2004
The Timeline of Martin Guitar: 2000-2011
One hundred and seventy-one years after C.F. Martin Sr. moves to Nazareth, and in the shadow of the old Martin homestead, (Serial #1,000,000) the One Millionth Martin guitar is built.
Crafted from C.I.T.E.S. certified Brazilian rosewood, Adirondack red spruce, black African ebony and genuine mahogany, Serial #1,000,000 – fittingly, a Dreadnought, one of the Martin’s most influential designs – is the most elaborate instrument in the company’s history, surpassing even the D-45 China Dragon (#700,000) and the D-45 Peacock (#750,000). Intricate inlays of abalone, mother of pearl, sea snail, 18-karat gold, white gold and precious gems, including diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and aquamarines, cover the back, fingerboard, headstock, rosette, pickguard and inset soundhole “rose.” Similar inlays accent the sides and neck.
The inlays feature Victorian and Baroque imagery as well as some uniquely Martin elements. Tendrils of vines and leaves frame the top, back, sides and neck, and more elaborate inlays in the same style are set into the back of the neck and the sides. A grand trellis rises from an urn at the base of the fingerboard. A golden eagle peers from a flourish of leaves on the headstock. The pickguard features a guitar top with Martin’s innovative X-bracing as well as tools of the luthier’s trade.
Most spectacular of all is the guitar’s back. An urn near the center supports an arbor of vines and leaves on which four angels play guitars, a mandolin and a ukulele, while near the top, two more angels place a wreath on the neck of an early Martin of the sort the founder C. F. Martin Sr. made in his early years in the United States. Framed by cascading tendrils, “#1,000,000” is followed by the familiar “C.F. Martin & Co., Est. 1883” logo in abalone. Near the bottom, an engraved portrait of C.F. Martin himself completes the inlay.
Is “#1,000,000” the ultimate C.F. Martin guitar? Certainly it is an unprecedented museum piece and a pristine example of the guitar making craft. But as C. F. Martin & Co. continues to add to its guitar making legacy, the urge to create an even more fantastic guitar will almost certainly arise. After all, #2,000,000 may be less than 20 years away!