Martin 000-18 Acoustic Natural 1958
Martin 000-18, natural finish, made in USA 1958. Friends, here's something pretty special. Martin's 18 Series guitars date all the way back to 1857, and were instrumental in shaping the sound of Martin offerings that followed later. The steel string 000-18 first appeared in 1930, featuring Martin signature innovations like the 14th fret neck join and X-braced top, and is still made to a very similar recipe today. The 000-18 has popped up in all manner of famous hands, including Ry Cooder, Martin Carthy, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Thom Yorke, Woodie Guthrie... the list goes on and on. This example dates to fairly early in 1958. It's in remarkable shape, with no major cracks in the body, no history of a neck repair, a straight neck, great frets and a flat top. It's been played and has some scuffs and marks to prove it, but it's been very well looked after. The neck is a comfy width at 43mm, similar to a modern example, but there's a bit more meat in the back of the soft-V shape than you'd get on a newer model. It's easy to play, with an agreeable action and a slick well-played in finish on the back. It looks beautiful, in an understated way: checking lines on the top, gorgeous detail in the grain of the mahogany, dark streaks on the sides of the Brazilian rosewood fretboard; there's a lot of lovely details to enjoy, but it still has a friendly unassuming aesthetic. The tone is the show-stopper here: holy smokes, it's gorgeous. It's extremely dry, with excellent balance across the strings, a wide and rich midrange rounded out by a tuneful, bouncy bass and a sweet, eloquent top end. It's a perfect fingerpicker, letting all the details of a line speak with equal gravity, but will also sit beautifully in a band mix or underneath a vocal line. It's hard to imagine a guitar that would record better than this: pick your favourite microphone, hit record.... you'll barely need to touch it in post, it's perfect, This is obviously a significant investment, but it's been quite a number of years since we had a Martin of this era through the shop, and it's pretty hard to imagine such a classic model falling out of favour anytime in the next several decades. What a joy.
Model: CF Martin & Co 000-18
Made: 1958m, Nazareth PA USA
Serial: 162784
Finish: natural, gloss nitro
Body: solid sitka spruce top, solid Central American mahogany back and sides, 000 folk size, X-braced
Neck: mahogany, Brazilian rosewood fretboard, 24.9" scale, 43mm nut, 55mm wide at 12th, scale, 24mm deep at 1st fret, 30mm deep at 12th fret
Weight: 1.660kg
Mods: tuners replaced
Pickup: none
Accessories: non-original vintage hard case, original black bridge pins (somewhat bent)
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has dimples on the end, dimples and winder scuffs on the edges, minor dimples up the top on the back and some light hazing and dimples on the front. The is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples and rub wear on the back only. The back has scuffs on both shoulders, the elbow area and back edge, as well as dimples on the bottom bout and some surface scratches in the middle of the body. The sides have dimples on the top shoulder, dimples and rub wear in the elbow area and bottom corner, light scuffs around the rear strap pin and some dimples and scuffs on the bottom shoulder. The front has a couple of scratches in the bottom bour, dimples behind the bridge, along the back edge and in the elbow area and some play wear on the shoulders and guard, as well as widespread finish checking and discolouration.
Overall: very good condition (8/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good. Setup with 11/52 John Pearse strings. There is no truss rod, but the neck looks great and there's no evidence of a reset visible.
Fret Life: 8/10, minor wear only