New vintage models like right out of a time machine, the Martin Authentic Series offers affordable replicas of their most legendary pre-war guitars.
While we have been slow to update the site after our successful review of the new Schoenberg Quartet, we have been busy as bees preparing for a whole slew of new reviews. July is shaping up as Martin Month, as One Man’s Guitar delves deep into the Authentic mystique, with reviews of all the new Authentics, in many respects more authentic than ever.
“Between 1930 and 1944, C.F. Martin & Co. set the gold standard for steel-string acoustic guitars. Today, Martin offers a new a growing number of models virtually identical to those priceless vintage instruments…
As economic realities changed after World War II, along with tastes in popular music, so did Martin’s designs and core product line. While their contemporary instruments remained popular with professional musicians and amateur enthusiasts alike, the lightly-built and ultra-responsive instruments from Martin’s “golden era” remained highly coveted, even after prices for a pre-war dreadnought, 000 or OM reached into the tens of thousands of dollars. As C.F. Martin IV was fond of saying, “Our number one competition for a new Martin is a used Martin.”
… in January 2013, Martin introduced a collection of guitars as part of the Authentic series. Made entirely in the Custom Shop, the new Authentics have proven to be among the most accurate reproductions of pre-war Martins available today, and certainly among the most affordable available anywhere.”
Read the full article and the reviews of individual models