Podcast 437: Thomas Ripsam, CEO and President of Martin Guitars

This week, we celebrate Martin Guitars' 190th anniversary by
talking to Thomas Ripsam, the famed company's CEO and President.


We talk about how Thomas - an outsider to the MI industry but a
passionate musician and skilled business leader - landed the job
at Martin a few years ago. We discuss some of the many challenges
that Martin faces as it looks to grow its audience, plus topics
like sustainability, tonewoods, TikTok, and so much more. 


As you'll hear, Thomas is a music fanatic. Before working at
Martin, he took a guitarbuilding class from Dennis
MacPherson and he's released a couple of albums under the
moniker, Seeds of Imagination (Spotify link).

To commemorate their 190th anniversary, Martin just re-launched
their D-19 series. (This was announced just after our
conversation so it didn't come up.)




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Our podcast is sponsored by Mike & Mike's Guitar
Bar, Peghead Nation (use the promo code FRETBOARD and
get your first month free or $20 off any annual
subscription); and Stringjoy Strings (get 10% off your
order with the FRETBOARD discount code). This episode is also
sponsored by iZotope. Use the discount code FRET10 to save
10% off off your Izotope order. You can also get 10% off your
Native Instruments software at Native-Instruments.com
with code RUIN10. Some restrictions apply.