Martin Announces M3M George Martin Studio Edition

Jul 26, 2005

Click image for closeup

Sir George Martin knows how to achieve excellence in the recording studio. In an illustrious career that has spanned five decades, he is probably best known as the man who signed the Beatles and produced most of their recordings, but his work has ranged from the comedy records of Peter Sellers to the power vocals of Celine Dion. So when George Martin detailed his preferences for a namesake Martin Signature Edition guitar to fellow musician and record producer John Kurgan, his specific goal was to create an instrument uniquely suited to the studio. The M3M George Martin Studio Edition is that guitar: an acoustic with sensational recorded sound.

The tailoring of this guitar for the studio shows in its distinctive body style and unique combination of premium solid tonewoods. The M body, with 0000 shape (16" at the lower bout) and 000 depth (4-1/16" at the end pin) produces full, balanced and unusually pure tone. The top is crafted from rare Italian alpine spruce, revered for its quick response and full resonance: forward-shifted scalloped top braces broaden the tonal palette.

The sides and back of genuine mahogany, preferred by many recording engineers for its clear bright trebles, show George Martin's inimitable creativity. The four-piece back features a center wedge of rare quilted mahogany, separated from the wings by Style 35 white/black/white back strips. Two additional Style 35 back strips highlight a small wedge of unfigured mahogany below the neck heel. Together, the four back strips form a graceful M (for Martin) emblem.

The M3M George Martin Studio Edition sports a generous 1-3/4" (at the nut) low profile neck of genuine mahogany. The headplate uses quilted and unfigured mahogany and fine line inlays to create the same "M" emblem as on the guitar's back. The headstock comes equipped with gold Waverly tuners with butterbean knobs and bears the C.F. Martin & Co. pressure stamp on the back.

The black ebony fingerboard features a small "5" inlay at the fifth fret to commemorate George Martin's role as the fifth Beatle, with Style 42 snowflake inlays marking the other positions. George Martin's signature is inlaid between the 19th and 20th frets. Both the headstock and fingerboard are bound in grained ivoroid, with black/white inlay on the headstock and mitered black/white inlay on the fingerboard.

At Sir George's request, the M3M George Martin Studio Edition comes with Martin SP+ coated light-gauge strings to, as he put it, reduce "collywobbles" (his word for string squeak), the bane of recording engineers everywhere. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each M3M guitar with be donated in support of the Sir George Martin Music Foundation, which George Martin established to aid the island of Montserrat that was badly devastated by the Soufriere Hills Volcano eruption in 1997.

The M3M George Martin Studio Edition is delivered in a distinctive molded hardshell case with black hardware. Each guitar bears an interior label personally signed by George Martin and Martin Chairman C.F. Martin IV, and is numbered in sequence with the edition total. Left-hand instruments are available at no additional charge: Martin sound reinforcement electronics are an extra cost option. Orders for the M3M George Martin Studio Edition will be accepted until September 23, 2005, after which the total number of guitars and the names of participating Martin dealers will appear on the Martin website.

MSRP: $5,699.00.

For more information, visit their web site at www.martinguitar.com.