References
What my customers say about my work as a luthier:
January 2016: “Musik Meyer in Marburg recommended Martin Meckbach as I needed my two Takamine Guitars (EN10 1987 & EN20 1991) back in good professional state for my final return to the folk scene.
He´s just started up his own business in Berlin and what a brilliant recommendation it was, too!
Martin refretted the EN10 perfectly, readjusted the neck and installed the CTP-3 Cooltube preamp (replacing the original pickup controls which included cutting a larger hole in the body) as well as fitting Takamine´s TriAx magnetic pick up in the sound hole – the guitar now plays beautifully, sounds just as good acoustically and the possibilities with the preamp and pick up are fantastic. Martin also readjusted the neck of my EN20 which was virtually unplayable after 15 years of neglect, installing the Cooltube and the TriAx as well – refretting wasn´t necessary. I use this guitar only in DADGAD tuning and it´s a dream come true. The action on both guitars is now excellent and makes playing, using a capo and tuning a great deal easier.
I took two other instruments with me to Berlin in January for repair, as I had a hunch Martin Meckbach knew what he was doing. The first was a 6-string semi- electric Dulcimer built for me by Anton Heist in the very early 80s modelled on the John Pearse Apallachian Dulcimer – Martin fixed all the buzzing strings and replaced the bridge to my complete satisfaction. The second was a 10-string Cittern (also built by Anton Heist to my specifications in 1989) where Martin readjusted the neck so that it really plays better than it ever did before. He even discovered it had a pickup in it under the bridge which I´d forgotten about. It sounds absolutely brilliant now, especially through the Marshall AS50D Acoustic Guitar/Instrument Amplifier he recommended and sold me – what a Godsend! I can now use the Dulcimer and the Cittern at gigs which I hadn´t planned on doing before.
Martin´s advice, abilities, workmanship and knowledge are worth their weight in gold, if you ever need anything done to your guitars or any kind of stringed instrument – acoustic or electric. His prices are very reasonable and the service is excellent, including his new employee, Nick, from France. He works carefully, remarkably quickly and efficiently. Try him – you´ll see what I mean. He also has a very fine selection of guitars and more in the shop.”
Tony Ireland (born 1953 in Scotland) – former professional folk musician from 1974- 2001 in the British, German & European folk scene playing Scottish, Irish & Contemporary folk music – now returning to give it a final bash before it´s too late!
“The high-end Larrivée acoustic guitar of my collection was up for a refretting job. The main challenge was that the guitar’s neck didn’t contain a trussrod. Also, the old frets were beautifully sculpted at either end, and I wanted the new frets to sport that same gorgeous look.
Luthier Martin Meckbach proved the right man for the job: the result is perfect, and the guitar’s playability is simply amazing. Well done!”
Jürgen Kumlehn, professional guitarist from Stade (Germany) about his 1982 Larrivée L-28
“I have known Martin Meckbach for many years. He proved his mettle as an exceptional craftsman during the difficult and time-consuming restoration of one of my Weißgerber guitars. This collector’s item—a small Spanish model—from 1922 means the world to me, because it was one of the first of my collection and also because I purchased it from the songwriter Gerhard Schöne. Later, I learned that the Berlin-based international star guitarist Nora Buschmann had learned to play the guitar on this instrument.
When I got the guitar in 2001, it was in a rather sorry state: both the spruce top and the rounded back made of Brazilian rosewood exhibited several long and rather wide cracks. When I got the guitar back after several months of concentrated and highly competent repair works, I immediately noticed the respect Martin had for the wood and the instrument as a whole. He also told me that he had to develop special technological solutions to restore the guitar. The fact that all chips are still firmly in place and that no crack has burst again is testimony to the exceptional quality of this restoration job. Thanks to Martin Meckbach, this little gem is once again the optical and sonic beauty it must have been in its original state.”
Christof Hanusch from Berlin, guitarist, expert for historic guitars, author of the book “WEISSGERBER – Gitarren von/Guitars by Richard Jacob”.
“The various interventions can be summarized as follows:
G&L ASAT Special: Adjustment of the neck relief and the bridge, adjustment of the saddle and solving the problem of a snarling noise caused by one of the string saddles.
Gibson Les Paul Standard: Adjustment of the frets and the saddle, adjustment of the neck relief and bridge.
It is with great pleasure that I can confirm that the aforesaid adjustments have been performed with indisputable competence and care, and that I am absolutely delighted with the result. Up to this day, I have enjoyed playing this instrument, which is now free of any technical flaws.”
Felix Knappertsbusch, Marburg (Germany), about his G&L and Gibson Les Paul