Meet Martin Tauber

We recently connected with Martin Tauber and have shared our conversation below.

Martin , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I was building and selling Cigar Box Guitars for several years and was starting to make traditional pickups for my creations. While traveling for work I was fortunate enough to meet Dan Sleep in St Louis at a CBG festival. He was the sole producer of flat humbucker pickups in the US. We became friends and stayed in touch I admired his flat pickup. Soon after that I learned he had stage 4 cancer, I called him several times a week and he would tell me about making his style of pickup. I was able to make one for one of my guitars. I felt that he was passing the torch to the method of making that style of pickup. It was a sad day when I learned of his passing. I started making a few flat pickups for myself and soon other builders noticed I had them and was making them also. It was noticed by Ben “Gitty” Baker at CBGITTY and I was asked if I would be open to winding and producing the flat humbucker for them, I felt honored as I saw it as carrying on the work and memory of Dan Sleep.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am retired for a few years now, but I was a maintenance technician for over 40 years and enjoyed working with my hands. As I got older I progressed into the side of maintenance that focused on making maintenance methods more streamline and easier to perform. I spoke at several international maintenance conferences on this subject and was written up in two maintenance magazines.I did play a six and twelve string guitar when I was younger but the maintenance field is rough on the hands, as I got older I found it harder to play and eventually stopped. I saw a three string CBG and thought it might be easier to play with my aging fingers. It was so I started building them for myself and to sell at festivals. When I started to produce my flat humbucker pickup that was inspired and passed to me from Dan Sleep I couldn’t keep up with demand, relying on my training from TPM (a maintenance system of making it simpler and easier) I designed tensioners and winders for my winding from what I had. I still use it today.
Today I enjoy hunting, fishing, gardening and winding pickups for artists all over the world to enjoy

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

My background in TPM and maintenance was instrumental in helping me to design and build equipment to make winding pickups easier without having to purchase expensive equipment. My advice to younger builders is don’t ever think that you cannot do it. It may not be perfect with your first attempt but research, learn and apply what you learned to your endeavors and you will achieve wha you thought you could never do. Nothing is unachievable if you really want to do it. The only thing holding you back is you saying “I can never do that”.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

Being in a “blue collar” job taught me that I can work with and produce with my hands. Life experience helped me , today a trade school, which I wish I went to back then, it would be an immense help for anyone who is wanting to create, repair, and maintain and looks at “white collar” jobs as boring and stressful. My father worked with his hands and repaired everything, it rubbed off on me. And to this day I thank him for influencing me to be self reliant and having a CAN DO mentality. This mentally lead me to the maintenance field and eventually how to make it easier for the mechanics

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Tytram 53 & Tytram 69
• Facebook: Maine made CBGs
• Other: [email protected]