C. F. Martin 00-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1953), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 133496, natural lacquer finish, Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black chipboard case.
This is a nicely preserved Martin 00-17 from late 1953, just past its 68th birthday! The 00-17 was the largest of the all-mahogany Martins of the 1950s, the company's lower budget 6-string offerings. Style 17 guitars were sold at a relatively modest price (list on this 00 was $70 in 1953, without a case) but they were still built to the same exacting quality standards of all Martins.
To achieve this economy, the company used mahogany instead of spruce for the top and applied only the most minimal decoration: there is no binding anywhere, only small dot fingerboard inlay and the gold Martin decal adorning the peghead. Other typical features include a discreet 5-ply sound hole ring, a small straight rosewood bridge and a tortoise celluloid pickguard. The tuners on this particular guitar are interesting; they are post-war Waverly individual openback machines with plastic buttons built on pre-war style baseplates. We can only assume the Waverly company was using up leftover pieces; perhaps Martin got these at a bargain for their low-priced guitars!
Older mahogany-top Martin guitars are known for their distinctive ringing tone, with a somewhat "tighter" and more detailed response on each note than the typical spruce top model. They are generally considered particularly excellent fingerpickers, especially suited to blues and ragtime styles. The larger 00 body size gives the sound more depth than the more common smaller 0 size models and this is also a good general "strummer's" guitar. The 00-17 records and amplifies easily and also makes for an excellent singer-songwriter's instrument as well as a great all-around choice in a vintage Martin.
Overall length is 38 13/16 in. (98.6 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 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 is a decently clean guitar overall, remaining all original except for an added endpin jack and really looking not too heavily used over the last nearly 70 years. The top finish shows some light play wear, with some scuffing (mostly to the pickguard) but hardly any of the common pick scratches. A grain crack in the top on the treble side of the lower bout has been repaired and touched up noticeably, but without any loss to the original color on either side of it. A small impact on the upper edge of the top on the treble side below the heel resulted in a short grain crack, now sealed. There is a small dent at the bottom of the heel that, luckily, resulted in only a small area of flattened grain.
The finish on the back and sides is somewhat more worn, with some dings, scratches, scuff marks and areas of finish worn away on the unbound back/side edges, typical of these unbound bodies. Both upper bout sides have noticeable worn spots from rubbing against the interior the old chipboard case over the years. The back of the neck has some very small dents and wear spots in the lower positions, but nothing too distracting.
Internally the guitar is untouched, with a clean original small maple bridgeplate and the typical super neat Martin bracework. A contact pickup, with three pads attached to the bridge plate has been added and the end pin has been drilled for an installed end pin jack. The original bridge has never been cut down, the neck has been recently reset very neatly and correctly refretted. As a result this is a truly excellent playing guitar with a low, comfortable action and a lovely sound, fairly bright but never shrill, with a wide dynamic range. It is housed in a modern HSC. Excellent - Condition.
