your tenure at Martin ?
[ Dick ] I guess six . I ’ m working on a seventh with co-author Larry Bartram about a very famous ukulele that is part of our collection . I had also hoped to do a book about the Martin Museum , but I ’ m afraid that will probably get deferred until after retirement .
[ CG ] Have you set a date for your retirement ?
point where I had about fifty guitars . Because of having two daughters in college , I started to sell off some of the instruments . I still have 25 or 30 Martin guitars , and I would say my favorite is the original Eric Clapton guitar . It ’ s # 2 from the very first Eric Clapton edition 000- 42EC . Eric got # 1 , and there ’ s an interesting story to that because I got a phone call from Eric as he was leaving for the airport in London . He was coming to New York City to record the video for “ Change the World ” with Baby Face and asked me to find a 000-42EC . I said , “ I don ’ t think I can because they are all sold out . He said , “ What will we do ?” and I told him I ’ d be happy to loan him my personal guitar . I drove the guitar to the Hoboken train station and am quite proud that my guitar appears in Eric ’ s video for “ Change the World ” and in the trailer for the movie Premonition . I also have a beautiful 00-37K2 . It ’ s all Koa wood – beautiful high flame Koa wood back , top , and sides from Hawaii that was a gift from Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band , who over the years has become a really great personal friend of mine , and it ’ s very special to have that .
[ CG ] Do you own any vintage instruments ?
[ Dick ] I do have one . I ’ m really fond of tiny little guitars . Did you know Marty Robbins played a tiny Martin “ Terz ” guitar called a 5-18 ? The
Size 5 is one of the smallest guitars that Martin offered as a six-string , and we still make them in our custom shop . One of mine goes back to the late 40 ’ s or early 50 ’ s , so that ’ s about the only vintage guitar I have . I could never really afford vintage guitars , though of course I love them . I really have a conscience about being honest about the value of old guitars . In my position here at Martin it would be very easy to have a conflict of interest .
[ CG ] Do you have any instruments besides Martins ?
[ Dick ] I have one guitar that I commissioned from my friend Grit Laskin . William “ Grit ” Laskin is a guitar maker in Canada in Toronto that is known for his work with thematic pearl inlay . He interviews each of his clients about the type of inlay that they would like and then crafts a guitar in which the inlay actually tells a story . I told him I envisioned the headstock being the glass window of a music store . Inside the window is Grit Laskin on a step ladder scraping the Martin logo off of the window and putting the Laskin logo on it . I ’ ve prized that guitar all of these years , but kept it something of a secret because I think it pokes fun at Martin . At least that ’ s what Grit and I intended .
[ CG ] How many books have you written during
[ Dick ] I ’ m going to retire on January 8 th , 2018 and that is 1 / 8 / 18 . I ’ m going to have a retirement concert on January 6th with many of my musical friends . After all , it ’ s all about music , isn ’ t it ? I ’ m hoping to be involved somehow as a researcher or docent or advisor with the archives or an outside contractor for special projects with Martin . I also want to do road trips around the country , one of which would be to come down and visit you and my many friends in Nashville .
[ CG ] Your “ Martin : Images of America ” book was amazing . What was the catalyst ?
[ Dick ] It was actually a call from Arcadia , a publisher that has more titles than just about any other publisher . It took me about eight months back and forth with them , selecting and scanning high-resolution images from the archives . I wanted to pick images that would tell the whole story of Martin ’ s 180 plus years of guitar making . We just published an ephemera book called the “ The Martin Archives ,” published by Hal Leonard . It ’ s a book that has pockets that contains fun memorabilia . It is similar to the “ Images of America ” book , but much nicer , much bigger , in color , and beautifully laid out . It ’ s written by my co-author , Jim Washburn , and is selling very well .
[ CG ] How did the Martin Guitar Museum come about ?
[ Dick ] Most of the credit must go to Chris Martin . It was his idea , and his commitment financially . It was my honor to be the person
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28 Mar � Apr 2017 CollectibleGuitar . com