C. F. Martin 00-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1957), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 158151, natural lacquer finish, Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
This is a very nice playing Martin 00-17 from late 1957, now well past its 65th 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 an even $100 in 1957, without a case) but they were still built to the same exacting quality standards of all Martins.
To achieve this economy, Martin 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 are post-war Waverly individual openback machines with plastic buttons, also familiar from many Gretsch guitars. Exactly 600 00-17s shipped out in 1957, but the model was discontinued a few years later.
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 nicely clean guitar overall, remaining all original and really looking not too heavily used over the last nearly 70 years. The unaltered original finish shows light play wear overall, with scuffing and small dings and dents but hardly any of the common pick marks to the top. Some small areas of finish are dinged and worn away on the back/side edges, typical of these unbound bodies. The back of the neck has some very small dents and wear spots, but nothing too distracting.
There are no visible crack repairs except the lower back seam has been resealed. The top finish shows scarring around the bridge where it was re-glued, but no overfinish was applied. The original bridge has excellent height, possibly lowered just a hair on the treble side. Internally the guitar is untouched, with a clean original small maple bridgeplate and the typical super neat Martin bracework. The neck has been reset neatly and nicely 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. Overall Excellent - Condition.
