"Martin," Zac Brown Band cover

Glennwillow · #1 03-22-2017, 06:07 PM

This song has shown up a few times on the AGF as being a song that seems to touch people about their old Martin guitars. So, since I have an old Martin guitar, I decided I would come up with a rendition of this song.

The guitar is a 1967 Martin D-35, now 50 years old. My dad gave me this guitar when I turned 21. The guitar meant a great deal to both of us, and now that my father has passed away, it means even more.

The strings on the guitar are John Pearse PB, light gauge. I know real flat pickers are supposed to use medium strings, but I am not a real flat picker and besides, medium strings just kill my arthritic finger joints, so I have to make do with light gauge strings.

The flat pick is a Charmed Life faux tortoise teardrop, I believe 1.15 mm thick. I really like this pick a lot.

So here is the song. Thanks so much for listening!

- Glenn

islandguitar · #2 03-22-2017, 09:45 PM

Wonderful job, Glenn! Really enjoyed that song.....that '67 looks in amazing condition! What a great and special guitar.
Best,
Fred

Glennwillow · #3 03-22-2017, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Wonderful job, Glenn! Really enjoyed that song.....that '67 looks in amazing condition! What a great and special guitar.
Best,
Fred

Thank you Fred! Yes, the old D-35 is in pretty good shape for its age. It has a few nicks and dings and in the video it looks like it's in more pristine condition than it really is because I recently cleaned and polished it. Still, considering it's age, it really is in good shape. No cracks, no big issues. It's been refretted a couple of times.

Thanks for listening and for your comments!

- Glenn

Charmed Life Picks · #4 03-22-2017, 11:25 PM

She's a beauty, Glenn. You have sure taken care of her. Even the classic lifting of the original pickguard is much less than you'd normally find in a guitar that age.

Beautiful song, beautiful performance....

scott

Glennwillow · #5 03-22-2017, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

She's a beauty, Glenn. You have sure taken care of her. Even the classic lifting of the original pickguard is much less than you'd normally find in a guitar that age.

Beautiful song, beautiful performance....

scott

Thank you Scott -- for listening and for your thoughts.

Is the pick guard lifting? I never noticed! I guess I should look!

Sometimes I am so blissfully unaware of things like this!

- Glenn

B-Nads · #6 03-23-2017, 05:08 AM

Very cool, Glenn - that guitar sounds amazing too.

Glennwillow · #7 03-23-2017, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Nads

Very cool, Glenn - that guitar sounds amazing too.

Hi Brent,

Thanks for listening and commenting. Thanks for noticing the guitar's sonic character. I also think that the guitar has a good sound. It has changed over the years so that it's somewhat brighter than it was when new. By using the John Pearse PB strings, it tends to mellow some of that brightness out a little. And the choice of pick helps greatly.

- Glenn

B-Nads · #8 03-23-2017, 08:53 AM

Have you ever tried Monels on it?

Mr. Paul · #9 03-23-2017, 09:31 AM

Nice job on a very good song I'd not heard before!

Jeremy · #10 03-23-2017, 09:56 AM

I caught this in my YouTube subscriptions feed last night. Right away I noticed how much I liked how the guitar sounded. Nice performance, Glenn.

Glennwillow · #11 03-23-2017, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Nads

Have you ever tried Monels on it?

Hi Brent,

Yes, I have been using Monels pretty regularly -- Martin Retro. I bought 6 sets a while ago. They work well, but I wanted a change of pace. I like the John Pearse, even better. It's as if I got a new guitar when I put on the JP strings. However, I will certainly use up the remaining sets of Retros that I have.

Thanks for your thoughts,
- Glenn

Glennwillow · #12 03-23-2017, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

Nice job on a very good song I'd not heard before!

Thank you Paul. Yes, I don't imagine that the song is all that well known, since it's a more modern song, not something that's been around for 3 or 4 decades.

Thank you!
- Glenn

Glennwillow · #13 03-23-2017, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy

I caught this in my YouTube subscriptions feed last night. Right away I noticed how much I liked how the guitar sounded. Nice performance, Glenn.

Well that's cool that you are subscribing to my YouTube channel, Jeremy! Thank you!

I'm really glad that you thought the guitar sounded good.

- Glenn

JakeStone · #14 03-23-2017, 01:15 PM

This was really nice Glenn ...
I always liked this song and Zac Brown ..

I learned the song a couple years ago .. too.
but I figure I can only play it on my Martin.

Glennwillow · #15 03-23-2017, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakeStone

This was really nice Glenn ...
I always liked this song and Zac Brown ..

I learned the song a couple years ago .. too.
but I figure I can only play it on my Martin.

Hi Jake,

Thanks for watching and for your comments! Yes, this song would fit you well! And I, too, figure that this song can only be played on my Martin. It actually has way more punch when played on my Gibson AJ Luthier's Choice, but how can you play a song called "Martin" on a Gibson??!!

-Glenn