C. F. Martin F-55 Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962)
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Item #5586
C. F. Martin F-55 Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962), made in Nazareth, PA, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
The thinline F-55 remains one of C.F. Martin and Co's more unusual creations, even 50+ years on. Although increasingly busy building flat tops for the Folk boom, Martin still must have felt an urge to get into the electric market. After a stab at fitting DeArmond pickups to Dreadnoughts met limited success, the company plunged fully into the electric world and came out with this thin hollowbody series in 1961. The F-55 is the middle of a three model line, a single cutaway guitar with two DeArmond pickups.
The slim sunburst-finished F-hole body is triple bound, the plain dot-inlayed fingerboard is unbound. The neck is slim and comfortable, with typical Martin contours. The headstock has the standard Martin shape and decal logo and carries single enclosed metal-button Kluson tuners. The wiring rig with a switch and individual tone and volume knobs is standard Gibson style, and the pickups are even wired in phase (unlike Guild practice). The chrome stamped metal vaguely "M" shaped tailpiece is the guitar's raciest feature.
While these guitars have been ignored and generally derided since their short production run ('61-'65) perhaps the joke's on us because viewed without prejudice, this is actually quite a good instrument! The craftsmanship is as good as you'd expect from Martin, it's a comfortable thin body design and the DeArmond "Dynasonic" pickups are the same as those on some of the greatest-sounding Gretsch and Guild guitars, albeit in a slightly different cover. While the styling might be best described as "conservative"(it comes mostly from Martin's 1930's archtops) in sound and playability this is fully the equivalent guitar to a Guild Starfire, Gretsch Anniversary or Gibson ES-225. Maybe Martin electric users Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Skip Spence and the Music Machine's Sean Bonniwell knew something after all�
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.). Nice overall with some average light wear; pickups are original but the wiring rig (pots and switch) is recent-the original (rather corroded) harness with all parts is in the case. The Kluson tuners and "M" tailpiece are original; the bridge is an unusual older Tune-o-matic like unit made of cast metal with adjustable saddles secured from the top-likely of German parentage. We have never seen this particular bridge before; it's old, but not original. Pickguard removed, the strap buttons are 1970's. The guitar plays and sounds excellent and includes the original shaped HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
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The thinline F-55 remains one of C.F. Martin and Co's more unusual creations, even 50+ years on. Although increasingly busy building flat tops for the Folk boom, Martin still must have felt an urge to get into the electric market. After a stab at fitting DeArmond pickups to Dreadnoughts met limited success, the company plunged fully into the electric world and came out with this thin hollowbody series in 1961. The F-55 is the middle of a three model line, a single cutaway guitar with two DeArmond pickups.
The slim sunburst-finished F-hole body is triple bound, the plain dot-inlayed fingerboard is unbound. The neck is slim and comfortable, with typical Martin contours. The headstock has the standard Martin shape and decal logo and carries single enclosed metal-button Kluson tuners. The wiring rig with a switch and individual tone and volume knobs is standard Gibson style, and the pickups are even wired in phase (unlike Guild practice). The chrome stamped metal vaguely "M" shaped tailpiece is the guitar's raciest feature.
While these guitars have been ignored and generally derided since their short production run ('61-'65) perhaps the joke's on us because viewed without prejudice, this is actually quite a good instrument! The craftsmanship is as good as you'd expect from Martin, it's a comfortable thin body design and the DeArmond "Dynasonic" pickups are the same as those on some of the greatest-sounding Gretsch and Guild guitars, albeit in a slightly different cover. While the styling might be best described as "conservative"(it comes mostly from Martin's 1930's archtops) in sound and playability this is fully the equivalent guitar to a Guild Starfire, Gretsch Anniversary or Gibson ES-225. Maybe Martin electric users Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Skip Spence and the Music Machine's Sean Bonniwell knew something after all�
Overall length is 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 in. (5.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.). Nice overall with some average light wear; pickups are original but the wiring rig (pots and switch) is recent-the original (rather corroded) harness with all parts is in the case. The Kluson tuners and "M" tailpiece are original; the bridge is an unusual older Tune-o-matic like unit made of cast metal with adjustable saddles secured from the top-likely of German parentage. We have never seen this particular bridge before; it's old, but not original. Pickguard removed, the strap buttons are 1970's. The guitar plays and sounds excellent and includes the original shaped HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
