Martin Guitars

1945 Martin 000-21, Serial Number 93211

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Serial number 93211 was stamped on November 23, 1945 and cleared final inspection on February 11, 1946. The tuners are probably Kluson 502 machines (this is still a little up in the air because the celluloid buttons come in either white or black) and document the reappearance of bushings on the front of the headstock. […]

Martin Guitars

1888 Martin 2-1/2-40, Dated May 1888

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This guitar is a great example of an early high-grade Martin guitar. Styles 40 and 42 were the two fanciest grades of Martin at the time with style 40 being slightly commoner than style 42. The main difference between stlye 40 and 42 is that on style 42 the abalone purfling extended around the fingerboard […]

Martin Guitars

1892 Martin 2-20, Dated March 1892

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This guitar made before serial numbers were instituted but “3/92”, for March 1892, is written in pencil on the underside of the top near the soundhole. The guitar has three-strut fan bracing typical of the less expensive models Martin offered during this period. All Martin guitars from the period have back and sides of Brazialian […]

Martin Guitars

1957 Martin D-18, Serial Number 156914

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Serial number 156914 was stamped on August 21, 1957 and cleared final inspection onĀ  December 2 that year. The guitar has a Sitka spruce top and the mahogany back and sides expected with style 18 guitars. The machines are Kluson K-324 tuners. The MADE IN USA stamp indicates the guitar was exported, almost certainly to […]

Martin Guitars

1941 Martin D-28

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The guitar in this entry is a 1941 D-28 “herringbone”. It has rear-X bracing and the neck is 1-11/16″ wide at the nut. Typical of other D-28 guitars of the period is has the scalloped braces,”zig-zag” back stripe and the distinctive herringbone purfling. The tuners are period correct Kluson 511 machines. These early Klusons have […]

Martin Guitars

1939 Martin D-45, Serial Number 73128

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Serial number 73128 is one of the 91 pre-war D-45 guitars made by Martin. It was stamped on August 23, 1939 and cleared final inspection on October 18 that year. Since it was begun in August 1939 it displays the features typical of the period; rear-X bracing, 1-11/16″ neck width at the nut and scalloped […]

Martin Guitars

1940 Martin D-45L, Serial Number 75289

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This guitar must be considered the rarest of the rare! It is well known that Martin made 91 D-45 guitars between 1933 and 1942. Of these only ONE was left-handed. The D-45L was ordered on June 10, 1940 by Coast Wholesale Music Co. in Los Angeles. Serial number 75289 was stamped on June 12, 1940 […]

Martin Guitars

1835-1836 Martin & Schatz Guitar

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C. F. Martin Sr. and Henry Schatz had been employed together at Stauffer in Vienna in the 1820s. Schatz left for America a few years before Martin and opened a musical import business in Philadelphia. From early 1835 until about September 1836 the two luthiers formed a partnership under the name Martin & Schatz. The […]