C. F. Martin 00-42 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1927)

C. F. Martin 00-42 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1927), made in Nazareth, PA, natural lacquer finish, Brazilian rosewood body, spruce top, mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.

This is a wonderful playing guitar if not a prime collector's example; still it is a pearl-edged 00 from the earliest period of steel-string bracing for these instruments. The 00-42 was built in small numbers for some years, with the peak coming in the late 1920's. This fancy and expensive ($110.00 in that year) Martin was obviously a heavily-gigged instrument and must have many tales to tell!
 
This guitar is in very good playing condition, but has been heavily used and had quite a a bit of work done over the years. There have been two headstock repairs, one a long time ago and one fairly recent, with some added French polish to the head and back of the neck. The tuners are the original deluxe Waverly strips . The fingerboard was replaced using the original inlay; this was fairly common before bar fret stock was widely available again when an older Martin needed to be refretted. The boby finish appears all original, with a lot of wearoverall.

The bridge is a 20+ year old repro pyramid (not oversize) in the correct period style. The small pickguard was probably added at some point; it is in the early style and the proper tortoise celluloid and may well be period. Several sealed back cracks but repairs to the body have been minimal, considering how well used the guitar is; the bracing, bridgeplate, and interior appear original. All pearl bordering is intact. The guitar plays and sounds extremely well with light (.012 gague) steel strings, the saddle is low with a comfortable action. The guitar comes with a period case with markings from "Broyles' Music- Shreveport Louisiana" which appears original to the guitar so the instrument may have had an interesting history in local music of that area. Very Good Condition.

Item # 3498
 
This item has been sold.


 
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