Martin 000-18 83932 (1943)

Small-bodied, style-18 Martins from 1942 and 1943 are some of the warmest-sounding guitars from the pre-war era.

This 1943 Martin 000-18 comes to us from the family of its original owner. It's exactly the sort of vintage guitar we love to find: uncirculated, with no significant previous repairs, and stored in an environment that preserved its geometry well. And that's to say nothing of its wonderful sound and responsiveness. Small-bodied, style-18 Martins from 1942 and 1943, when they feature Brazilian Rosewood bridges & fingerboards alongside Ebony neck reinforcement, are some of the warmest-sounding guitars from the pre-war era.

This 000-18 is no exception to the rule. It's feather-light, with a wide-open, woody voice, and that silky, piano-key responsiveness coveted by fans of vintage guitars. It's a particularly great flatpicking 000-18, with more than enough horsepower and projection to drive an old-time band, though that's perhaps not the conventional use of a 000-18. It's a dream fingerstyle guitar, with the sort of fat clarity and shimmer that'd be wonderful in front of a microphone.

We rate this guitar in very good vintage condition. The only prior repair that's evident is work done to the treble side / lower bout area, where it looks like some sort of impact was previously worked on (the family had no repair documentation). The back finish shows the heavy crazing often seen on guitars from this period which were stored in humid environs. (Silver lining: the top is incredibly healthy and crack-free, since it never dried out excessively). Those two tiny holes drilled in the front of the peghead? We're guessing the original owner had a strap anchor there at some point, but we weren't able to get any clarity on the issue from the family.

Our shop reset the neck, refretted the fingerboard, and replaced several tuner buttons. It's now playing beautifully, with action at 3/32" (bass side) and 2/32" (treble side) under tension of light gauge strings. The guitar is priced with the Martin thermoplastic hard case it's been stored in for the last several decades. Calton Cases available upon request.