C. F. Martin 0-18 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1962), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 182742, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, molded plastic hard shell case.
This is a lovely little Martin 0-18 from early 1962, just about the high water mark of the "Folk era" when the Kingston Trio made the Martin guitar the height of fashion. The mahogany body carries many older Martin features including tortoise celluloid binding on the body edges, tortoise celluloid pickguard, old style long-saddle rosewood bridge, and a nicely ambered nitrocellulose lacquer finish. These characteristics would be gradually changed over the ensuing years; this guitar was still built in the original Martin North Street factory and has the feel of the older instruments that the post-1964 products of the modern factory would lose.
The headstock corners are the rounded style typical of the period, with the peghead face adorned with the "CF Martin" gold decal on the face and individual Grover Sta-Tite G98 openback tuners with hexagonal bushings. These 1960s 0-18s are lovely-sounding instruments, still built fairly lightly compared to a few years later. Exactly 500 of these small mahogany-and-spruce marvels were shipped from Nazareth in 1962. This one has plenty of volume (more than many expect in a smaller guitar) and a nicely even ringing tone. This is a superb-playing and sounding small-body Martin, far better preserved than many and ready for the next 55+ years.
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.).
Overall a nicely clean and original guitar, with some light play wear and minor repair. The top, back, and sides have only some light dings, dents, and pick marks, with a small area of heavier scuffing to the lower back. The only cracks are very minor; the most visible is a small grain split and adjacent pressure mark on the lower side off the tailblock, sealed but still feelable. The top has one tiny grain split off the top edge of the pickguard, almost too small to be noticeable.
The back of the neck has some wear and capo marks down the spine and a couple of deeper dents behind the 6th fret. The frets and fingerboard show some light wear. The bridge does not appear to have ever been reglued but may have been lowered slightly long ago. The neck appears to have been neatly reset and this is an easy-playing, great-sounding guitar with a bigger tone than its small size would suggest. Includes a later fitted Martin molded case. Excellent Condition.
