Serial number 54286 is a round sound hole R-18 guitar. It was stamped on September 12, 1933 and cleared final inspection on December 22 that year. This guitar has the lovely “amberburst” finish that appeared on Martin guitars during 1932 and 1933. It was shipped to the Charles E. Wells Music Co. in Denver, Colorado […]
Serial number 49756 was stamped on January 14, 1932 and cleared final inspection on May 3 that year A total of 225 Martin 5-17T guitars were made in 1932, the last year of regular production for the model. As this guitar was made in early 1932 it did not receive a C. F. Martin […]
Serial number 38521 was stamped on May 1, 1929 and cleared final inspection on June 13 that year. As a 1929 guitar it would have originally been made with a pyramid bridge. However, 1929 was also the year that the OM guitars were introduced and once that genie was out of the bottle the demand […]
Here is a very interesting Martin & Coupa-labelled guitar with some unusual features. The Martin & Coupa label, based on my latest theory, was used from about August 1839 to May 1850 and, based on its the design features, this guitar is from the earliest part of this period. This guitar has the “transitional Spanish […]
Serial number 52189 was stamped on November 9, 1932 and cleared final inspection on May 8, 1933. For the time period, a production of more than 6 months meant that this model was not in high demand. This guitar displays the lovely “amberburst” finish that was in use during 1932 and 1933. It appears that […]
Here is an interesting ca. 1870 Tilton Model 1 (Serial Number 2165). The silver medallion in the sound hole indicates the guitar was made by Zogbaum & Fairchild of New York. William Tilton began manufacturing guitars in New York in 1853. Tilton had two guitar patents (U.S. Patent #10380, January 3, 1854, and U.S. Patent […]
Serial number 16346 is one of the earliest Martin guitars that was specifically ordered with a “guardplate”, and also has an early “dark top” finish. This guitar was ordered by Cooper Brothers of New Kensington Pa. on June 6, 1921. It was stamped about June 19 and was shipped to Cooper Brothers on August 31, […]
This guitar is one of the most historically important Martin instruments in existence! It neatly bridges the gap between the Stauffer-style guitars, that C. F. Martin learned to make in Vienna, and the Spanish-style guitars Martin made after 1839. It is the earliest Martin guitar known with any kind of “Spanish” features. The guitar bears […]
Many years ago while reading Mike Longworth’s book I wondered what the odds would be of ever seeing a Ditson 222 guitar! As far as I know no other examples have ever some to light. This guitar is one of only four Ditson 222 guitars ever made. It is stamped with serial number 176 from […]
One enduring controversy of Martin lore are the “mystery top” guitars of 1953 and 1957. These tops are theorized to be made of either Adirondack spruce or Engelmann spruce. The Martin purchasing records indicate that from late 1949 to 1952 and again in 1955 Martin did buy quantities of “Vermont” spruce from Eaton Lumber Co. […]