Nazareth Music Center

(Continued from here)

We left the Martin Guitar factory with catalogs and information in hand, including the fact that there was a Martin dealer one mile away. We went across the street to a pizza place, and decided that we'd stop at the dealer after we grabbed a quick lunch. I was trying not to get my hopes up too high - but it suddenly did seem possible, that if all went well, I might actually be coming home with a Martin guitar that very day.

The GPS got us to the Nazareth Music Center with no difficulty. We asked if we could see some guitars, and they asked if we wanted to see Martins. We said we very much did, and they laughingly called their store, "part 2 of the Martin tour." I'm fairly certain we're not the first people to finish the factory tour and head directly for the nearest dealer. They had a whole room dedicated to Martins, with anything you could ask for in stock (there's a picture of the room on their Martin page).

The HD-28 I ended up coming home with.

The first thing they asked me to do was put on a shop apron - which makes sense, they don't want belt buckles or anything like that scratching the guitars. I asked to play a 000-28, which is what I thought I wanted - and they put one in my lap. But then they said I needed to also try...I forget the terminology, but a 000-28 with a different kind of internal bracing (maybe it was called a 000-28H?) The "H" is apparently an upgrade - and it did sound a little better to both of our ears.

Then I asked for a D-28 (the same guitar in a full-sized dreadnaught body.) It sounded fantastic, and a noticeably bigger sound. After playing each guitar, I looked over at Darling Wife, and she was smiling and nodding as if to say it sounded great. Then they put another one in my lap - the HD-28 (the "H" being the same upgrade as the 000-28H over the 000-28.) I played a chord and thought "wow!" Then I looked over at DW and she was nodding her head vigorously. It was *clearly* the best and biggest-sounding guitar.

One happy birthday boy!

I played them all again, one after the other, trying my best to compare. It was really a no-lose decision - they all sounded fantastic, and I would have been thrilled with any of them. But the HD-28 just sounded the best. So I said it was the one. They wiped it off, put it in the case, and sent me home with it.

There's a line from the end of my favorite movie, where Ralphie, after getting his Red Ryder b.b. gun, calls it, "the best present I had ever received - or would ever receive." That's pretty much how I feel. I'm still almost in shock to have such a beautiful instrument right here at my fingertips. My Darling Wife out-did herself, and I could not be more grateful. This is truly a lifetime guitar - it is not an exaggeration to say that I will never need to upgrade again in my life.

It's also not an exaggeration to say that it was a day I'll never forget. The factory and museum tour alone would have made it a memorable day - but actually picking out a Martin and coming home with it? That was completely unexpected, and made it an all-time day to remember. No, the birthday Martin wasn't really a surprise - but with Meadowood Music closed for the day, it never occurred to me as a possibility that it might happen the same day.

Thank you, Lori, from the bottom of my heart.