C. F. Martin 000-18 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1941)
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Item #10597
C. F. Martin 000-18 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1941), made in Nazareth, PA, natural lacquer finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top; rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
To many players and Martin fans, the vintage 000-18 constitutes one of the company's most propitious and beloved combinations of wood, wire, and inspiration. The light mahogany body coupled with a scallop-braced Adirondack spruce top makes for a superbly responsive guitar; the 15" wide narrow-waisted 000 size body contributes depth and clarity to the sound.
This 14-fret 000 sized body style was introduced as the OM-18 in 1930. After 1933 nearly all Martin guitars were being built in this new "Orchestra Model" format so the OM designation was dropped, and the model simply designated as the 000-18. The original OM-18 was built with a long 25.5" scale length; this was changed to a slightly shorter scale in 1934. The 000-18 has remained one of the company's mainstays ever since, an excellent combination of great handling and sound at a relatively affordable price.
This was not a particularly expensive guitar by 1941 standards, listing at $67.00 (plus case) but still represented a substantial investment to many Depression-era players. This is not a flashy guitar; decorative trim is discreet with tortoise celluloid on the body edges and a simple multi-ply sound hole ring. In classic Martin style, the elegant understatement speaks for itself. Despite its mid-line status this was always a fully professional grade instrument and popular with radio entertainers, most notably the "Hillbilly" acts common in the Southeast.
This example was built towards the end of 1941, probably just as the bombs were about to fall on Pearl Harbor. It is one of 326 000-18s shipped in that year, a fairly small total even by period Martin standards. It incorporates typical pre-war features including lovely mahogany back and sides, a superb straight-grained Adirondack spruce top, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge with tortoise celluloid pickguard and body binding.
The neck is mahogany with a fairly slim round profile with subtle hints of a "V" along the spine as it gets closer to the body. It is reinforced with a T-bar truss rod, which would soon be replaced with an ebony rod due to war-time restrictions in the months after this one was made. The fingerboard inlay is small mixed size dots and the tuners were individual flat plate Kluson machines; this guitar is fitted with reproductions of the originals.
The most notable feature of this 1941 000 is the very light scallop braced top. This is built in what is now termed the "rearward shifted" position, although at the time it was simply a recently introduced alteration to the bracing pattern of the 1930's. Towards the end of 1938, the X brace was moved slightly farther back towards the bridge to stiffen that area of the top, as with the heavy strings of the time the company was already seeing a lot of warranty repairs coming in.
This 000 has seen some use and wear but is in excellent playing condition and sounds truly sublime. It is a very fine fingerpicker's instrument but also has a lot of punch and clarity as a straight rhythm machine as well. That's how many were played in the Cowboy and "Hillbilly" radio bands of the 1930s, anyway. Whatever the style of music one might prefer, mahogany flat-top guitars simply don't get much better than this.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 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 guitar has been used but not too heavily; it shows some typical wear and maintenance repairs but remains a wonderful-playing and spectacular-sounding instrument. The all-original thin lacquer finish shows dings, scrapes, pickwear and dents, but the only significant play wear is to the lower sound hole edge and below the back rim of the pickguard. There are some scrape marks going through the finish on the treble side rim at the apex of upper bout, probably from the interior of an original chipboard case. A couple of light marks remain on the pickguard from what looks like a previous mounting of a soundhole pickup. There are also light mars on the underside of the top corresponding to this.
There are several old top cracks; a well sealed "B" string crack runs to the front edge of the bridge and two grain splits that run next to the center seam between the bridge and the end block. One extends a couple of inches from the bridge and another extending a couple of inches from the endblock. All have been well sealed and cleated. There are no cracks to the back and sides. The original rosewood bridge has been reglued and fitted with a nicely crafted recent bone saddle. Internally the small maple bridge plate and all bracing remain completely original and unaltered.
The tuners are recent reproductions of the original flat plate Kluson single openback units. There are no extra marks visible and the headstock finish is unaltered. The neck has been neatly reset some time ago, the fingerboard was leveled and refretted with wire that is somewhat wider than the original Martin specification. The guitar plays extremely well; many modern stylists would generally prefer this slightly wider wire to the narrow pre-war spec. This mahogany 000 remains an exceptional player's instrument; the sound is truly splendid and it looks like a proud old veteran of a lot of musical history, a real testament to the enduring quality of these "Golden Age" Martins. Overall Excellent - Condition.
