ACK, ACK, ACK...

[jingle_jangle]

I had a lot of respect for the grand old company that was/is Martin, until I saw this awful junk, erm...thing for sale at Elderly this morning.

Now Martin gets an 8.5, instead of the 9.75 I used to give them in the "respect" category, as if they care...

Looks like the Pennsylvanians are believing the BS about the so-called "Summer or Love", so they decided to "pay tribute", Fender-marketing-style*:

http://www.elderly.com/vintage/items/10U-5081.htm

*Fender-marketing-style: Build anything, but make sure you've got a hook so you can call it a "limited edition". Throw taste out the window, and company history and integrity on hold, at least until the checks clear...

And what the hell's a "ying-yang" symbol? You don't suppose they could mean, "yin-yang", do you?

[captsandwich]

It looks like a Barbie guitar.

[atomic_punk]

I expected a lot better from Martin. Shame, indeed.

[doctorno]

I think it looks quite funny - especially the case. If people like it, why not? It might still be a good sounding guitar.
I think there are much worse things around, such as artificially aged instruments.

[cjj]

ACK! BLECH! YUCK!

I was never a big fan of the hippie flower/peace sign stuff even back when it was new. I like it even less now. That thing is truly disgusting...

[melibreits]

Eeeeeeeewwwwww..... that really is a disgrace for Martin. It looks like a cheap toy.

[Scastles]

How sad. Far from what I expect out of Martin. And I just read this nice article about the D-18 Authentic in Fretboard Journal. This 'instrument' is a far cry from their reproduction of the D-18!

[leftybass]

LOL

Well, I'll bet it still sounds good...

[kiramdear]

That's so tacky, I gotta have one to go with the Gretsch model with flying saucers abducting cows on it. LOL, what a riot!

[whojamfan]

Uh, like, dude-you'd like really have to be trippin to drop that much cabbage on such a psuedo lysergic guitar. Quite amusing, but I like the Daisy Rock guitars better. At least they are not trying to market their instruments on some subcultural rhetoric. I think the hippies would have veiwed this as an agent of the man trying to cash in on their "thing". Hope I didn't like harsh your mellow man

[deaconblues]

This abomination's much WORSE than a fake relic...by far.

[kiramdear]

With so much good psychedelic art and artists to choose from, I just don't know. It's like a picture of when Barbie's friends dosed her with some weird designer hallucinogen ...

[libratune]

For those of us who remember the "Summer of Love," this guitar brings back memories of large jars of French's mustard and melted Creamsicles being passed around as we listened to "Purple Haze" and "Incense Peppermints" (by the Strawberry Alarm Clock) . . .

Whoops, just had a flashback.

On a more serious note, this guitar descriminates against the reality-impaired with no fretboard markers and a neck apparently made out of pine wood . . . Chris Martin was 13 in 1969, so perhaps he isn't recalling the reality as it was, but rather is looking at it through a Mellow Yellow lens . . .

[jimk]

Oh that guitar would have been an embarrassment 42 years ago! What a hoot!

JimK

[teb]

This is nothing new. Along with their regular lines, Martin has been building some small runs of strangely-painted special editions for quite some time - like this one, the "Cowboy" model and others. Just about all of them miss the mark to the point of being pretty hideous. I've always wondered who the target market is for them, but some people do claim that they're collectable. I guess is just goes to show that even the builders of world-class guitars can occasionally put out a pig, and somewhere there must be someone willing to buy it.