C. F. Martin 0-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1943), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 83568, natural lacquer finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
This is a lightly worn-in but wonderful sounding Martin 0-17 from very early 1943, one of the first few hundred guitars made in Nazareth that epochal WWII year. The all-mahogany Martins of the 1940s were the company's budget guitar offerings of the period, the most affordable guitar they could make. Despite wartime austerity, Martins of this period were still built to the same quality standards the company always maintained.
The 0-17 has a lightly scallop-braced all-mahogany body with only minimal decoration: no binding anywhere, a 5-ply sound hole ring, and small dot fingerboard inlay. This guitar has individual wartime Kluson tuners with no grommets, evidence of wartime production changes when it was built. Other typical features include a small straight rosewood bridge and tortoise celluloid pickguard. The most important element sonically is the pre-war style scalloped bracing, quite a bit lighter and more finely carved than would be typical in the later 40's and 1950's. The neck on this example is fairly slim with a very comfortable soft V profile.
This guitar cost $35 in 1943 (without the case) and a total of 475 were shipped that year. The older mahogany-top Martin guitars have generally aged extremely well, especially considering their budget origins. They deliver a distinctive crisp ringing tone and are generally considered excellent fingerpicking instruments; this example with the scallop-braced early 1940s top especially so. The 0-17 records very well in any style and also makes for an excellent singer-songwriter's instrument; a classic vintage Martin that won't break the bank.
Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 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 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This guitar shows some typical wear for its just over 80 years on earth but only minor repair. The top finish has some heavy checking with a random dings and dents but less play wear than many, mostly pick marks to the lower soundhole rim and above the low E string. There is a deep dink into the top/side edge just above the fingerboard. The finish on the back and sides shows more wear with scratches, dings, scuff marks and dents. There are areas of finish worn away on the unbound back/side edges, almost unavoidable on these, and for some reason a lot of tiny dinks around the endpin. The back of the neck is surprisingly clean with very little wear at all.
The only crack repairs are a small bash mark on the turn of the upper side above the endpin and a very short (less than 1") split on the lower side just below the pin block. Both have been neatly sealed and are fairly inconspicuous. The top is nicely crack-free. The instrument remains original except for a near-perfect reproduction of the original rosewood bridge and bone saddle; there is a visible spot of glue marking in front of the bridge.
Internally the guitar is very clean, with the original unaltered small maple bridge plate and the typical super neat Martin scalloped brace work. The neck has been reset and cleanly refretted with the correct style wire. This 0-17 is a little scruffy on the surface but a truly excellent player with a low comfortable action and powerful sound characteristic of pre-1944 scallop braced examples, fairly bright but never shrill with a wide dynamic range. It includes a modern HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
