2014 Martin 000-28K Authentic 1921
A consistent shop favorite, the 000-28K Authentic 1921 is a particularly memorable Martin model that we’ve always enjoyed having in the store whenever we’ve been luck to have one.
Looking inside this guitar with a mirror is much like looking inside a Martin guitar built 100 years ago - except the wood looks new, there are no dust-balls, and there aren’t loose braces! Guitars from the 1920s were built lightly and that's a big part of why they sound the way they do. But manufacturers long ago abandoned building such light guitars for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with tone. That said, this Authentic is built as lightly as the Koa Style 28s that were built back in the 1920s. The bridgeplate is tiny and amazingly thin, the braces are low and scalloped as they were in the early ‘20s, the top and back thicknesses are accurately thin, and every detail about the guitar looks incredible.
The guitar's tone is about as close to 'vintage' as we've ever experienced in a modern guitar. The mids are open and breathy, bass is developed and articulated well, trebles are thick and juicy, and the Koa imparts a fabulous 'snap' to the tone. It's got that piano-like resonance we often attach to those very lightly built guitars of the late 1920s. Beyond that it's surprisingly loud, but without the brashness that many loud guitars can have.
000-sized 12 fret body with long-scale neck. Figured koa with style 28 trimmings: herringbone top trim, zigzag back strip, grained ivoroid bindings. Small teardrop shaped pickguard (under finish), and a pyramid bridge. VTS torrefied Adirondack spruce braces. Mahogany neck without truss rod, ebony fingerboard with T-frets. 1-7/8 nut width, 25.4" scale. Very soft V neck carve with a fairly rounded feel and a 1st fret thickness of .845”, 16" fingerboard radius, bone nut and saddle. Vintage thickness nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
The guitar is in lovely condition but for reglued binding at both waists, front and back, as well as minor back binding shrinkage that is visible by the heel cap. Playwear is minimal, frets are nicely dressed, and the set-up was just completed in-shop with 12-53 strings and an action of 5-7 64ths with a full height saddle.
With original Harptone-style deluxe hardshell case
Looking inside this guitar with a mirror is much like looking inside a Martin guitar built 100 years ago - except the wood looks new, there are no dust-balls, and there aren’t loose braces! Guitars from the 1920s were built lightly and that's a big part of why they sound the way they do. But manufacturers long ago abandoned building such light guitars for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with tone. That said, this Authentic is built as lightly as the Koa Style 28s that were built back in the 1920s. The bridgeplate is tiny and amazingly thin, the braces are low and scalloped as they were in the early ‘20s, the top and back thicknesses are accurately thin, and every detail about the guitar looks incredible.
The guitar's tone is about as close to 'vintage' as we've ever experienced in a modern guitar. The mids are open and breathy, bass is developed and articulated well, trebles are thick and juicy, and the Koa imparts a fabulous 'snap' to the tone. It's got that piano-like resonance we often attach to those very lightly built guitars of the late 1920s. Beyond that it's surprisingly loud, but without the brashness that many loud guitars can have.
000-sized 12 fret body with long-scale neck. Figured koa with style 28 trimmings: herringbone top trim, zigzag back strip, grained ivoroid bindings. Small teardrop shaped pickguard (under finish), and a pyramid bridge. VTS torrefied Adirondack spruce braces. Mahogany neck without truss rod, ebony fingerboard with T-frets. 1-7/8 nut width, 25.4" scale. Very soft V neck carve with a fairly rounded feel and a 1st fret thickness of .845”, 16" fingerboard radius, bone nut and saddle. Vintage thickness nitrocellulose lacquer finish.
The guitar is in lovely condition but for reglued binding at both waists, front and back, as well as minor back binding shrinkage that is visible by the heel cap. Playwear is minimal, frets are nicely dressed, and the set-up was just completed in-shop with 12-53 strings and an action of 5-7 64ths with a full height saddle.
With original Harptone-style deluxe hardshell case