C. F. Martin 00-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1948), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 103910, natural mahogany finish, mahogany body and neck with rosewood fingerboard, black chipboard case.
This is a lovely all-mahogany Martin 00 from early 1948, just past its 70th birthday with some wear and repair but still sounding great. The 00-17 was the largest of the all-mahogany Martins of the 1940s, the company's budget offerings of the period. These Style 17 guitars were sold at a relatively modest price (list on this 00 was $50 in 1948) but built to the same quality standards as other Martins. To achieve this economy, the company deleted the spruce top and used only the most minimal decoration: no binding anywhere and small dot fingerboard inlay. Typical features for this year include openback Kluson tuning pegs with large baseplates and plastic buttons, a 5-ply sound hole ring, the small straight rosewood bridge, and a tortoise celluloid pickguard.
These vintage mahogany-top Martin guitars are known for their distinctive ringing tone, with a somewhat "tighter" more detailed response on each note. They are generally considered excellent fingerpickers, especially suited to early blues and ragtime styles. The larger 00 body size gives the sound more depth than the smaller 0 size models and this is also a good general "strummer's" guitar. It is also less common than its smaller sister. For the modern player the 00-17 records and amplifies easily and also makes an excellent singer-songwriter's instrument as well as a great all-around choice in a vintage Martin that won't break the bank.
Overall length is 39 1/4 in. (99.7 cm.), 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/16 in. (10.3 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.).
This nicely original guitar shows some general wear and scuffing overall but is a fine player with a well-done neckset and correct style refret. There are some fairly deep scratches into the finish on the back and also random heavy wear on the sides by the bottom edge near the endpin. The edges show some moderately heavy wear; the top is fairly clean, but there are some pick scratches on the upper treble side.
There are cleanly sealed grain cracks to the sides on either side of the neck heel: on the treble side just under the top junction and on the bass side just about a third of the way down. The curve of the upper treble bout has a sealed up impact area right on the top/edge seam. There are no cracks to the top and one small grain crack to the back near the bottom edge, again neatly glued up. This 00-17 has a more powerful sound than many, with a fairly bright but still sweet tone. Very Good + Condition.
