Two other pieces of evidence help authenticate the 1843 de Goñi X-braced guitar in the Martin Guitar Museum. The first is the interior C. F. Martin & Schatz (Heinrich Schatz, a close friend and — briefly — a partner of C. F. Martin Sr.) label, on which “Made for Madame De Gone” is handwritten by John Coupa (though why he misspelled her name is a mystery). The second is a letter dated November 29, 1849, from John Coupa to C. F. Martin Sr. that reads in part: “I have a guitar to be repaired, it is broke in the back, can you tell me how to send it or if you can do it when you come in to the city. It is a fine guitar, one you made for Mrs. DeGoñi.” The description fits the de Goñi guitar in the Martin Guitar Museum, which has two repaired back cracks. The repair appears to be very old and may well be attributable to C. F. Martin himself. The X-braced guitar C. F. Martin Sr. made for Madame de Goñi marked the beginning of an extraordinary guitar evolution in the United States. By the late 1840s, the X-braced “de Goñi” had become an unofficial Martin model, available in small and large size. By the 1870s, X-braced guitars produced by C. F. Martin & Co. and its competitors had become the paradigm of the American guitar. The arrival of steel strings in the 1920s created a whole new world of X-braced guitars, and X-braced steel-string guitars excelled in every size, from parlor to jumbo. Indeed, in all the important elements — tone, volume, balance, and responsiveness — X-bracing brings out the best in steel strings, and despite nearly a century of experimentation, no other style of top bracing has surpassed it. X-bracing works on steel-string guitars because it does several things extraordinarily well. X-bracing enables the top to handle the tension of steel strings without distorting, allowing the building of large guitars like Dreadnoughts and jumbos. X-bracing enables the top to vibrate efficiently, achieving full sound and impressive dynamic range. Last, but by no means least, X-bracing can be tailored to achieve desired tonal elements: by using wide or narrow braces, by leaving the braces unscalloped or scalloping them, and by shifting the location of the ”X” toward or away from the soundhole. It all began with the guitar C. F. Martin Sr. built for Madame de Goñi: the first truly American guitar. The Martin Size 1 de Goñi Authentic 1843 guitar is built entirely with hide glue and finished by hand with Martin’s recently rediscovered Vintage Gloss finish. Affixed to the interior is a facsimile of the original’s Martin & Schatz “Made for Madame De Gone” label. True to its Spanish heritage, the Size 1 de Goñi Authentic 1843 is delivered with a special set of Martin Magnifico ™ Premium hard tension gut and silk classical strings — developed exclusively with Aquila — that approximate those Madame de Goñi would have used on her guitar. The Size 1 de Goñi Authentic 1843 guitar is delivered in a specially crafted coffin-style case similar to those C. F. Martin & Co. supplied with its guitars in the 19th century. Authorized C. F. Martin dealers will begin taking orders for the Size 1 de Goñi Authentic 1843 guitar in January 2019. Left-handed instruments may be ordered at no extra charge.
8 | MARTIN HONORS THE FIRST AMERICAN GUITAR