The guitar featured in this entry is one of the very last 12-fret 0-18 guitars made by Martin. The guitar was stamped on January 4, 1932 and cleared final inspection on September 13 that year. Nine months was a very long time in production for the period. The long delay was the result of Martin […]
On June 22, 1932 Martin received a shipment of decals from Palm , Fechteler & Co. Based on unit costing from later orders it appears the first batch was for about 5,000 decals. Martin put the decals into immediate use. The earliest reported guitar with a decal is a 1932 OM-18, serial number 50674, that […]
Between 1916 and 1926 Martin produced Ditson model ukuleles with a wide waist design that were similar to the guitars Martin was making for Ditson from 1915 to 1920. The Ditson model ukuleles are popular collectors items because of their distinctive appearance but are not particularly rare, excepting the Ditson 5K ukuleles, as several thousand […]
The popularity of 12-fret 00-28 guitars began to waver in 1929 as the first Martin 14-fret six-string guitars appeared on the market. The 00-28 models had been a very popular up-market guitar for some time and were what Martin considered one of their best sounding guitars they made, being in their opinion better balanced than […]
Serial number 33002 was stamped on September 15, 1927 at the beginning of the production process. The tuners are Waverly G-32 chrome plated machines with ivoroid buttons. Style 45 features: Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood Top: Red spruce (Adirondack) Purfling: Abalone Binding: Ivoroid Back Stripe: Style 45 Other period features: Scalloped X-bracing Ebony fingerboard Ebony […]
Serial number 39272 was stamped on April 4, 1929 and cleared final inspection on October 22 that year, just two days before “Black Thursday” of the 1929 Stock Market Crash and truly marking the very end of the “roaring 20’s”. The tuners are Waverly G-30 machines. Style 18 features: Back and sides: Mahogany Top: Red […]
Serial number 57851 was stamped on October 3, 1934 and cleared final inspection on May 7, 1935 (quite a long time in production for the period). At least four of the twenty-five guitars from this batch had dark tops. It was shipped to Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. in St. Louis MO on April 29, 1935. Clearly, […]
Serial number 57921 was stamped on October 8, 1934 and cleared final inspection on Jun 26, 1935 (a long time in production for the period) There must have been a fall-off in demand for the 000-18 around that time. At least eleven of twenty-five guitars in this batch had dark tops. It was shipped […]
Serial number 62166 was stamped on January 28, 1936 and cleared final inspection on July 9 that year. The tuners are Grover G-98 pointed plate machines with seamed metal butterbean buttons. Style 28 features: Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood Top: Red spruce (Adirondack) Purfling: Herringbone Binding: Ivoroid Back Stripe: Zig-zag purfling pattern Other […]
Serial number 99606 was stamped on April 3, 1947 and cleared final inspection on July 30 that year. The tuners are Waverly 5038 machines with the distinctive “Yoda head” backing plates with rounded metal buttons. These machines were used by Martin from 1939 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1947. Style 28 features: Back […]