Serial number 11219 was stamped on January 11, 1911 and was shipped t0 Eilere Music House in Seattle WA on December 15, 1911. The tuners are German silver Handel machines with inlaid ivory buttons. Style 42 features: Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood Top: Red spruce (Adirondack) Purfling: Abalone and lines on top and around fingerboard […]
Martin 0-18K guitars are relatively common in the period from 1918 to 1934. The 00-18K guitars on the other hand are quite scarce, only 55 were made from 1918 to 1925. Serial number 14156 was stamped on October 1, 1919 and was shipped to Sherman, Clay & Co. in San Francisco CA on Novermber 1 […]
Serial number 14308 was stamped on October 31, 1919. Style 45 features: Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood Top: Red spruce (Adirondack) Purfling: Abalone and lines on top, back and sides Sound hole decoration: Abalone and lines Binding: Ivory Style 45 snowflake Japan pearl inlays Style 45 abalone “flowerpot” headstock inlay Style 45 backstripe purfling Other […]
Serial number 13602 was stamped on April 8, 1919. It was shipped to Southern California Music Co. in Los Angeles CA on July 30, 1919, which explains the Southern California Music Co. metal plaque on the back of the headstock. Style 45 features: Back and sides: Brazilian rosewood Top: Red spruce (Adirondack) Purfling: Abalone and […]
Serial number 83391 was stamped on February 10, 1943 and cleared final inspection on April 9 that year. The tuners are Kluson 502 machines with white celluloid buttons. The backing plates still retain the stamped rim seen in earlier Klusons machines. Later war-time Klusons had plain backing plates. Typical of war time Martin guitars the […]
Serial number 59229 was stamped on February 23, 1935 and cleared final inspection on May 8 that year. The tuners are clipped plate Grover G-98 machines with rounded metal buttons. Style 17 features: Back and sides: Mahogany Top: Mahogany Purfling: Single white line Binding: Mahogany (?) Other period features: Scalloped X-bracing Rosewood fingerboard Dot inlays […]
Serial number was stamped around mid-June 1920. One interesting feature of this guitar is the coarse grain structure of the wood used for the neck. This type of wood is Philippine Mahogany (genus Shorea) which is not considered a true mahogany (genus Swietenia). It was used for the necks of Martin guitars circa 1919 to […]
Serial number 8972 is an uncommon 00-30 guitar. A total of 102 Martin 00-30 guitars were made between 1898 and 1921. This guitar is dated August 27, 1900 under the top and is signed with a small rubber stamp “HLK”. Harry L. Keller worked for Martin from 1898 to 1901 and it probably a relative […]
This guitar has a rarely seen Type 4 label, I have been able to confirm only one other example. The type 4 label was only used from about September 1836 to the end of March 1837 (the type 5 label came into use on April 1, 1837). The label in this guitar has no serial […]
This is a rare bird indeed! It is one of only two OM-42 guitars ever made, both in 1930. Serial number 43708 was stamped on August 22, 1930 and cleared final inspection on September 12 (only 3 weeks later!) As an early example of an OM guitar it has banjo tuners and the small OM […]