Six Generations of Making Music
Written by By Bevin Theodore
Since 1833, the family-owned Martin Guitar Co. has provided some of the highest-quality instruments to aficionados around the globe. After celebrating 175 years in business in 2008, C.F. Martin IV, the sixth-generation at the helm, shared why he followed in his father's footsteps, where the company is headed and how he spends his precious free time. When Martin was growing up, he never considered entering the family business. His parents went through an acrimonious divorce when he was 3, and since he only saw his father for about one week each summer, he was not immersed in the guitar-making culture. But when he was a teenager, he began doing odd jobs in the factory, and the seed was planted.
"Then I began to realize that this is something very special," he said. Still, he went to UCLA to study economics. While in California, he worked in a guitar repair shop, where he realized that despite his family heritage, he knew very little about the business. At 19, he called his mom and told her he was quitting college and moving to Nazareth.
Return to the index
