The New York Times has an interesting article published last Friday (2/22) entitled A Journey Shaped by a Guitar. It gives an insight into the workings of the famous Martin Guitar company’s Nazareth, Pennsylvania, factory.

Spoken of in terms of being a tourist attraction, it outlines what a visitor may see of the guitar-making process and the facilities and services provided.

The full illustrated story can be read at the New York Times website, including a number of multi-media features.

The New York Times ran an article yesterday about guitar makers C.F. Martin, Taylor, Fender and Gibson joining forces with environmental activist group Greenpeace in an effort to save tree species vital to their trade.

One wood the article focuses on is Sitka Spruce from Alaska which Greenpeace says could become as rare as Brazilian Rosewood in only six years if current harvesting practices continue. What I found interesting is that the bulk of Sitka Spruce being cut in Alaska is not used for the construction of instruments. This old growth wood is being sent to Japan as framing material for homes. C.F. Martin estimated that a total of three million acoustic and electric guitars are sold in the US each year, but that accounts for less than 20% of the Sitka Spruce that’s cut each year in Alaska.

Martin just last month hosted the C. F. Martin Inaugural Wood Summit ‘07 where wood suppliers from around the world spoke concerning the historical and future availability of their particular species, as well as issues surrounding it’s availability.

What the instrument manufacturers are seeking is not a complete ban on logging, but rather some sort of solution that relies on better forest management. The word that comes to mind is conservation. Let’s hope they are able to make a difference in the larger marketplace and create a situation where our children will be able to buy instruments made from the great woods we love at something less than the cost of a pre-war Martin!

Acoustic Guitar Magazine has an article in the May 2007 issue which follows the production of a Martin D-28 guitar through the production process. It starts with the Martin wood storage area and proceeds through the many stages, showing the combination of hands-on woodworking and high tech automation now in use by C.F. Martin.

Especially for guitarists and guitar aficionados who have never had the opportunity to tour the Martin factory in Nazareth, PA, the Acoustic Guitar slide show that accompanies the article online may be the next best thing.

Read the full article on the Acoustic Guitar web site.

Eclectic folk/blues artist David Bromberg is due for a new CD. Though he has released some band projects, a retrospective and some live sets, he has not had a new studio project as a solo artist since 1990.

Appleseed Records has announced that a new Bromberg project is set for a February 2007 release. Entitled Try Me One More Time, it will be a solo project in the truest sense, featuring only David and his guitar. The material will be a mixed bag of roots music styles, including bluegrass, blues, ragtime and folk.

Many followers of acoustic music will recall David from his high profile work as a sideman in the 1970s, touring and recording with artists like Bob Dylan, Tom Paxton, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine and others, and from his popular solo performances at folk festivals all over the world.

Appleseed’s site offers this capsule overview of his life since that time.

After touring and recording extensively throughout the ’70s, a somewhat burned-out Bromberg stepped off the music industry merry-go-round in 1980, moving from San Francisco to Chicago to study violin making. Lured back to his native East Coast two decades later by an invitation to serve as an artist-in-residence in Wilmington, Del., Bromberg has been operating David Bromberg Fine Violins, a retail shop, in recent years and playing an increasing number of concerts, most frequently as a solo performer.

The photo of David above shows him with his signature series Martin guitar, the David Bromberg M-42 model, introduced earlier this year.