Martin build times...

[Erithon]

Originally Posted by zephystar

I bet it smells so good in there! Is that from the Behind the Scenes tour? I have only did the regular one so far but want to go back and do the long one when they open for tours again.

Indeed it is!

Originally Posted by gfirob

Yeah, I have been back there too and seen all that wood, but think about how many guitars those guys are pumping out. It is hardly an endless supply.

An excellent point, which is why I mentioned these images are just the tip of the iceberg. This is just some of the resawn wood. The stuff that is still seasoning, needs to be resawn, etc. is elsewhere.

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

wow, that is amazing, thanks for posting these.
d

My pleasure. You can see more in this thread.

[Steelhead]

Originally Posted by Martin_F

I’ve actually heard that Yamaha in Japan has the best stocks of wood in the world for the big makers. I would believe this because there is a lot less red-tape for these things in Asia. I know until recently, Yamaha in Japan was still selling Brazilian rosewood guitars for local consumption. You could only find those guitars on the Japanese website. I’m not sure if they still are, that was 2 or 3 years ago I looked.

As far as the OP is concerned, You can always add a pickup to any guitar! If you don’t want to wait and you like what they have in stock, why not get that? Get a k&k installed or something similar after you play the guitar for a bit. There is no magic to installing the pickup at the factory. Any good luthier will be well practised at installing pickups.

Martin

That’s just what I did. Picked up the D-18 Modern Deluxe. So light, sounds so good. What a tone! Love the neck. The Luthier who set it up did not want me to pick it up yet. He wanted to play it longer, ummm no! I’ll see what pick up I want in it. For now. None. Too pure as is.

[Song]

Originally Posted by Steelhead

So light, sounds so good. What a tone! Love the neck.

Congratulations on your new guitar!

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Napman41

I’ve toured the Martin factory numerous times and I’ve been in their wood receiving area and the climate control storage area. I’d say it it like walking into a Home Depot... It’s pretty amazing to see.

Your Home Depot is very special, then! None of the HDs in my areas have lumber departments that look anything like those photos!!!

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

i would think all the USA guitar factories are months behind because of the ***** issue. they basically start back up where they left off. add to that all this happened somewhat right after winter Namm and all those orders, and you have everyone behind. i remember Paul Reed Smith(PRS) in a Namm video saying this had been his best year to date and PRS was totally sold out, the PRS i had on order due to be delivered in May hasn't been made and may be months still-and i totally understand.

d

Must be just guitar factories. In recent months, I have ordered, and had delivered in normal timespans, various US made non-musical instrument products. There were no delays.

[mercy]

A lot of companies are using the virus as an excuse to lay off staff=saving money=profit. A lot of companies are not laying off people and their delivery times have not changed.

[Earl49]

Martin has always had a six month wait for build times, dating back to my experience in 1990. Nothing new there.

Originally Posted by mercy

A lot of companies are using the virus as an excuse to lay off staff=saving money=profit.

I had not thought of it that way. As us boomers age out and stop buying, there may be a glut of high-end guitars on the market in the coming decade. It might be time to realign and streamline. How long can Martin keep building and selling 100,000 guitars a year, and Taylor 160,000? If I were the CEO, this would be unavoidably on my mind.