it's official

[domradave]

I went to a Martin Guitar showcase yesterday. They will not be building mandolins ever again. Not now, and not in the future. They will continue to manufacture mandolin strings.

[Roger Moss]

I could never afford one anyway.

[DavidKOS]

Well, I've seen some nice old Martin mandolins, but really this is not a big loss in my musical world. Martin was never the go-to mandolin maker in the way Gibson was.

[bingoccc]

Making a statement now, in a company that old, may or may not prove true in the fullness of time. Zildjian (cymbals) was founded in 1623 and they are still going and changing. You never know what a future CEO may decide.

[billy_v]

IMHO: Who'd buy a new one, anyway? Their f-hole mandolins sound awful, their round holes aren't terribly versatile, and you can't swing a cat without hitting a load of old ones on the market. How much would a new one run you, anyway? I have seen a couple of pretty pearl-inlaid old ones for sale lately, but they're more interesting as collectibles than as players.

[FLATROCK HILL]

Similar (to me anyway) to another announcement back in the day:
Harley Davidson will no longer build golf carts.
Not a lot of sleep lost over that one either.

[JeffD]

IMHO: Who'd buy a new one, anyway? Their f-hole mandolins sound awful, their round holes aren't terribly versatile, and you can't swing a cat without hitting a load of old ones on the market. How much would a new one run you, anyway? I have seen a couple of pretty pearl-inlaid old ones for sale lately, but they're more interesting as collectibles than as players.

The Martin style B, in koa, is a beeeautiful mandolin. With a real pretty voice. I don't know about not versatile, the only thing it doesn't do well is bluegrass. Everything else it excels at. I have seen Style B Martins for from $400 up to over a grand, depending on you know...

[JeffD]

I went to a Martin Guitar showcase yesterday. They will not be building mandolins ever again. Not now, and not in the future. They will continue to manufacture mandolin strings.

I don't know why they would, these days. But their flat tops and kant top designs would sell, if someone made them. IMO.

[DHopkins]

Harley Davidson will no longer build golf carts.

Oh my gosh. Nobody told me!!!

[Jim Garber]

Martin has plenty to do with concentrating on guitars and ukes which they have always been known and respected for. I would not be surprised if they announced that they would not make archtop guitars either. Or golf carts.

[DHopkins]

I would not be surprised if they announced that they would not make archtop guitars either. Or golf carts.

Oh, no!! First Harley Davidson and now Martin. What's this world coming to?

[allenhopkins]

Martin was out of the ukulele market for years; then the instrument's popularity picked up, and they started building them again, even opened a Mexican branch to make the S-0 models.

So I don't take anyone's "never again" as being definitive. Martin's added and subtracted models as the market's made them more or less profitable. Anyone have one of their solid-body electric guitars?

When the "mandolin boom" hits, don't be surprised if they're back in the mando business. Maybe they'll be building them out of Formica, like their "Little Martin" travel guitars.

And, IMHO, those flat-back, canted-top, mahogany-back-and-sides Style A's can be sweet little instruments. I have a 1919 one, and it's well-designed, immaculately constructed, easy to play, and nice sounding. Not a bluegrass machine, but pretty versatile in other genres.

[Petrus]

Agreed, I wouldn't take literally any claim that a company will "never again" do such and such as no one can tell what the future may hold. Even if the speaker is authoritative, such as an executive or owner of the company, he obviously will not be in charge forever (and maybe not even another year or two, given how fast some companies change leadership.)

It'd be interesting to see Martin try its hand at mandolins again sometime. They may not have had the greatest reputation but a smart CEO would find a way to hire or contract skilled luthiers, maybe even do a little head-hunting and steal some people from Gibson or who knows where. I wouldn't automatically assume that if Martin got back into production that they'd just re-do their canted-tops from years ago ... maybe they'd go off in a more innovative direction, a la Breedlove. (Not necessarily Formica, but perhaps carbon fiber?)