This guitar has a rarely seen Type 4 label, I have been able to confirm only one other example. The type 4 label was only used from about September 1836 to the end of March 1837 (the type 5 label came into use on April 1, 1837). The label in this guitar has no serial […]
An early Martin ledger book contains an entry for an “Amadill” guitar sold on August 8, 1836. I have not been able to find any reference to explain the term amadill. However, I am quite confident that this instrument is the amadill guitar from the ledger, as will be explained. The cittern shape of the […]
C. F. Martin Sr. and Henry Schatz had been employed together at Stauffer in Vienna in the 1820s. Schatz left for America a few years before Martin and opened a musical import business in Philadelphia. From early 1835 until about September 1836 the two luthiers formed a partnership under the name Martin & Schatz. The […]