Back in Time: Never Before Seen Images of the C.F. Martin Factory

When boots on the ground in Japan researching vintage guitar manufacturing, the parallels and “aha” moments of cross cultural connection to storied USA brands are plentiful. The two cultures’ passion for innovation and rich history of crafting fine musical instruments are inextricably linked. And when we traveled to Hamamatsu, a longtime industrial hub in Japan, we didn’t know what dusty nuggets awaited us at Tokai’s factory.

Tucked away near the manufacturing centers of brand like Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha (manufacturer of jet skis and guitars alike), Tokai’s digs are modest and utilitarian, once a hub of Fender Japan production along with myriad other notable brands veiled in nondisclosure agreements.

While Tokai's current manufacturing spaces, storage racks packed with decades of overstock didn’t-know-Tokai-made-that(!) brands, and their R&D center all held an allure, it was their archive of photo albums, schematics and artist contracts that left us gobsmacked. Particularly, a pair of photo albums that meticulously documented a visit by Tokai’s top brass to Martin’s Nazareth, PA factory in 1978.

As Martin’s Japanese distributor for USA-made production and also their partner in the official Martin-licensed Cat’s Eyes-branded Tokai models for the Japanese domestic market, the photo documentation of this 1978 Martin factory visit was clearly a source of business pride and also meant to catalog the build practices of Martin’s craftspeople.

We haven’t seen documentation this extensive of the Martin factory in this era published anywhere, and we’re grateful to Tokai for allowing us to digitize and share these never before seen photos. So let’s wind back the clock and walk the Martin factory floor in 1978.

-Mike Ball

And for more on the Tokai/Martin connection, we dive into the particulars of the Japanese-made and officially Martin-licensed Cat’s Eyes brand on our channel:

MIJ Supplemental - C.F. Martin’s Untold Japanese History - Tokai Cat’s Eyes

We’ve curated a selection of images below to act as a guided walkthrough of the factory, and uploaded all of the images (roughly 150, in total), into a pair of online albums for your viewing pleasure. This album contains all of the factory photos, and this album contains all the images of Martin/Tokai personnel, office space, etc. We hope you get as much of a kick out of them as we did.

1. LUMBER STORES/BLANKS

2. TOP ASSEMBLY

3. BACK/RIMS ASSEMBLY

4. FULL BODY ASSEMBLY

5. NECK SHAPING/CURING

6. FINGERBOARD PREPARATION

7. PAIRING BODIES/NECKS, FINAL CONSTRUCTION PT. 1

8. FINISHING, FINAL CONSTRUCTION PT. 2

9. FINAL INSPECTION

10. PACKAGING

THE PEOPLE BEHIND MARTIN/TOKAI

Alongside all those wonderful shots of the factory, we also scored a trove of portraits of both Martin and Tokai employees/management. With the help of legendary long-time Martin employee/master luthier Dick Boak, we’ve identified a number of notable figures.