This Martin Style E, serial number 13213, is a remarkably well-preserved example of the company's top-of-the-line mandolin. It's certainly been played, and sports one repaired top crack, but with an instrument this old and this rare, we still feel confident classifying its condition as "very good." The action may prove a bit high for some players near the neck / body joint, but this probably isn't the instrument most players would choose to solo over a fiddle tune. The tone is buttery warm, and the instrument responds gorgeously when played with a Grisman-style tremolo.