1902 Martin 0-42 Acoustic Guitar-Used

$11,000.00

Details

We sold this 0-42 to a favorite Gryphon customer 26 years ago, and we’re glad to see it again as it’s had excellent care. Along with the serial number stamped on the neck block, it also has Frank Henry Martin’s initials on the underside of the top, along with the 1902 date. This is a well-preserved example of one of Martin’s fanciest models from the period. While it was made in 1902, this is still very much a 19th century Martin as about the only change compared to similar models made ten years earlier was the addition of fingerboard inlays and the Martin stamp finally giving the guitar’s origin as Nazareth, PA (starting in 1898).

Martin was still a very small company, as they only made 218 guitars in 1902. (The mandolin craze was still going strong, though, and they made more than 300 bowl-back mandolins that year.) For a company that had been in business for almost 70 years, growth was still elusive and that wouldn’t change until the Hawaiian music craze hit in the late ‘teens, bringing ukuleles and steel-string guitar models. Speaking of strings, this 0-42 is strung with silk & steel, which it handles with ease, but it could also be strung with high tension nylon strings.

The “Cincinatti O” ink stamp above the Martin stamp on the center back strip was probably added when Fritz J. Hauck added his paper label to the inside of the back after doing some repairs in June of 1947. What Mr. Hauck did, and what was done later, is difficult to determine but three top cracks have been expertly splinted and cleated, and side cracks were glued and cleated as well (side cracks are hard to spot thanks to excellent French polishing). The original bridge apparently was bolted along its back edge at one time, but those reinforcements were later removed and the holes in the bridge plugged (a very thin and narrow piece of maple was added behind the original bridge plate that hides the holes). As for the round ebony fill in the center of the fingerboard at the third fret, the explanation for that is.....we haven't a clue. Did Fritz, or another restoration-minded repairman, remove an inlay? There's no sign it's part of a neck repair, it's just going to be a mystery.