Here we’re looking at a Martin 2-17 #25 built during early 1930 in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, showing a 1929 feature – a straight saddle. Not long after this guitar was built, Martin shifted to slanted saddles, giving the bass strings a little more length for intonation purposes. Apparently 449 were built during 1930 with this saddle, and 50 with the slanted saddle.
PA
The Martin 0-17 has at least two major distinctions, as one of Martin’s oldest defined styles, and their first production steel string model. Martin’s Style 17 first appeared in 1874 as a fairly plain model, and was discontinued from 1898 to 1906.
Seen here is a wartime (WW2!) Martin D-18 Dreadnought, built during 1943 at Nazareth PA and in great playing condition. Accompanied by a recent appraisal from George Gruhn, this piece is in structurally very good condition with wear expected for over 80 years of use. The back of the head does not have a ‘Made in USA’ stamp, which was typically used to identify guitars built for export, particularly to Canada.
The Martin 00-28C was the top of Martin’s classical guitar line, featuring Brazilian Rosewood back and sides and a fan-braced Sitka Spruce top. The fingerboard and bridge are Ebony, with Mahogany for the body blocks and neck. The bracing is Spruce, and the neck attachment style is a dovetail joint.
Built from 1997 to 2000, the Martin Thomas Humphrey C-1R offers a Humphrey element normally found primarily on high-end classicals – an elevated fingerboard. Thomas Humphrey was an American luthier who apprenticed for a year with Michael Gurian around 1970, and then opened his own shop.
This instrument has sold
MORE →The SS Stewart American Princess 5-string open back banjo was built in the 1890’s in Philadelphia, and was aimed towards female players with its compact size and light weight. This wonderful SS Stewart American Princess example is in great condition and does not look at all like it’s over a century old.
This instrument has sold
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