Wolfgang Niedecken Rockin’ Germany with his Signature Martin Guitars

By: Joerg Kliewe

Wolfgang Niedecken is recognized throughout Germany as one of the country’s best known rock stars. He fills arenas with a sea of fans that span across several generations.

He’s an artist who’s not only content with life, but one who remains, after several decades in the business, committed to his artistic interests that include painting, singing, songwriting and rock ‘n’ roll. As a member of the German rock group, BAP, and as a solo artist, Wolfgang has released nearly 20 albums, and nearly all have them have gone platinum – 15 million records and CDs were sold to date.

Germany honored and recognized Niedecken’s contributions and dedication to humanitarian causes by giving him the “Bundesverdienstkreuz” [Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany], Germany’s highest official medal for civilian courage and social dedication.

Wolfgang had already toured with a couple of Martin guitars when Martin’s German distributor, AMI, and he agreed on a collaboration to build his own Custom model Martin. Wolfgang decided on an HD-28V. The instrument became Wolfgang’s main guitar – on stage, in the studio and in his living room, where he is currently composing songs for his new album.

While Guitar International’s Joerg Kliewe was preparing Wolfgang’s office for a photoshoot he had been invited to attend, he got the chance to chat with Wolfgang about his Signature guitar and personal taste when it comes to choosing the right guitar for the job.

Wolfgang Niedecken Photo Credit: Joerg Kliewe

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Joerg Kliewe: I overheard you strumming the riff to Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot.” Are you a fan of Patti’s music?

Wolfgang Niedecken: I’d just met her recently during the presentation of her new book in Cologne [Just Kids]. She seemed to be super relaxed. This woman doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody anymore – absolutely relaxed, full of sovereignty – wonderful!

Joerg: Reportedly you have been among the first artists outside the US who had received a Martin Signature guitar. Would you like to share how you got together with Martin?

Wolfgang: As far as I know, the guy who taught everybody guitar was the first to get a Signature Martin in Germany, Peter Bursch. I’ve known Peter for about 100 years now. [Laughs] We wrote the first BAP songbook in collaboration with Peter. Great guy.

I still remember getting my first Martin guitar. I guess I would’ve never had been bold enough to buy myself a Martin. As you know, I’m not the main guitarist in the band and in my understanding Martins were exceptionally noble instruments.

But, at one point I told my wife that I’d played a Martin at Frankfurt Musikmesse and how excellent sounding that guitar was. Somehow she must’ve remembered that conversation because she began to plan a very cool surprise for me down the road.

I hadn’t been aware what she was planning, but sure enough for my next birthday there was a Martin standing by the breakfast table [An HD-28].

Joerg: Must have been great to open that box and see the HD-28.

Wolfgang: Come on, of course it was awesome and of course everything is better when you play on a great sounding guitar. You start playing more and your playing simply improves because you’re spending more time on the instrument.

You start developing new ideas and finally you wouldn’t wanna play anything else but this guitar anymore! That was the story of how I got my first Martin. But because I was going to play it live too, I needed one with a pickup built in. So I needed two different guitars for both situations.

Wolfgang Niedecken Signature Martin Label

Joerg: Did you get another one for your next birthday?

Wolfgang: No, no, no, I had to wait ‘til my next wedding anniversary. [Laughs]

Joerg: Same model?

Wolfgang: An even better model, a Martin HD-45. And when my wife entered the rehearsal studio with it I couldn’t believe it. All I could think of was what our guitarist might think of me. Probably something like “Uh, now the old bum must have gone completely nuts.” What the heck – I’m not stingy and would let anybody in the room play the guitar who had wanted to… [Big grin on Wolfgang’s face]

Joerg: Cool, but how did you get from those first two guitars to your Signature model?

Wolfgang: Right. The relationship to my Martins was developing over time, especially as far as playing goes. I simply played better because I was playing a lot more. However I wasn’t too ambitious about it, as far as approaching the company was concerned.

After a while though, Martin’s German distributor approached me with the idea to have at least a single signature guitar being made for me. My first response was “Are you serious?” And they were.

Then I started thinking about what a guitar like that should look and sound like. It had to be one for the road in the first place, and of course it had to sounding great in acoustically. I also asked for a high quality transducer, which would fit durably while delivering excellent sound – without the risk of cracking up after three shows.

I must admit that I felt very spoilt by the Takamine I’d been using for over 20 years, a workhorse that had never let me down. And as a special visual treat I had asked them to inlay the graphics from my recent album cover at the time SONX. A cross, heart and anchor, standing for faith, love and hope. Oh, and of course it had to have a shaded top!

To be honest, to me it had always felt odd performing in a rock band with a ”blonde“ guitar, which in my opinion always has that vibe of sitting around a campfire to it. And since all of this felt like Christmas already, I’d also inquired for that shaded top.

My understanding was that Martin hadn’t applied that to an HD-28 yet and they refused to do it because of their heritage. Anyway, they finally wiped that away and did the Sunburst finish for me.

Joerg: Still, this doesn’t sound like asking for too much.

Wolfgang: Everything I could think of had been included to this concept. I just didn’t want to appear over demanding and I wanted the guitar to appear as humble as possible – but yet ready for the road, with a shaded top and the requested headstock inlays. Martin did that for me and I think the outcome is an exceptionally beautiful Martin guitar.

Joerg: How many did the company end up making?

Wolfgang: Martin made 10 of these and as far as I know, and the model is sold out by now.

Joerg: What would be your personal conclusion of the collaboration?

Wolfgang: [Laughs] Man, of course I’m over happy to have that guitar. I still consider it a big honor having received the privilege of a Signature guitar. I play the instrument during all my shows with the band.

As you may have already guessed, I had to have a second one like it. That guitar isn’t a signature model but yet it’s an HD-28 that has the shaded top. I guess at the time when I ordered it, “Sunburst” had at least been an option to order.

Anyway, finally I had two again, which I play permanently with the band, and are well kept in their cases. It was however an exception that I had the guitar handy today as my guitar tech had just set it up and delivered it to my home, otherwise it would be in storage with the band stuff.

Joerg: But I can tell that it’s been put through the ringer.

Wolfgang: A guitar that stays unplayed is a no-no in my eyes. Sure enough, I wouldn’t smash it around either. As a kid I hated it to watch The Who smash their instruments – I never got that.

Us kids were standing in front of the music stores pressing our noses against the window just to get a glimpse once of a Rickenbacker guitar, a Premier drum kit or a Marshall cabinet, but The Who kept smashing their gear to pieces instead – how frustrating!

On the other hand, what’s the deal about a guitar that you’re not supposed to touch? And the artificially aged and reliced stuff is strange too – I really don’t get the idea behind it.

I once had the privilege to actually play Rory Gallagher’s guitar, that completely worn down Strat. That thing aged by itself gracefully and with dignity – like the way it should be. But damaging an instrument on purpose? You just don’t do that! Anyway, eternity is a pretty long time span. I think you just should just allow a guitar to take its time to break in right. Like I do with my Signature Martin.

Joerg: Thanks for the refreshing conversation. How about taking some pictures now?

Wolfgang: Alright!

Author’s Note: Wolfgang has two Martins with natural tops: an HD-28 and an HD-45, both have Martin Thinline Gold+Plus Natural transducer systems, installed by Wolfgang’s guitar tech Dirk Rothhardt. Wolfgang’s Signature model is an HD-28V