Guitars

1939 Martin D-18 Guitar (Serial Number 73316)

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It always adds to the story of a particular instrument when the purchase documents are available. Here is another great example. Serial number 73316 was stamped on September 22, 1939 and cleared final inspection on December 4 that year. As can be seen from the documents below this guitar was sold by Wilson Music Co. […]

Guitars

1931 Martin 00-28 Guitar (Serial Number 46449)

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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 […]

Guitars

1927 Martin 00-45 Guitar (Serial Number 33002)

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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 […]

Guitars

1929 Martin 000-18 Guitar (Serial Number 38272)

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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 […]

Martin Guitars

1934 Martin 000-18 Guitar (Serial number 57921)

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  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 […]

Martin Guitars

1936 Martin 000-28 Guitar (Serial Number 62166)

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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 […]

Martin Guitars

1947 Martin D-28 Guitar (Serial Number 99606)

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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 […]

Martin Guitars

1931 Martin C-3 Guitar (Serial Number 59524)

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Martin launched its carved-top guitars in June 1931. They were offered in three models; C-1, C-2 and C-3, with the C-3 guitars being the most expensive. These carved-top guitars were based on the same 000-size body used for the flat top guitars. However, Martin took a different approach to making arched-top guitars compared to its […]