Martin or a Yamaha? An interesting story.

[Toby Walker]

During the early 60's, the late Skip James was trying to decide on two guitars just before embarking on a tour. As he hadn't played in years and didn't even own a guitar, he was being treated to a brand new one. Fancy that.

So he's sitting in Izzy Young's Folklore Center in the heart of Greenwich Village, NYC, ground zero for every trad blues and folk musician, trying to make up his mind between a Martin and... wait for it.... a Yamaha. Every wannabe folk musician who was in that store watching him was simply aghast at this blasphemy. I mean... this was the legendary SKIP JAMES!!! How could he possibly be undecided between an American made Martin and a 'made in Japan' Yamaha??? (For you youngsters, the term 'made in Japan' back then carried quite the negative stigma).

Now, according to Dick Waterman, his manager at the time, Skip liked both of those guitars equally well. They both sounded good, played good and by George, he didn't have to shell out a dime. So it came down to this:

Skip asked where the guitars were made. When being told one was made in the U.S. and the other was in Japan, he gave it some thought and chose the American made Martin, to the relief of everyone in that room. Why? Because as he put it, if something ever went wrong with the one in Japan, he didn't to send it all the way back over there to get it fixed... that's why.

One man's meat.

[rokdog49]

Good story. I hope I don't have to ever take my Pono back to Indonesia.

[L20A]

Back in 1971, I was offered to trade my all laminated Yamaha for 50's Martin 0018.
The Yamaha sounded so much better that I didn't even give the trade a thought.

That was back before I knew much about guitars.
Today, I would have made the trade and then sold the 0018.

I still thing the Yamaha sounded a lot better.

[247hoopsfan]

That's a great story. When I was looking for my first good steel string in 1972 ,I was 17, still in high school making $2.50 an hour doing yard work on Saturdays. I had saved up $200 and went to Leos' Music in Berkeley, CA. I played a bunch of guitars, and the 2 that sounded best were a Martin D18 and a Yamaha
FG200. I think the Martin was $475 and the Yamaha was $100. I walked out with the FG200, and still have it. Those old Japanese Yammies are such great
guitars.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by 247hoopsfan

That's a great story. When I was looking for my first good steel string in 1972 .... I think the Martin was $475 and the Yamaha was $100. I walked out with the FG200, and still have it. Those old Japanese Yammies are such great guitars.

Yeah but how many times since 1972 have you had to send it back to Japan for work?
I'm guessing ... none.

[godfreydaniel]

Dick Waterman, not Wasserman.

[drive-south]

Back then Americans rarely bought foreign cars either except for VWs. Getting parts for most foreign cars were nearly impossible.

[Toby Walker]

Originally Posted by godfreydaniel

Dick Waterman, not Wasserman.

Yes, thanks.

[SFCRetired]

cool story, thanks for sharing.

I think people who are really talented don't care what name is on the headstock, they care about what comes out of that hole. Then there's the rest of us.