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To many players and Martin fans, the vintage 000-18 constitutes one of the company's most propitious and beloved combinations of wood, wire, and inspiration. The light mahogany body coupled with a scallop-braced Adirondack spruce top makes for a superbly responsive guitar; the 15" wide narrow-waisted 000 size body contributes depth and clarity to the sound.
This 14-fret 000 sized body style was introduced as the OM-18 in 1930. After 1933 nearly all Martin guitars were being built in this new "Orchestra Model" format so the OM designation was dropped, and the model simply designated as the 000-18. The original OM-18 was built with a long 25.5" scale length; this was changed to a slightly shorter scale in 1934. The 000-18 has remained one of the company's mainstays ever since, an excellent combination of great handling and sound at a relatively affordable price.
This was not a particularly expensive guitar by 1941 standards, listing at $67.00 (plus case) but still represented a substantial investment to many Depression-era players. This is not a flashy guitar; decorative trim is discreet with tortoise celluloid on the body edges and a simple multi-ply sound hole ring. In classic Martin style, the elegant understatement speaks for itself. Despite its mid-line status this was always a fully professional grade instrument and popular with radio entertainers, most notably the "Hillbilly" acts common in the Southeast.
This example was built towards the end of 1941, probably just as the bombs were about to fall on Pearl Harbor. It is one of 326 000-18s shipped in that year, a fairly small total even by period Martin standards. It incorporates typical pre-war features including lovely mahogany back and sides, a superb straight-grained Adirondack spruce top, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge with tortoise celluloid pickguard and body binding.
The neck is mahogany with a fairly slim round profile with subtle hints of a "V" along the spine as it gets closer to the body. It is reinforced with a T-bar truss rod, which would soon be replaced with an ebony rod due to war-time restrictions in the months after this one was made. The fingerboard inlay is small mixed size dots and the tuners were individual flat plate Kluson machines; this guitar is fitted with reproductions of the originals.
The most notable feature of this 1941 000 is the very light scallop braced top. This is built in what is now termed the "rearward shifted" position, although at the time it was simply a recently introduced alteration to the bracing pattern of the 1930's. Towards the end of 1938, the X brace was moved slightly farther back towards the bridge to stiffen that area of the top, as with the heavy strings of the time the company was already seeing a lot of warranty repairs coming in.
This 000 has seen some use and wear but is in excellent playing condition and sounds truly sublime. It is a very fine fingerpicker's instrument but also has a lot of punch and clarity as a straight rhythm machine as well. That's how many were played in the Cowboy and "Hillbilly" radio bands of the 1930s, anyway. Whatever the style of music one might prefer, mahogany flat-top guitars simply don't get much better than this.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 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 guitar has been used but not too heavily; it shows some typical wear and maintenance repairs but remains a wonderful-playing and spectacular-sounding instrument. The all-original thin lacquer finish shows dings, scrapes, pickwear and dents, but the only significant play wear is to the lower sound hole edge and below the back rim of the pickguard. There are some scrape marks going through the finish on the treble side rim at the apex of upper bout, probably from the interior of an original chipboard case. A couple of light marks remain on the pickguard from what looks like a previous mounting of a soundhole pickup. There are also light mars on the underside of the top corresponding to this.
There are several old top cracks; a well sealed "B" string crack runs to the front edge of the bridge and two grain splits that run next to the center seam between the bridge and the end block. One extends a couple of inches from the bridge and another extending a couple of inches from the endblock. All have been well sealed and cleated. There are no cracks to the back and sides. The original rosewood bridge has been reglued and fitted with a nicely crafted recent bone saddle. Internally the small maple bridge plate and all bracing remain completely original and unaltered.
The tuners are recent reproductions of the original flat plate Kluson single openback units. There are no extra marks visible and the headstock finish is unaltered. The neck has been neatly reset some time ago, the fingerboard was leveled and refretted with wire that is somewhat wider than the original Martin specification. The guitar plays extremely well; many modern stylists would generally prefer this slightly wider wire to the narrow pre-war spec. This mahogany 000 remains an exceptional player's instrument; the sound is truly splendid and it looks like a proud old veteran of a lot of musical history, a real testament to the enduring quality of these "Golden Age" Martins. Overall Excellent - Condition.
