Most Martin tiples seen today are the relatively plain T-17 or T-18 models. But for a short time time in the 1920s a few fancy tiples were made, including this unique T-45K. The T-45K was made for William J. Smith & Co. in New York. It was William J. Smith who encouraged Martin to add […]
Serial number 199572 was stamped on December 23, 1964 and cleared final inspection on February 11, 1965. The D-21 guitars were made of Brazilian rosewood like the D-28 guitars but were characterized by plainer appointments and black binding, although the zipper backstripe was retained. The tuners are Kluson K-324 machines. Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood […]
Serial number 208095 was stamped on February 11, 1966 and cleared final inspection on May 20 that year. Martin launched the D-35 in 1965 to use up substantial stocks of smaller pieces of Brazilian rosewood by making three piece backs. At the same time Martin issued 12-string D-35 guitars based on the 12-fret Dreadnought body […]
Serial number 125297 was stamped on June 12, 1952 and cleared final inspection on September 16 that year. The tuners are Kluson 210 machines with metal buttons. Back and sides: Mahogany Top: Sitka spruce Photos courtesy of Folkway Music.
Serial number 81222 was stamped on March 30, 1942 and cleared final inspection on June 17 that year. The Martin 0-15 was the least expensive guitar model offered by Martin at the time, although Martin never made any compromise in terms of quality. As a war-time guitar this guitar has the ebony neck reinforcement rather […]
Between 1916 and 1921 Martin made a special line of guitars for Charles H. Ditson & Co. in New York. These guitars had a wide-waisted design since they were meant to played Hawaiian style and the normal narrow waist was no longer necessary. These guitars did not have a flat fingerboard or high saddle as […]
Serial number 10009 is one of the earliest 000-sized Martin guitar. It was stamped around January 30, 1905 and was shipped to Henry Spahr in Jersey City, NJ on March 28, 1905. Henry Spahr was a music teacher and had an important infleunce on Martin in the early 20th century. It was Spahr who ordered […]
Serial number 70469 was stamped on June 3, 1938 and cleared final inspection on June 21 (18 days later!) Style 44 guitars were developed for Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, the well known classical guitar player and teacher. These guitar were made from the finest materials but were relatively plain in decoration, with no fingerboard inlays. A total […]
Serial number 69899 was stamped on March 25, 1938 and cleared final inspection on October 27 that year. This guitar was once owned by Smiley Burnette who was Gene Austry’s sidekick in many western movies. Like all style 45 guitars it has thin abalone strips inlaid around the top, back and sides as well as […]
Here is a very unusual guitar. It started off life as a 1938 000-45S that was supposed to have received an F-9 neck 1-11/16″ wide at the nut. However, the special order was cancelled after the body had been made so Martin kept the body and re-used it for another 000-45S in 1940. So the […]