Martin 00-18 (1939)

A great guitar, and a terrific example of the sought-after pre-war Martin magic.

This early 1939 Martin 00-18 was brought into the shop nearly two years ago in a pillowcase. The longtime possession of a local resident who'd been part of the New York folk scene in the early 1960's, it'd been forgotten about for many years as its owner fell into decline and lost the ability to play. The guitar was almost in two pieces when we received it, a dowel in the back loosely pinning the neck and body together. As best we can tell, the guitar was dropped sometime shortly after said owner acquired it; and the dowel was a then-repairman's way of piecing it back together. Luthier TJ Thompson reset the neck, installed a new bridge & new frets, and addressed several side cracks resulting from the aforementioned trauma. The top was refinished long ago, but the original pickguard remains intact, and the top thickness was not altered from its original spec.

All that said, let's remember the positives, which are significant. This guitar was produced early enough in 1939 that it retains the wider 1 3/4" nut width and 2 5/16" string spacing. It features a rear-shifted X brace; and it plays gorgeously thanks to the new setup. The sound is simply wonderful, with incredibly deep, resonant bass for such a small guitar, and three sumptuous dimensions of high end to explore up the neck. In short ~ a great guitar, and a terrific example of the sought-after pre-war Martin magic. We've ditched the pillowcase in favor of a new 3-ply hardshell case from Martin. Please contact us for purchase details!