Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Hank Williams also all played the Martin guitar.
The average Martin guitar sells for anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000.
That doesn’t include Martin guitars that once belonged to a famous artist either.
Here are 5 reasons Martin guitars are expensive.
1. Sustainability:
One of the reasons Martin guitars are expensive is because of their focus on sustainable sourcing.
Like most other instruments, a good portion of a guitar is made of wood.
The best wood tends to come from the Amazon rainforest.
However, deforestation of the rainforest is a serious threat.
Not only does it damage the habitats of the local wildlife living there, but it also impacts the environment as a whole.
With fewer trees in the world, there’s less natural filtration of carbon dioxide.
Martin has always been aware of its role in practicing sustainable sourcing.
They were among the first companies to start implementing a more sustainable process.
In 1990, Martin developed their own ecological policy.
They started sourcing their wood from better places long before it became trendy.
They started sourcing their wood from better places long before it became trendy.
2. Handmade
Some musical instruments go through factories.
These companies prefer to mass-produce their instruments and get them in the hands of as many people as they can.
Martin prefers handmade musical instruments instead.
Every guitar that leaves their shop in Pennslyvania comes from a worker and not a robot.
They have a strong leaning toward traditional practices to make an acoustic guitar.
They believe that this gives the guitar some soul and makes it different from the guitar that came before it and will come after it.
Since they handmake their guitars, you can expect a high price tag.
Handmade products take more time to create.
Humans aren’t as fast as robots.
They also make mistakes that will need correction.
Humans also need unique tools to make the job a bit easier or safer for them.
Martin has to pay these skilled laborers a higher amount than they would robots.
It takes a careful understanding of the craft to make each piece.
Then it all has to come together to create a guitar that adheres to the Martin standard.
Besides time, this also means a lot of materials go into the production of a guitar.
Since mistakes are more likely to occur, they often have to invest in more materials than they need to make up for the mistakes.
Handcrafted products naturally have a higher price tag than products that come off a factory line.
Martin is expensive because each guitar is carefully handcrafted to its standards.
It takes more time and materials to make the guitar in this way, which means its production cost is higher.
3.American Workers
Martin makes its guitars in the United States.
They have a shop in Pennsylvania where they employ people to make each one.
Because they hire American employees, they have to pay them American wages to compete with the American cost of living.
They also have to provide benefits to attract skilled laborers to their shop.
This is different from other guitar companies that employ their workers in a different country.
Due to how currency exchanges work, they may not have to pay their workers as much as if they were in America.
Since they have reduced labor costs, this brings down the price of the guitar.
Martin prefers to employ Americans since they’re a family-run business.
They have a strong belief in supporting their community, and making sure they’re able to employ part of that community is one of their most treasured values.
Unfortunately, that means the price of a Martin guitar is going to be higher than one that’s made outside of the United States.
Martin guitars are expensive because they’re made by Americans
4. Scalloped Bracing
One of the best things that Martin has a reputation for is its use of scalloped bracing.
Bracings are vital for any guitar.
They hold the guitar together and ensure it doesn’t break while you’re playing it.
If bracings start to give out, then it can make your guitar sound odd.
The traditional way to brace a guitar is something that most guitar companies follow.
Martin does this as well, but they also use their own version of bracing called scalloped bracing.
This type of bracing is a bit more complex than regular bracing, but it’s far more effective and helps give the guitar that reliable Martin sound.
Guitar makers make bracings with strips of wood, which isn’t expensive in itself.
However, Martin invests in high-quality materials, and that includes their bracings.
Since the cost of materials is high and they add another step of labor in the production of their bracings, it makes sense that these add to the total cost of the guitar.
Martin guitars are expensive because they use a special type of bracing made of high-quality wood.
5. Abalone Multi-Stripe Binding
Another feature that sets Martin guitars apart and makes them more expensive is their use of abalone multi-stripe binding.
They use this type of binding on their most expensive guitars.
That’s because the materials and processing are extremely difficult and expensive.
Only experienced guitar makers can successfully perform this type of binding on the guitar.
That means Martin has to pay those guitar makers their value.
Otherwise, they may just jump ship and take their skills to a competitor.
Martin wants to keep these skilled professionals since it enables them to sell guitars featuring some of the best bindings in the guitar world.
If you choose to buy a guitar with regular binding, then you’ll have a cheaper guitar.
However, Martin guitars are expensive because some of them use abalone multi-strip bindings.