Details
This Martin 0-18 was built in 1954 in Nazareth, PA and it's a sweet sounding, easy playing beauty approaching its 70th birthday. The top is Sitka spruce and the back and sides are genuine mahogany. It still has its original tuners and pickguard and all internal bracing is original including the bridge plate. Note that the G string tuner button shaft is bent but that gear functions just fine. Also, the pickguard was removed, flattened, and reglued to prevent it from shrinking and cracking the top.
There are no cracks to the back, sides, or neck but the top has a compression fracture along the outer edge of the bass side lower bout. The bridge has been replaced with what looks to be a later rosewood Martin bridge with a blind-end saddle slot rather than the original through-cut style. The neck was reset some time ago by cutting the fingerboard at the 13th fret, a common technique in the late 1960s. The finish is original and the top and back show a fair amount of crazing as well as some minor scuffs, nicks and dings. It’s possible the top was French polished quite some time ago, maybe around the same time the neck was reset. There is a thumb sized wear mark on the back that goes through the finish. It appears to have had a partial refret, and the frets don't show much wear. Includes a deluxe gig bag.
Specs
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Back sides
Mahogany
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Binding
Tortoise Style
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Bracing
X-Brace, Non-Scalloped
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Bridge
Rosewood
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Fingerboard
Rosewood
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Finish
Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
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Frets to body
14
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Neck material
Mahogany
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Nut width
1 11/16"
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Rosette
Style 18
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Scale length
24.9"
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Top material
Sitka Spruce
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Total frets
20
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Year
1954
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Case type
Deluxe Gig Bag
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Serial number
141269
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SKU
MAR018-141269
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UPC
120596
