C. F. Martin 2 1/2-17 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1875)
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Item #10637
C. F. Martin 2 1/2-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, c. 1875, made in Nazareth, PA, natural varnish finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top, ebony fingerboard, black gig bag case.
For the last century or so, a "17" style Martin designates an instrument built with the neck, top, back and sides all of mahogany. This was intended to keep costs down while preserving the highest level of fit, finish and function that Martins are known for. Before World War One, however, the "17" style was a different beast constructed of more traditional materials: a spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a Spanish cedar neck, the then-standard materials for Martin. All the "17" models have the position as the bottom of the Martin range; in both cases, a player could spend less and still get a Martin constructed to a top professional standard. This now-obscure size "2 1/2' was popular in the 19th century but faded in the 20th; by modern standards this under 12" wide body is small even for a Parlor guitar.
This guitar features a "blacked" Spanish cedar neck, a spruce top with five-ply binding in a rosewood-boxwood-rosewood-boxwood-ebony pattern, a three ring rosette with two simple ebony outer strips and a center ring of multi-color strips in a rope pattern with ebony on either side. Both the pyramid bridge and unadorned fingerboard, with bar frets, are ebony. The back and sides are made from carefully quartered Brazilian rosewood. The back is unbound, with a simple boxwood center strip. Inside, the guitar is fan braced, not unlike a modern classical guitar. The tuners are finely engraved brass with ivory buttons.
This guitar is a particularly early example of a "17" style guitar. The neck and headstock feature a blacked finish, a
martin carryover from traditional Viennese practice. It is made in three pieces, with intricate joinery affixing the "ice cream cone" heel and the headstock at either end of the neck. The top is fan-braced, not X-braced in the modern Martin style. This method of bracing the top requires considerable skill from builders intending to use a pinned bridge. The center brace must be precisely located between the "D" and "G" strings underneath the top.
These features were generally standard for the "17" style Martins from its introduction in the 1850's into the 1890's. These guitars have no serial numbers so cannot be precisely dated but this particular guitar appears to be a fairly early example dating not too long after 1867. The arched logo burned into the center strip of the back on the inside of the guitar and the neck block reads "C. F. Martin & Co. New York", a stamp introduced in 1867 and discontinued in 1898. The older style "C.F. Martin, New York " is stamped faintly on to the top edge of the back next to the pointy end of the ice cream cone heel. Despite a century and a half (or so) of use this remains an eminently playable instrument, and a wonderful piece of American guitar history.
Overall length is 37 in. (94 cm.), 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
In spite of somewhere around 150 years of use, this guitar is in an overall good state of preservation. There are numerous carefully completed repairs; it is still a very good playing instrument. The whole guitar has been refinished, possibly a century or more back. The body was done so long ago that the thin lacquer finish is now finely checked in a manner more commonly seen on guitars of the 1920's. The original blacked neck has been oversprayed with a little bit of orange peel here and there. The finish has dings, dents and scrapes throughout but no large areas of loss.
There are a number of sealed and cleated top cracks; a pair of grain splits run from the lower edge of the bass side towards the waist, and from the top edge on the bass side to the area between the soundhole and the waist. There is a grain split between the tail block and the bridge and another between the bridge and the soundhole under the "B" string. There are a few short, tight lines emanating from either side of the bridge and three next to the bass side fingerboard extension. There is also an area of disturbance on the bass side lower bout where the binding was reglued. All are solidly sealed.
The bridge is slightly larger and not quite as refined as an original would have been. It has a compensated "through" saddle, unlike the uncompensated drop-in saddle the original would have been made with. The back has numerous rosewood grain cracks, all solidly glued and cleated; a long crack running next to the center strip on the treble side, a shorter grain crack about an inch away from the center strip running from the neck block to about the center of the top, two cracks on the treble side lower bout and two cracks on the bass side lower bout. The rims remain crack free as do the neck and headstock.
