Recycled Spruce on Martin Performing Artist Series Guitars

Martin will unveil the new Performing Artist series with FSC Certified Spruce tops recycled from Canadian bridge timbers.

FSC Certified

It’s about time that guitar manufacturers realize the importance of managing their limited natural resources. Martin Guitar is well aware and has been actively implementing environmental initiatives to their guitar production.

The recycled Sitka Spruce tops were legally obtained from dismantled Canadian bridges. These FSC certified recycled tonewoods were then used on the tops of the new GPCPA4 Sapele, a Performing Artist series cutaway guitar. The guitar is to be showcased at the forth coming 2012 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Trade Show in Anaheim, California.

It has a Grand Performance body style and utilizes 100% FSC Certified Sapele back and sides along with the FSC Certified recycled Sitka Spruce top. The guitar will have a gloss finish on its top and red toner on its satin back and sides. It will come with a High Performance Neck and will have Fishman F1 Analog Electronics installed. These guitars will come with a 600 Series molded case, which was selected because it has lesser impact on deforestation.

Chris Martin, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer was quoted: “Martin Guitar has long been committed to research and innovation to find alternatives to rare woods, the use of this recycled traditional tonewood will complement the Sapele wood that this guitar utilizes, allowing us to achieve the same structural integrity and traditional Martin sound.”

Chris Martin further talked about Martin Guitar’s Responsible Guitar building in this Video:

C. F. Martin & Co. formalized their ecological policies in 1990 and for over two decades have sustained their environmental initiatives. Martin Guitar continues their environment friendly approach, embracing responsible use of natural materials along with researching and introducing alternative wood species for guitar construction.

FSC Certified

In line with this Martin has introduced guitars made of domestic woods like cherry, maple, ash, walnut and red birch, among others. They are also at the forefront of tone testing and developing other alternative guitar construction materials such as aluminum tops, high-Pressure Laminates, Stratabond birch laminate, unique fiber laminates and a special shell laminate called Abalam.

Martin & Co. is committed to the directives of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) treaty and the U.S. Lacey Act. They are audited annually regarding FSC Chain-of-Custody certification compliance under certificate code SW-COC-000043 and FSC License Code FSC C008304. It has also initiated its own Sustainable Wood Guitar Series program. Martin Guitar was Forest Stewardship Council recertified by the Rainforest Alliance in 2007.

Martin has created a document regarding Responsible Guitar building, you can read it at Martin Guitar.

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1 thought on “Recycled Spruce on Martin Performing Artist Series Guitars”

  1. Thank You, CFM IV!
    Bill Ruxton

    Thank You, Chris, for maintaining the Martin tradition while taking the company’s products into the 21st century and keeping things “green.” I had the pleasure of my first Martin tour being led by you back around 1973, with me and my pal, John Boone the only people on the tour, back when Seminoles were doing the fancy inlays on Vega banjos.

    I presently own more than 20 guitars from various makers, but the ones I’ll never part with are my 1946 OO-17 (my first guitar), acquired in beat-up, but playable condition in 1962 (for $35!), a ’64 D-28 acquired in used-but-mint condition in 1966, a pristine non-Bigsby ’62 F-65 acquired about five years ago (too bad those never caught on, but I love mine), and a wonderful 5-year-old CFM-1 acquired new last year.

    To me, a Martin defines what a guitar should sound like, and how it should feel and respond in my hands. The first Mr. (Herr) C. F. Martin left his homeland to set up shop in 1833 to challenge conventional guitar-making techniques while making the best instruments available, and I’m very happy to see that tradition continued with innovative materials, sources, and techniques in superb instruments.

    Thank You, Chris Martin IV!

    Sincerely,

    Bill Ruxton
    Millersville, MD

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