C. F. Martin & Co. Honors Multi-Talented Jimmy Buffett with Signature Edition
January 29, 1998
C. F. Martin & Co., in collaboration with renowned Gulf Coast singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, is proud to announce the HD-18JB Limited Edition Signature Model guitar. In honor of Buffett's classic hit "Margaritaville," and the subsequently famous Margaritaville Store & Cafe located at 424 Fleming Street in Key West, Florida, just 424 of these guitars will be made. Guitar enthusiasts (as well as Parrotheads) can purchase a HD-18JB from authorized Martin dealers throughout the world.
The HD-18JB Jimmy Buffett Limited Edition Signature Model derives its inspiration from Martin's legendary HD-28 "Herringbone" Dreadnought guitar. The back and sides of the HD-18JB are crafted from solid genuine mahogany instead of East Indian rosewood that normally appears on herringbone models. The result is an instrument with power, brilliance, clarity and punch. These tonal characteristics, personally specified by Buffett, a long time Martin collector and player, and make this model perfectly suited for both stage and performance and studio recording. Inspired by his fondness for the Florida Keys, Buffett chose a graceful windswept palm tree for the headstock of his signature model. The palm leaves are delicately cut with Paua shell. Green rippled abalone pearl is used for the trunk, and the cluster of five coconuts is cut from brown lip mother of pearl. The assembled palm tree inlay is tastefully nested below the Martin gold foil logo.
The soundboard, bookmatched from select solid spruce, features delicately scalloped bracing in the forward shifted pre-war style. The binding is grained ivoroid with fine pattern herringbone top trim and back inlay strip. An abalone pearl rosette, selected for exceptional color, adorns the soundhole, and a tortoise colored pickguard, carefully beveled and polished, protects the playing area
of the top.
The ebony fingerboard is adorned with the Martin 42 Style snowflake inlay pattern with Jimmy Buffett's signature inlaid in pearl between the 19th and 20th frets. Each instrument will bear an internal edition label individually numbered in sequence (i.e. #1 of 424, #2 of 424, etc.) and personally signed by Jimmy Buffett and C. F. Martin IV, Martin's chairman and CEO.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each Jimmy Buffett Signature Model will be donated to one of Jimmy Buffett's favorite charities - The W. O. Smith Nashville Community Music School. The school provides music instruction to low income children from the Nashville area for a mere 50 cents per lesson. The staff of 90 is comprised entirely of volunteer teachers from within the community. The school also provides all of the instruments and learning materials at no additional cost to the students.
Jimmy Buffett started his recording career in Nashville in the late 1960s. One album, "Down to Earth," was released before Buffett moved to Key West, Florida, signed to ABC-Dunhill Records and began to achieve notoriety for his unusual tropical folk/rock albums, "White Sport Coat & a Pink Crustacean" (1973) and "Living & Dying in 3/4 Time" (1974). Although he
gradually built a solid base of fans (Parrotheads), it wasn't until 1977, when the LP "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes" with the top ten hit "Margaritaville" was released, that Buffett became a major star with millions of fans wildly enthusiastic about his beach bum character and tropical style. Buffett's "Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads" is one of the best-selling box sets ever.
Buffett later launched a Margaritaville line of clothing and opened the first of his Margaritaville clubs in Key West. Buffett has signed with Walt Disney's Touchstone Pictures for a movie version of his best-selling novel, "Where is Joe Merchant?" In addition, the musical adaptation of the Herman Wouk novel, "Don't Stop the Carnival," which Buffett and Wouk have been working on for the past four years, is finished and slated for a debut this winter in South Florida.
Martin Guitar dealers will take orders for the Jimmy Buffett HD-18JB Limited Edition Guitars immediately, though due to demand for Martin instruments, this edition will not be available in music stores until the late summer of 1998. For more information, visit their web site at www.mguitar.com. |
