Since long before music was recorded or amplified in any way, the guitar has enjoyed top ranking as the ideal instrument to accompany the human voice. No matter if it's the soulful style of Neil Young or the contemporary likes of Avril Lavigne, the sight of a singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar is an image that is forever burned into our guitar-playing culture.

And, by golly, we're proud of 'em! If you come into Gryphon regularly you have no doubt noticed that tall, dark-haired, handsome feller up by the front counter. That's Derek, The guy who went to Taylor guitars in the article a scroll down from here.

Richard went back to Nazareth for Martin Guitar's 175th birthday party and it wasn't just for the cake. Part of the festivities for Martin dealers was a more in-depth tour than what you would normally get when visiting the factory. So Richard joined about a dozen others for a tour led by our long-time pal Mike Dickinson. RJ tried to take photos when possible but, of course, was not allowed to use the flash on his digital camera and sometimes the tour was moving too quickly to get photos of every stage of construction. There are gaps, but here are a selection of the photos that turned out to be viewable.