2006 Simon Marty SP/CO (ex Scott Tennant)

This 2006 Simon Marty is a spruce and cocobolo classical guitar built for Scott Tennant, who played it with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet for many years.

Ex Scott Tennant

The original owner of this guitar was Scott Tennant, who concertized on it with the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet for many years. Scott talks about it in the interview above, and Brady Davis plays Vachez’s “Valsez sur moi” on it.

Details and Condition

Fitted with Gilbert tuners and an adjustable truss rod, and French polished on the soundboard only (the back and sides are lacquered), it is a solid workhorse of a concert guitar. The instrument is in excellent condition with barely any signs of playing wear and no damage or repairs.

Simon Marty: Science and Sound

Simon Marty is one of the most sought-after guitar makers to have emerged from the Australian school over the past several decades. Unlike many of the other makers from down under, Marty brings a strong scientific background (he has a doctorate in electrical engineering and science majors in physics and mathematics) to the fore when approaching the art of guitar construction and the production of tone. He has been building since 1982 and works in Sydney.

The Marty Sound

After years of research, some of it paid for by grants from the Australian government, Marty has honed his design so that his instruments produce enormous volume, with solid trebles, huge basses and an otherwise thick, dense sound. Rather than a lattice, his tops are braced radially, fanning out from the bridge. The short list of concert players who play Marty guitars includes Alieksey Vianna, Marco Tamayo, Anabel Montesinos, Karin Schaupp, Irina Kulikova, Jérémy Jouve and Slava Grigoryan.