A guitar student's dream comes true
A Lehighton teenager is embarking on his dream of a lifetime.
For his Dream Come True wish, Arthur Terembula, a senior at Lehighton Area High School, is designing his own custom C.F. Martin guitar.C.F Martin & Co. has been creating the finest instruments in the world for over 175 years.One of the world's leading acoustic instrument makers, Martin guitars are handmade by skilled craftsmen and women, who use a combination of new design and techniques along with those introduced by the company founder.Martin guitars and Martin strings are the instruments and strings of choice for musicians around the world, from the icons of rock, country, folk and bluegrass to those just beginning their careers.While touring the Martin facility, Terembula, 17, not only designed the guitar of his dreams, but he attained celebrity status while doing so. He was given a private tour of the factory by Scott Follweiler, marketing planner."We gave this young man the same treatment and attention to detail that we would give to any celebrity, such as Paul McCartney and other big names in the entertainer field if they were designing their own guitars," said Follweiler.Terembula was shown how a guitar is constructed, starting with samples of the types of exotic woods, custom bracing and the other applications which the company's master workers use to build their guitars.Through the tour, Terembula learned about the different types of woods as well as X bracing, bridges, the inlaying of pearl accents and how the neck is mated to the guitar.Follweiler assured him that every guitar receives "perfection grading" before leaving the factory."Over the years, we've embraced technology," said Follweiler, "but you still see plenty of people with aprons."As Terembula walked through the huge factory in Nazareth, he marveled at the number of guitars under construction. During its history, C.F. Martin guitar has constructed over 1.5 million instruments."That's what we do - lovingly," said Follweiler, as he concluded the tour.The tour helped Arthur envision his perfect guitar. Danny Brown, C.F. Martin's top custom shop sales administrator, devoted most of the afternoon to help Terembula with the design.Terembula is also a fine musician, writing and playing much of his own material. He takes guitar lessons and classical guitar and is a member of Neff's United Church of Christ Youth Group.His future dream is to someday be a musical therapist, quite a humanitarian goal for one so young."I spent some time talking to Woody Wolfe of Danville, who has devoted his life to singing inspiring songs to children with illnesses or disabilities," said Terembula. "That is what I hope to do someday."Terembula selected a custom edition 14-fret J-18 acoustic model crafted with premium tonewoods for his project. The back is made from solid mahogany and the top is made of Adirondack spruce, with Madagascar rosewood on the sides and back. It will be equipped with MSP7100 light gauge strings with ebony bridge pin and ebony end pin.The neck will be carved from genuine mahogany and will have a Madagascar rosewood headplate featuring an old style golden era headplate decal. His initials, "A.T.T." will be inlaid pearl, near the 11th, 12th and 13th fret. He also chose a black ebony fingerboard and black ebony bridge.The finish will be non-catalyzed satin with a maple stain with a satin sheen and vintage-inspired toner and is protected by a Cabernet custom case.Terembula was eligible for a dream from Dream Come True when he was diagnosed on April 28, 2010 with Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL), a rare aggressive T-cell lymphoma that strikes children more often than adults."He lost 30 pounds in three weeks," said his mother, Tammy Halore. "He began chemotherapy in May 2010 and his chemotherapy lasted for nine months."In December it will be one year that her son has been in remission.Brown said that Terembula's guitar will take approximately three to six months to construct.Terembula will be performing (although not with his new guitar) during the Dream Come True, Blue Ridge Chapter telethon, which will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20 at Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe. The telethon will be aired live on Blue Ridge Communications TV-13 and Service Electric, channel 19 in the Tamaqua area.The public is invited to attend the show at Penn's Peak. There is no admission fee.To learn more about Martin guitars and Martin strings, check out their site on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube, or