Exploring Central Pennsylvania on a Woodworkers Pilgrimage

A childhood trip to the Smithsonian Institute Hall of American Artists introduced me to wood worker, George Nakashima. I was awed by the simplicity of his tables, with their union of form, function and reverence to the former tree. Later studying Plato with his references to pure forms; George Nakashima's tables seemed to me to embody purity of form, the eidos of table. [That was not what Plato had in mind, I know.]

Decades later I met Francis, a woodworker of some craft himself. My response to every “what do you want?” holiday gift inquiry, would be “a Nakashima table”. Reading “The Soul of a Tree”, Nakashima's artistic bio, we discovered that his workshop and studio were nearby in New Hope, Pennsylvania and open to the public on a limited basis.

Bucks County is a refined relic of the colonial era, and New Hope a preserved and very upscale little town. Nearby Allentown and Bethlehem are grittier places, ruins of the industrial era. Never the less, both have interesting and unexpected attractions. Allentown houses a Museum of Indian Culture, site of an annual harvest festival. The Roasting Ears of Corn Festival is inter-tribal, bringing people from not only North America but from Caribbean, Central and South American tribes. The 2017 solar eclipse was going to occur concurrent with the annual festival and the Allentown Da Vinci Science Museum was conducting a program to observe and learn about the eclipse.

In addition, there are other destinations in Central PA worthy of investigation. Francis had worked on the communication system at the Steelstacks complex in Bethlehem. The massive site of the former iron refinery had been turned into a performing arts center. We planned at some point to hear a concert there and check out the dramatically rusted ruins. 

Nazereth, Pennsylvania, was home to the Martin Guitar factory. The Martin family had been making quality instruments in Nazereth since the 1830s. Now under the guidance of Chris Martin the 4^th, their quality and reputation was never higher. One could register for a comprehensive tour of the factory and visit to the family museum. Since Francis revered his Martin Guitar as much he admired George Nakashima, a factory tour was in order.

The Nakashima Workshop was open only on one Saturday a month. On the following September Sunday, there was going to be an outsider arts festival in Allentown. It was to be held in at Cedar Beach Park alongside a creek nearby Da Vinci Science and across from the University. One weekend at Bethlehem and Nazereth, another in Allentown then onto New Hope and Allentown. With our new RV, a few short trips to central PA would be good break-in tests. Finding a centrally located Campground in bucolic Bucks County made it a perfect arrangement. Driving around Bucks County near the Campground was scenic enough but also we came across something completely unexpected.

Our first sojourn was to Steelstacks to hear Robert Cray. We walked along the Hoover Mason Trestle to the performance venue, taking the self guided tour. The raised walkway alongside the huge rusted equipment permits a good look into the actual works and signage explains how the various smelters and mills once functioned. Three comprehensive guided tours are regularly provided: The Rise and Fall of Bethlehem Steel; A Steelworker's Archives and The Hoover Mason Trestle.

Across from the Trestle is the new performing arts center. The concert was in the second floor restaurant with a wall of windows facing towards the Trestle. We were seated about three small tables from the performers, who were on a small stage in front of the window wall. Our intimate setting permitted us to see every interaction and nuance between the players. Whomever had designed the space knew their acoustics, the sound was amazing. The combination of the ceiling, broad expanse and window wall reflected all the tones towards the audience without any distortion. The music was fantastic, the band was hot and the backdrop of the graphically illuminated ruins in the background only enhanced the mood.

The day after the concert, we drove to Nazereth, PA to the Martin Guitar Factory. Francis is passionate about guitar music in general and had become even more so about the Martin dreadnought, in particular. The distinctive sound of a Martin is apparent even to my tin ear. When we were in Hawaii, the Martin Dreadnought was the instrument of choice for the traditional slack-key players. Their performances were lyrical with a unique tone; we were inspired to learn more about the instrument. At the Martin factory, they have a short general tour, a longer in-depth tour, a small family history museum, a “try it on” guitar room and the predictable gift shop. We had reservations for the in-depth factory tour. While we waited for the tour to begin, we became more familiar with the four-generation Martin musical history. The family history and factory tour were fascinating even for a non-player, like myself.

In 1830, the first Chris Martin had emigrated to New York City becoming an apprentice in an instrument factory. Within a decade he had relocated his family to Nazereth, PA opening his own workshop. Each generation of Martins had improved and enhanced the product and the production until Chris #3 rather overextended the product line. Chris #4, stepped in. He dropped all the ancillary instruments, opting to concentrate on the one item for which Martin was renowned, the acoustic guitar. To this end he had a new state of the art factory built a few blocks away from the site of the original one-room Martin workshop. The skilled artisans and technicians who made the guitars helped to design the new factory facility. This was the factory which we would observe.

After the obligatory warning not to touch any of the machinery, we proceeded into the factory. Passing a giant display showed the interior and exterior parts of a guitar, we were first introduced to the amazing computerized robotics used to for the bulk shaping of the guitar necks and the outline cutting of the body parts. Technicians programmed the cutting heads and routers, watching the process from safety behind glass enclosures. The hazardous processes rough material removal, done by machine. The contour shaping and delicate assemble of the parts completed by hand. Similarly the volatile varnish coats were completed in an enclosed hands-off spray room while the detailed inlay and final polishing was all done by skilled hands. The Martin Guitar's repute has never been higher. While some Martin guitars are now assembled in a plant in Mexico, the materials and final product all began and ended for quality control in the Nazereth plant.

While the tour guide was explicit that we were not to touch anything, we were welcome to chat with the staff. The staff were anxious to chat with us! Everyone from the fellow running the computerized cutters to the man and woman carefully hand crafting mother of pearl inlays were apparently delighted to explain their particular contribution to the process.

In particular, the fellow who ran the custom shop wanted us to know everything about making these fine instruments and the special woods he had in stock. He was a man in love with lumber. His desk was at the end of a 16 or 20 foot long storage corridor. Locked wire mesh cages lined the passageway. On one side were closed guitar cases, some of which were clearly not Martin guitars, on the other side was stacks of wood. Stacks and stacks of matching flitches. The area was redolent with the smell of aged wood. These were the Martin family collection, both instruments and lumber. Not only were there historic Martin Family heirlooms in the stacks but newer instruments from their competitors. Whenever a another guitar maker came out with a new model, a sample would be purchased for review. There were hundreds of guitars; what we all would not have given for a peak inside those cases with a docent to explain the differences! The matching stacks of hard wood were also accumulated over decades. Rare hard woods purchased by generations of Martins, most of which can no longer be imported into the US. The custom maker explained that just the Rosewood alone was now worth millions.

We discovered an interesting synchronicity in the custom shop: just as Martin had built their own sawmill to custom cut exotic hardwoods, a ban on the importation of Rosewood and endangered rare species went into effect. They had a unique custom sawmill and no wood to mill. Their woodworker neighbor, George Nakashima, heard about the unused equipment. It would be perfect for his custom milling of live edge slabs from his specially selected trees. The two families of woodcrafters began a unique cooperative partnership. I George Nakashima's signature Conoid benches provide respite for visitors to the Martin Family museum. Martin designed and produced a custom shop Nakashima guitar. Nakashima guitar #1 was given to Mira Nakashima, George's Daughter. Mira now carries on her Father's furniture making traditions in New Hope just as Chris Martin 4 carries on his families luthier traditions in Nazereth. And, as we would find out when we went to New Hope, Mira still plays her Martin guitar.