At the time Frank Henry took over, Martin & Co. was engaged in an exclusive distribu- tion agreement with the New York based sales agency C. A. Zoebisch & Sons. The agreement essentially put Zoebisch in the position of running Martin & Co., as the sales agency dictated what and how much the company produced. For the young Mar- tin, this situation posed two major prob- lems: Firstly, Zoebisch’s primary business was distributing band and orchestral in- struments, and so consequentially Martin felt his guitars were not given suffi cient ad- vertising. Secondly, during the early 1890s a massive infl ux of Italian immigrants created a large demand for mandolins. Seeing this as an excellent opportunity to expand business, Martin became com- mitted to producing the instrument, while Zoebisch resisted.
Since the guitar industry was still in its infancy (and thus the market rather lim- ited), Martin sold his handcrafted instru- ments out of his own shop and through various distribution agreements with music teachers, importers and wholesal- ers. To supplement his income, he also operated his shop as a full-scale music store – peddling everything from trom- bones, trumpets, and harps to sheet music, strings and other accessories.
But while Martin’s business steadily grew, he and his wife never fully embraced the fast-paced city atmosphere. So, when Mar- tin’s longtime friend and business associ- ate, Henry Schatz, purchased a large tract of land in Pennsylvania near the town of Nazareth, Martin’s wife took the opportu- nity to visit. Upon seeing the town, she im- mediately fell in love with Nazareth’s gen- tle rolling hills and rural landscapes – all of which reminded her of their native Europe.
At his wife’s urging, Martin sold his store’s inventory and moved his family and com- pany from New York to Nazareth. Purchas- ing an eight-acre lot near the road between Nazareth and Wind Gap, he set up his new headquarters in the spring of 1839.
In Nazareth, Martin began to delve more deeply into developing diff erent styles
and variations for his guitars. Through- out the 1840s and 50s he experimented with shape, ornamentation and, perhaps most importantly, bracing – the system of wooden struts that internally supports the guitar’s soundboard and back. It was dur- ing this time that Martin developed the “X” bracing system. Still used in all steel- string Martin guitars today, “X” bracing is credited for creating the signature “Martin tone” of “brilliant treble” and “powerful bass response.”
Throughout the 1840s and 50s, sales of Martin guitars took off as well. The com- pany’s shipping records frequently men- tion large transactions in cities such as Philadelphia, Nashville, St. Louis, Boston, Cincinnati and New Orleans. To keep pace with the increased demand, Martin & Co. moved its factory to a larger facility on the corner of Main and North Street, next to the Martin family home, in 1859.
In February of 1873, founder C. F. Martin passed away at age 77. His son, 48-year-old Christian Frederick Martin, Jr., took over as company president. The Junior Martin’s tenure was short-lived, however, as he died unexpectedly in 1888 – leaving the com- pany to his inexperienced 22-year-old son, Frank Henry Martin.
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These disagreements ultimately led to Frank Henry Martin making the diffi cult – and risky – decision to terminate the com- pany’s distribution agreement. In 1898, he changed the brand on his instruments from “C. F. Martin & Co., New York” to “C. F. Martin & Co., Nazareth” and started sell- ing guitars and mandolins directly out of the Nazareth factory. By launching various advertising and direct mail campaigns, while also personally embarking on rigor-
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