here's a nice read
John Mayer took a very hands-on approach to the development of his Martin signature model, a modified OM-28 with a low-profile neck with a nut width of 1 11/16 inches and 2 1/8-inch spacing between the first and sixth strings at the saddle that feels comfortable to a player raised on electrics, and a Martin Gold+ Natural I undersaddle pickup. In addition to long phone conversations with Martin Guitars' [sausage] Boak, Mayer mocked up the look he wanted (including Macintosh Titanium—inspired aluminum inlay on the bridge and peghead) by editing a photo of an OM-28 he downloaded from the Martin website, and then he headed to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, to see it all come together at the factory. "Isn't it a boyhood dream to have a guitar named after you?" Mayer says. "You'd better be there to watch it happen. The worst thing in the world would be for somebody to hand you a guitar that's got your name on it and it's not the one you want to play or look at."
Mayer begs to differ with those who say all that matters about a guitar is how it sounds. "I believe that guitar players and creators, we're all too scared of sounding superficial, but the bottom line is that when something looks good, it brings things out of you. And so I'd say half of the guitar's qualities are sonic or physical and the other half are cosmetic. All those things factor into the level of inspiration when you pick something up."
Onstage, Mayer runs his Martin through a tuner and an Avalon U5 DI/preamp (
www.avalondesign.com) and then straight to the PA with no effects. Mayer raves about the sound of the U5, which he calls a huge improvement over basic direct boxes and well worth the investment.
On the electric side, Mayer pays homage to his original guitar hero and cranks up a Stevie Ray Vaughan model Fender Stratocaster. He's been obsessing over amps lately, playing through hard-to-find Dumbles as well as Victoria's replicas of old Fender tweed amps (
www.victoriaamp.com). In concert a MIDI-based Bradshaw switching system controls his delay, distortion, and tremolo pedals, keeping them out of line until they are actually switched on.
"This year has been all about learning the subtle sonics of things—the way that a top wood can change a guitar, the way a three-piece back will change a guitar," Mayer says. "I even learned how you can get a different sound out of an electric guitar by switching the direction of the cable, which I would never have bought into. Jack Joseph Puig takes me out into the control room and says, ‘Listen to this: play, unplug, switch this . . .' And they are totally different! So I've become a bit more of an audiophile."
—Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
