Martin 00-21 (1916)

This lovely sounding 1916 Martin 00-21 would be a fabulous entry way into the world of old Brazilian Rosewood Martin flattops. It's strung with .011 - .052 bronze strings, and exhibits a strong structure with no top bellying. All the parts are original, including that "Chicago Style" bridge originally made for use on Ditson guitars (but seen on some style-21 Martins from this period).

The back and sides have likely been oversprayed, but after playing this guitar (if you're like us) you'll likely think "So what?" The sound is dry, woody, full, warm ... all the recycled adjectives people love to apply to old Martins and then some. There's a particularly nice responsive, woody thump to the middle strings, which makes light flatpicking a dream (and it goes without saying it's a joyful fingerstyle guitar). Priced with non-original hard case. On consignment.

And how about that decal on the back of the headstock? This guitar was shipped to SoCal Music on February 13, 1917, per noted Martin historian, Grieg Hutton.