive - that whole thing was a labor of love for some master luthier to restore. The inlay is in exquisite condition (now). It's a treasure for sure. This one above, looks to be spruce.

An old POS I play is about a 70 year-old Harmony Stella in pretty good condition. Cheap guitar when they were new, (and still cheap!) but they had a birch body which lent a tone that aged really nicely - if they didn't crack and warp and the neck fall off. :lol:
 
crossbowboy

crossbowboy

Certifiable
Master player there, beautiful.

All those strings appear to be gut, not steel as in most modern guitars.

I have a Vantage 12-string that is over 30 years old, and sounds surprisingly good for surviving the relationship thus far.
It's my favorite in the collection.
 
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