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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | BrianT and I made the most of our little pilgrimage out east. On the way to the OFC Tour we hit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Martin Guitar Factory Tour.
It's really unfair to compare the two factory tours....but I will anyway! These comparisons are so unfair but just concider the bias source.
(Before I go much further I just want to say that BrianT has an absolute knockout D-28. A fantastic looking and sounding guitar that I would be proud to own)
Martin does these tours every day so I imagine they become rather routine to the tour guides and employees. Yes, just like at Disneyworld, the tour ends at the gift shop. I don't mind that. If Ovation had a gift shop I would have dropped a few bucks myself.
At the Martin tour they had 3 guitars you could play. Two run of the mill, very out of tune full size models and a travel size Martin that was the worst example of that guitar that I have ever played.
I won't go into what we got to play with at the OFC tour. You already know.
At the Martin tour we were walked through various departments. One guy was robotically putting strips of rosewood into a machine that formed the sides. Others glued bracing and stained necks. At all times we were told to stay in between the lines of the walkway.
At the Ovation Tour we could look right over the employees shoulder. Ask them questions. Make comments. We could get up close and personal with the machinery.
At time the Martin Tour would stop in front of a wall of pictures showing you part of the process. We walked down a hallway where we could look down on about 10,000 square feet of automated machinery spitting out parts.
I can tell you, IMHO, that Ovation has at least as much "hands on" craftsmanship as Martin.
The robot that polishes guitars:
This beast picks up a body, runs it across massive polishing wheels in two directions, and sets it back down.
The man pictured to the left was so entranced that he broke the rules, left the safety of the yellow lines, and wound up getting his head to close to the wheel.
This was hanging on the wall on our way out.
Comments?
I'm sure we did not see the best things that Martin has to offer. I'm sure that there is a custom shop somewhere in that building that would be fasincating. But we were just another group of monkeys being led around.
Mojo.....
This was the first guitar factory I had ever seen. I expected to come away rather giddy and light headed. However, I found that I left with less mojo rather than more.
Again...It is unfair to compare the two tours. They are apples and oranges, Celebrities and Adamas, Al & Cliff.
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6197
Location: Phoenix AZ | To be fair, you compared the annual OFC tour which is a very special and factory-stopping event, to the daily Martin walk-through. You should compare with the annual UMGF (Martin club) tour. I'm not commenting at all about the guitars or how they are built, etc. etc. But from what I read on the Martin board, their annual event and tour is much more similar to the OFC event. Did you get a coaster? Dave
PS - At the Martin tour did you happen to see a custom order guitar going through the line with my name on it ??? |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Yes I know the tours are not the same animal. I would love to see the UMGF Tour.
Yes...I got a coaster. I'm thinking about drilling a small hole and making it a Christmas tree decoration.
Your custom order? The guide said that once in a great while the polishing robot looses it's bearings and....well...I hope that one was not yours. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Drill several small holes in it...then you'd have a decoration. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 1922
Location: Canton (Detroit), MI | .....or a new Martin signature edition.....
I think the PDA in the side of the guitar is just the thing for those of us who can't remember song lyrics....they'd have to turn it 90 degrees so you could read it, though.....
Roger |
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Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | Nah, you can get a little program for WindowsMobile or PocketPC or whatever they're calling it now, to flip the display to 'landscape' mode. I thought maybe it was for accompaniment...hook the earphone out to an input in the onboard preamp and you can play along through your amp. |
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Joined:
January 2004
Posts: 338
Location: SE Michigan | The Martin tour was a cusory glance compared to the all-day OFC event. But one thing I have to say about Martin is that they do the tour thing every day for FREE. You know it has to cost them in staff, insurance, etc., but they still keep doing it. They probably figure that the return on investment is worth the effort.
But I also cant say enough about the folks at Ovation. They really rolled out the red carpet and put on a show for us, again for FREE. Both companies have very classey products and provide jobs for lots of Americans as well as adding an economic boost to their communities.
These things alone are enough to keep me coming back to these two companies, not to even mention the outstanding guitars they produce. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | here, here.
and
hear, hear. |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Don't forget all that foreign currency they earn as well. This last 9 months rather a lot of it mine. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Hear Here.
and
Here Hear |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Schroeder,
Do You pay in Euro's or Pound's ?? :confused:
Inquiring minds want to know. :D
Not that I have one, (a mind that is). |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | you can be sure he pays in pounds |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | He's married. My guess is he pays in pounds of flesh. |
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Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 4413
| Has anyone ever tried paying al in anything other than US Dollars?
I paid the bill at home in carpet. My flesh is not in great demand around here. Or anywhere else come to that. |
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Of Martins...Mojo...and Factory Tours