NORTH STREET ATTIC: Harry Lawrence Hunt and the Dreadnought Guitar

ABOUT THE BOOK, "BIRTH OF THE DREADNOUGHT"

While working for the C.F. Martin Guitar Company in the summer of 1916, a 23 year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania native patterned what would become the world’s most copied acoustic guitar design, the Dreadnought. The origin of the Dreadnought and the stories behind its creators has never been thoroughly researched until now. "Birth of the Dreadnought" is a look into the lives of those responsible for the guitar’s early development, and its eventual commercial success into the 1930s. It’s a colorful story following the many twists and turns in both the personal lives and careers of those who created and popularized the guitar, as well as the story of the creation of the instrument itself.

The book is a never-before seen, in-depth look into the archives of the C.F. Martin Guitar Company, the most complete and detailed archives of any American musical instrument maker. The book’s author, John Woodland, has done extensive research combing through the attics of the old Martin factory, researching thousands of pages of stored correspondence, most of it unseen since it was originally filed. The book also includes a large collection of unpublished photographs, elegantly illustrating the guitar’s journey. The enveloping music scenes throughout the country during the Dreadnought’s development are also well documented. Many different archival and personal sources have been consulted, and the story told includes voluminous details that have not previously been researched or compiled, let alone published. The result is a comprehensive and compelling new understanding of the instrument made famous by the C.F. Martin Company, as well as an entertaining look into the lives of the people responsible for its design.

The true story of the development of Martin’s Dreadnought guitar has previously been one of the great unknowns of American guitar lineage. "Birth of the Dreadnought" is of interest to all guitar players, vintage guitar historians and music fans alike, combining the story of a particular musical instrument with the interwoven lives of its creators and players.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Harry Lawrence Hunt and the Dreadnought Guitar

In 1916, while serving as manager of the Charles H. Ditson Store in New York, Harry L. Hunt conceived and named the Dreadnought guitar. Hunt began dealing with C.F. Martin in 1893 while employed at the William A. Pond Company in New York. He soon left Pond for the more lucrative position as manager of Ditson's musical instrument department. Shortly before Ditson's demise he opened the Lyon & Healy Harp Salon in New York's Steinway Hall, leaving the fretted instrument trade for good.

A complete biography of Hunt, as well as the lead-up to the development of Martin's Dreadnought guitar, will be discussed in great detail in the upcoming book, "Birth of the Dreadnought."

NORTH STREET ATTIC

ABOUT THE BOOK, "BIRTH OF THE DREADNOUGHT"

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

Harry Lawrence Hunt and the Dreadnought Guitar