This guitar is strung with authentic gut strings and is a lovely player with a truly fantastic sound that belies its (by modern standards) diminutive dimensions. It is extraordinarily deep and rich, the aural equivalent of an optical illusion to have such a tone emanating from this very small-looking instrument. While 19th century Martins are often discounted by modern players used to guitars from Nazareth only bearing steel strings, this is a truly fantastic instrument on its own merits. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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For the last century or so, a "17" style Martin designates an instrument built with the neck, top, back and sides all of mahogany. This was intended to keep costs down while preserving the highest level of fit, finish and function that Martins are known for. Before World War One, however, the "17" style was a different beast constructed of more traditional materials: a spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a Spanish cedar neck, the then-standard materials for Martin. All the "17" models have the position as the bottom of the Martin range; in both cases, a player could spend less and still get a Martin constructed to a top professional standard. This now-obscure size "2 1/2' was popular in the 19th century but faded in the 20th; by modern standards this under 12" wide body is small even for a Parlor guitar.
This guitar features a "blacked" Spanish cedar neck, a spruce top with five-ply binding in a rosewood-boxwood-rosewood-boxwood-ebony pattern, a three ring rosette with two simple ebony outer strips and a center ring of multi-color strips in a rope pattern with ebony on either side. Both the pyramid bridge and unadorned fingerboard, with bar frets, are ebony. The back and sides are made from carefully quartered Brazilian rosewood. The back is unbound, with a simple boxwood center strip. Inside, the guitar is fan braced, not unlike a modern classical guitar. The tuners are finely engraved brass with ivory buttons.
This guitar is a particularly early example of a "17" style guitar. The neck and headstock feature a blacked finish, a
martin carryover from traditional Viennese practice. It is made in three pieces, with intricate joinery affixing the "ice cream cone" heel and the headstock at either end of the neck. The top is fan-braced, not X-braced in the modern Martin style. This method of bracing the top requires considerable skill from builders intending to use a pinned bridge. The center brace must be precisely located between the "D" and "G" strings underneath the top.
These features were generally standard for the "17" style Martins from its introduction in the 1850's into the 1890's. These guitars have no serial numbers so cannot be precisely dated but this particular guitar appears to be a fairly early example dating not too long after 1867. The arched logo burned into the center strip of the back on the inside of the guitar and the neck block reads "C. F. Martin & Co. New York", a stamp introduced in 1867 and discontinued in 1898. The older style "C.F. Martin, New York " is stamped faintly on to the top edge of the back next to the pointy end of the ice cream cone heel. Despite a century and a half (or so) of use this remains an eminently playable instrument, and a wonderful piece of American guitar history.
Overall length is 37 in. (94 cm.), 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 1/2 in. (622 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
In spite of somewhere around 150 years of use, this guitar is in an overall good state of preservation. There are numerous carefully completed repairs; it is still a very good playing instrument. The whole guitar has been refinished, possibly a century or more back. The body was done so long ago that the thin lacquer finish is now finely checked in a manner more commonly seen on guitars of the 1920's. The original blacked neck has been oversprayed with a little bit of orange peel here and there. The finish has dings, dents and scrapes throughout but no large areas of loss.
There are a number of sealed and cleated top cracks; a pair of grain splits run from the lower edge of the bass side towards the waist, and from the top edge on the bass side to the area between the soundhole and the waist. There is a grain split between the tail block and the bridge and another between the bridge and the soundhole under the "B" string. There are a few short, tight lines emanating from either side of the bridge and three next to the bass side fingerboard extension. There is also an area of disturbance on the bass side lower bout where the binding was reglued. All are solidly sealed.
The bridge is slightly larger and not quite as refined as an original would have been. It has a compensated "through" saddle, unlike the uncompensated drop-in saddle the original would have been made with. The back has numerous rosewood grain cracks, all solidly glued and cleated; a long crack running next to the center strip on the treble side, a shorter grain crack about an inch away from the center strip running from the neck block to about the center of the top, two cracks on the treble side lower bout and two cracks on the bass side lower bout. The rims remain crack free as do the neck and headstock.
This guitar is strung with authentic gut strings and is a lovely player with a truly fantastic sound that belies its (by modern standards) diminutive dimensions. It is extraordinarily deep and rich, the aural equivalent of an optical illusion to have such a tone emanating from this very small-looking instrument. While 19th century Martins are often discounted by modern players used to guitars from Nazareth only bearing steel strings, this is a truly fantastic instrument on its own merits. Overall Very Good + Condition.
