C. F. Martin 0-16NY Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1973), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 314782, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original molded blue plastic hard shell case.
This 0-sized 12-fret Martin is an early (if unheralded) example of a "vintage" re-issue; one of the first in the company's history. Beginning in the late 1950s there was a groundswell of interest in the "old" 1920s-style Martin guitars with 12-fret neck joints and wider fingerboards. At the time these were considered more "authentic" folk instruments than the newer 14-fret styles built since the 1930s. Joan Baez in particular was very influential in this regard; her use of an already-vintage 12-fret 0-45 became an icon of the era and many players wanted a similar sized instrument.
The 0-16NY was offered beginning in 1961, designed as an affordable guitar for folk-style playing with either steel or nylon strings; to this end, they were built much lighter than the "modern" steel string Martins of the time. The satin (non-gloss) finish and trimmings are very plain but the guitar is built with Style 18 materials: a spruce top, mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Only 151 of these were shipped in 1973, the model's lowest total to date but at least the design proved to have "legs" well beyond the folk boom of the early '60s.
Although not advertised as such essentially this is a re-issue of a late 1920s 0-18, with a wide 12-fret neck, slot head, small bridge, no pickguard, and only side dot position markers. Although cataloged as suitable for nylon strings or steel when new, these guitars have full traditional Martin X-bracing and handle light steel strings perfectly well. Suitable for many styles beyond traditional folk, this is a very nice, quite useful if somewhat under the radar Martin model still.
Overall length is 38 1/4 in. (97.2 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 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
Overall this is a nice original example, showing some general wear but no major repair or abuse. The original finish shows play wear over much of the guitar with dings, dents, scrapes and pick wear into the wood mostly on the lower soundhole rim. There is a spot of minor disturbance behind the bridge where a something like a sticker or some letters may have been removed. The heaviest wear is to the back/side edge of the body which has a decent amount of loss and rub wear into the wood along the edge extending out from under the endpin. There are a couple of deeper dings to the back of the body but the back of the neck is comparatively quite clean.
There is one short grain crack to the back off the rear edge, other than that the guitar is crack free. The neck may have been reset, it is hard to say for sure but if so it was a neat job. The original rosewood bridge was lowered just slightly at some point, and looks to have been reglued. The original frets show light wear as does the fingerboard but playability is excellent. Even in the 1970s these "NY" models were built lighter than the "modern" Martins; This is a fine playing, sweet sounding guitar with more power than one might expect from a 1973 model; a relative bargain in a 50+ year old small-body Martin. Excellent Condition.
