An accolade to Martin Guitars

[Richard III]

I own a OM-05 Larrivee and will fight to the death to defend the quality of Larrivee guitars. I convinced my Brother-in-law to buy a 000-60.   But I wanted to share the following with forum members. 

My 1983 HD 28 Martin developed cracks in the bridge.  Martin agreed that was a warranty repair so I sent it back for the repair. They offered to do other repairs on the neck for $115 dollars, nut replacement etc.  I agreed and posted a check to them.

Today I received the repaired Martin.  That sucker looks almost showroom new.  Here's what Martin did under warranty and for $115:
Replaced the bridge.  Replaced the saddle. Replaced the nut.  Dressed the frets. I had to use a flashlight to determine they weren't new frets. Cleaned the fingerboard. Buffed out all the scratches on the top except several that were actually creased into the wood.  Buffed out the buckle rash on the rosewood back.  Put on new strings.  Did a setup to restore string height to factory settings.

The sucker plays beautifully and looks like a total knockout of a guitar.  My faith in American industry is restored.
THere is a reason it pays to buy quality.

[Strings4Him]

Good story!

[teh]

Congratulations. I have had warranty work done on my Martin twice and they have been super to deal with both times.

[cke]

  I know one of Martin's warranty techs and if he is representative, then Martin's future is secure.

[Broadus]

Thanks, Richard, for sharing your experience. Since I bought my OM-21 used, I'll not experience Martin's warranty service. Nevertheless, I went through about eight guitars during my first two years of playing and couldn't find what I really wanted until I bought the OM-21 a year ago. GAS-free for a year, with only a minor bout when an LV-10 became available a few weeks ago!

Bill

[jimmy buffett]

That truly is a great story and it's nice to be reminded sometimes that reputable service is not totally dead in the 21st century.

I was going to post about how just this morning, I was in a local guitar shop just to pick up some strings and although I was in a rush, I couldn't resist a quick trip into the high end room where they keep the acoustics.  Mostly just Martins, Taylors and Breedloves, as they never have carried any Larrys (which is why I only ever buy strings at this place).  There was a John Mayer OM Signature model and I grabbed it and took it for a quick spin.  Not only was I impressed with the sound (I've never gassed for a Martin), but this guitar had a beautiful set of RW back and sides, a gorgeous volute neck and pyramid bridge, great fret markers (I think there were a couple of snowflakes at the 12th fret?), so it's a good thing that I took a look at the price.  I got out of there in a hurry!

jb

[rpm60912]

wow, thanks so much for sharing this story. it's customer service at its finest.

way to go Martin Guitars!... i sure hope the rest of the american and canadian guitar makers would offer this kind of great service.

ricky

[RickI]

I have a similar story with my 1974 D-35....   Took it back to the factory about 2 years ago...  The guitar had a few "issues"..  not the least of whcih was the binding missing from around almost the entire body of the guitar...   On the bottom, I had even worn away the groove the binding would seat in.   I said no any idea of fixing the binding because of the expense, and just went with a warranty neck reset, and a few bucks for dressing the frets..

What they did was incredible..  Reset the neck, replaced the bridge, new saddle, new bridge pins,  The binding was completely replaced, 2 dings on the top were repaired and the body completely refinished..    I had to check the serial number to prove to myself this was the same guitar...   Guitar always sounded great,  now it looks and plays great as well and I couldn't be happier about how it turned out...  Thanks Martin!

Rick

[ducktrapper]

What? Two accolades to Martinis on the same page? Don't they have their own forum?   

[petevee]

Love reading the positive stuff, cudos to Martin..

[Mikeymac]

I love reading it, too...I LOVE my Larrivee's but don't most players dream of owning a nice Martin someday? I'd like a D-35, too, please! 

[SMan]

I like stories with happy endings. 

[Dr. LJ]

Martin does very nice repair work.  No doubt about it. Glad you had such a good experience.

I got to tour the factory last summer while in PA and enjoyed every minute.  I own Martins and love them. One of them is an HD-28.  Of course, I own Larrivees and other makes and love them, too.  A really good guitar is a wonder no matter who has their name on the headstock.

LJ