{"product_id":"c-f-martin-00-21-flat-top-acoustic-guitar-1935-12782","title":"C. F. Martin 00-21 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935)","description":"C. F. Martin 00-21 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 58910, natural lacquer finish, spruce top, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, molded plastic hard shell case. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis guitar is a somewhat played in but lovely mid-1930s 00-sized Brazilian rosewood Martin with more sound than a room full of jumbos! The 12-fret, steel string Martins of the late 1920s and 1930s are some of our very favorite guitars, period. This one was made shortly after Martin altered had nearly all their designs to the 14-fret neck \"Orchestra Model\" pattern. The 00-21 was one of the very few guitars still offered in the old \"Standard\" layout, a traditional 12-fret neck, long-body scallop-braced flat-top but intended for steel strings. The scalloped bracing is a wee bit beefed up since the 1920s while still delicate by modern standards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Model 00-21 dates to very early 1935. \"21\" represented the lowest priced rosewood style, then offered in 0 and 00 sizes. The general layout of this 00-21 remains pretty much as it had since the 19th century, with a slotted headstock on the neck which joins the body at the 12th fret. This represents the final evolution of the original 1800s Martin patterns as the \"modern\" 14-fret design became standard. The newest features include the recently introduced ebony belly bridge, designed to allow more gluing area to help resist steel string tension and a tortoise celluloid pickguard. The 12-fret neck on this particular guitar has a just slightly slimmer nut than many from this period, coming in at just a hair under 1 3\/4\" which many modern players find more attractive than the common 1 7\/8\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 00-21 was a relatively rare model in 1930s despite its midline status, considered an \"old fashioned\" style at the time compared to the 14-fret designs then making up the bulk of Martin's line. 00-21's were only sparingly made after 1931; 110 were shipped that year but the model did not make double digits again until the mid-1960s. The Brazilian rosewood back and sides on this guitar are fairly straight-grained for a Style 21. The very tight grained Adirondack spruce top features a herringbone soundhole inlay and multi-ply wood binding with a rosewood outer layer. The ebony fingerboard has small notched diamond pearl inlay and the recently introduced tang frets in place of the earlier bar variety. The original tuners are individual riveted-gear Grover Sta-tites, an uncommon find on a slot-head guitar. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a truly superb steel-string 12 fret Martin, a real treat to play either fingerstyle or \"plectrum\" as it would have been termed back when it was new. With a combination of the earlier design and 1930's refinements this is an exceptional instrument for any flat top application, a delightful instrument with a huge voice belying its (by modern standards) small size.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 38 1\/4 in. (97.2 cm.), 14 1\/8 in. (35.9 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 3\/4 in. (44 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis exactly 90 year old Martin has a \"real relic\" look to it, remaining in excellent playing condition while showing a decent amount of general wear. There is a decent amount of typical repair work done but less intrusively than some of this vintage. The original lacquer finish shows some polishing out over the years particularly on lower part of the top along with dings, dents, scrapes and a few areas of more concentrated wear. There is playwear into the wood of the top, notably below the treble side of fingerboard extension and around the lower rim of the soundhole. The clear lacquer there is deeply ambered, with a lovely aged patina that has seen some touch up to the finish later polished out and mostly removed. This is not overly conspicuous, mostly visible on the treble side around the pickguard. The back finish appears to have been buffed somewhat long ago. The lacquer is worn through to the wood on much of the back of the neck; the neck finish has had no polishing out or added finish.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVisible repairs include a grain split to the top cleated along bass side of fingerboard extension, with another along the top edge of the pickguard. There is another old grain split off the back edge of the top behind the high E string, sealed but not perfectly leveled. The bass side lower bout shows a repair along the top\/back seam where the wood binding had been sanded down a bit when the side was realigned with the back. The back has old repairs to parallel cracks running above and below the center seam from below the neck block, and another repaired off the back edge about an inch above the backstrip. None of these repairs are overly conspicuous. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bridge is a carefully made ebony replacement to the same contours and footprint as the original with a correct bone saddle; the tiny maple bridgeplate appears original. The original scalloped bracing is intact with some signs of old regluing. The neck has been neatly reset, the fingerboard trued and refretted with wire a bit taller than 1930s spec but these are in excellent shape showing virtually no wear. Playability is excellent; this is simply a delightful instrument to play or to hear, with an incisive but rich and powerful sound. It resides in a modern molded case, a splendid survivor of what many consider Martin's best period. Overall Very Good + Condition.","brand":"C. F. Martin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853653692556,"sku":"12782","price":29500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_8eaeb18f-0228-475d-b28c-e5f960ad7d64.jpg?v=1774342556","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/c-f-martin-00-21-flat-top-acoustic-guitar-1935-12782","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}