C. F. Martin 0-18 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1952)
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Item # 10462
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C. F. Martin 0-18 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1952), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 128309, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, molded plastic hard shell case.
This is a lovely and generally nicely preserved little Martin 0-18 from right around the end of 1952, showing some wear but nothing to harsh its mojo! The mahogany body carries the typical period features including tortoise celluloid binding on the edges, tortoise celluloid pickguard and long-saddle Brazilian rosewood bridge. The spruce top shows a nicely ambered thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The headstock corners are the somewhat rounded style typical of the period, with the peghead face adorned with the "CF Martin" gold decal on the face and individual openback Kluson tuners with large baseplates.
This guitar, like all made prior to 1964, is the product of the "old" red brick Martin factory, before the move to the modern facility down the road that year resulted in many changes in the way the guitars were made. These early 1950s 0-18s are lovely-sounding instruments, fairly lightly built compared to examples from a decade or so later. Exactly 625 of these small mahogany-and-spruce marvels were shipped from Nazareth in 1952, priced at $80 (Plus case). This one has plenty of volume (more than many expect in a smaller body guitar) and a nice dryly even ringing tone. This is a superb-playing and sounding small-body Martin, showing some minor wear but really relatively few signs of the passage of seven decades since it first left Nazareth PA.
Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm.), 13 9/16 in. (34.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
For just over 70 years old, this Martin has survived very nicely, looking but never abused. The original lacquer finish has not been altered, and shows only some honest wear over the neck and body. Overall there are scratches, nicks, and dings distributed rather randomly. The top has the most visible and predictable wear with typical strumming marks around the soundhole and pickguard, as well as along the upper bout on the treble side. The back and sides have some fairly random deeper dings but no areas of heavy wear.
the guitar, surprisingly, shows no sign of any crack repairs not even the typical split off the top edge of the pickguard. The neck has been carefully reset and the original bridge has had a new bone saddle installed. The fingerboard has been planed and refretted, with a few shallow divots in the rosewood still visible on the first two frets. Internally, the original braces and small maple bridgeplate have remained virtually untouched, except for a previous owner writing "KAY" on a back center seam brace, now rather faded. The original open-back Klusons are still fully functional. This great playing and sounding Martin is housed in a later style molded plastic hardshell Martin case, something we rarely see in the smaller sizes. Excellent - Condition.
This is a lovely and generally nicely preserved little Martin 0-18 from right around the end of 1952, showing some wear but nothing to harsh its mojo! The mahogany body carries the typical period features including tortoise celluloid binding on the edges, tortoise celluloid pickguard and long-saddle Brazilian rosewood bridge. The spruce top shows a nicely ambered thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The headstock corners are the somewhat rounded style typical of the period, with the peghead face adorned with the "CF Martin" gold decal on the face and individual openback Kluson tuners with large baseplates.
This guitar, like all made prior to 1964, is the product of the "old" red brick Martin factory, before the move to the modern facility down the road that year resulted in many changes in the way the guitars were made. These early 1950s 0-18s are lovely-sounding instruments, fairly lightly built compared to examples from a decade or so later. Exactly 625 of these small mahogany-and-spruce marvels were shipped from Nazareth in 1952, priced at $80 (Plus case). This one has plenty of volume (more than many expect in a smaller body guitar) and a nice dryly even ringing tone. This is a superb-playing and sounding small-body Martin, showing some minor wear but really relatively few signs of the passage of seven decades since it first left Nazareth PA.
Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm.), 13 9/16 in. (34.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
For just over 70 years old, this Martin has survived very nicely, looking but never abused. The original lacquer finish has not been altered, and shows only some honest wear over the neck and body. Overall there are scratches, nicks, and dings distributed rather randomly. The top has the most visible and predictable wear with typical strumming marks around the soundhole and pickguard, as well as along the upper bout on the treble side. The back and sides have some fairly random deeper dings but no areas of heavy wear.
the guitar, surprisingly, shows no sign of any crack repairs not even the typical split off the top edge of the pickguard. The neck has been carefully reset and the original bridge has had a new bone saddle installed. The fingerboard has been planed and refretted, with a few shallow divots in the rosewood still visible on the first two frets. Internally, the original braces and small maple bridgeplate have remained virtually untouched, except for a previous owner writing "KAY" on a back center seam brace, now rather faded. The original open-back Klusons are still fully functional. This great playing and sounding Martin is housed in a later style molded plastic hardshell Martin case, something we rarely see in the smaller sizes. Excellent - Condition.