C. F. Martin 0-17 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935)
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C. F. Martin 0-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 59469, natural mahogany finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a truly superb-sounding prewar Martin 0-17, showing some scars from nearly 90 years of use but still an extremely fine player with an amazingly robust tone for a small mahogany guitar. This 0-17 was built in mid-1935, when the 14-fret version of the model was still a relatively new design. While the humbly unadorned 0-17 stood near the bottom of the Martin guitar line, it is still built of high-grade materials to the company's lofty standards. The guitar is austere in appearance, with no binding anywhere and only a small sound hole ring, tortoise celluloid pickguard and Martin headstock logo as trim. The body and neck are mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard and bridge. The thin mahogany top is delicately scallop braced with a small maple bridge plate.
An impressive total of 954 of these little mahogany wonders were made this year, when the Depression was still very much in evidence and inexpensive instruments were of the utmost importance. This model listed for $30.00 in 1933-4 and at the worst of the depression did a lot to keep C.F. Martin & Co. in business. Although priced for amateur players the 0-17 was always a fully professional-sounding guitar, and this one sporting an old headstock repair remains a wonderful player and among the last relative bargains to be had in a scallop-braced 1930s Martin flat-top.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 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 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
The Martin has been played and had a fair amount of work done over the years but is well preserved where it counts. The original finish shows general wear overall, The top has an fairly large older indented scrape mark just below the bridge, which had been previously polished out and touched up. The body has nicks and dings overall with some deeper scratches to the back; still the top has somehow avoided the typical pickwear many older flat tops exhibit.
There are a number of well-done repairs. The headstock has an old tight crack running diagonally inward along the high E string, that has been neatly glued shut and shows no sign of growth. The headstock was not split through, and it looks like the finish was not added to when the repair was done. The only cracks on the body are a couple of tiny grain splits located on the treble side upper bout which have been sealed with light touch up.
The neck has been cleanly reset, and the fingerboard has been refretted with appropriate wire. The original bridge has been reglued and just slightly lowered, with what looks like a more recent saddle. The original Grover tuners with brown plastic buttons are still intact, one button shows a minor repair. Internally, all of the original braces and bridgeplate are still intact, with two of the top back braces recently glued down on the treble side. This is a truly fantastic sounding guitar, with a huge sound for a small all-mahogany instrument. It resides in a modern HSC. Very Good + Condition.
This is a truly superb-sounding prewar Martin 0-17, showing some scars from nearly 90 years of use but still an extremely fine player with an amazingly robust tone for a small mahogany guitar. This 0-17 was built in mid-1935, when the 14-fret version of the model was still a relatively new design. While the humbly unadorned 0-17 stood near the bottom of the Martin guitar line, it is still built of high-grade materials to the company's lofty standards. The guitar is austere in appearance, with no binding anywhere and only a small sound hole ring, tortoise celluloid pickguard and Martin headstock logo as trim. The body and neck are mahogany with a rosewood fingerboard and bridge. The thin mahogany top is delicately scallop braced with a small maple bridge plate.
An impressive total of 954 of these little mahogany wonders were made this year, when the Depression was still very much in evidence and inexpensive instruments were of the utmost importance. This model listed for $30.00 in 1933-4 and at the worst of the depression did a lot to keep C.F. Martin & Co. in business. Although priced for amateur players the 0-17 was always a fully professional-sounding guitar, and this one sporting an old headstock repair remains a wonderful player and among the last relative bargains to be had in a scallop-braced 1930s Martin flat-top.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 13 5/8 in. (34.6 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 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
The Martin has been played and had a fair amount of work done over the years but is well preserved where it counts. The original finish shows general wear overall, The top has an fairly large older indented scrape mark just below the bridge, which had been previously polished out and touched up. The body has nicks and dings overall with some deeper scratches to the back; still the top has somehow avoided the typical pickwear many older flat tops exhibit.
There are a number of well-done repairs. The headstock has an old tight crack running diagonally inward along the high E string, that has been neatly glued shut and shows no sign of growth. The headstock was not split through, and it looks like the finish was not added to when the repair was done. The only cracks on the body are a couple of tiny grain splits located on the treble side upper bout which have been sealed with light touch up.
The neck has been cleanly reset, and the fingerboard has been refretted with appropriate wire. The original bridge has been reglued and just slightly lowered, with what looks like a more recent saddle. The original Grover tuners with brown plastic buttons are still intact, one button shows a minor repair. Internally, all of the original braces and bridgeplate are still intact, with two of the top back braces recently glued down on the treble side. This is a truly fantastic sounding guitar, with a huge sound for a small all-mahogany instrument. It resides in a modern HSC. Very Good + Condition.