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1920 Martin 0-18
We first encountered this 0-18 about 15 years back when it was brought to Folkway for its first repair work in ninety years. At that time, we reset and refretted the neck, made and installed a new reproduction pyramid bridge, and glued a small handful of cracks on the body. It’s been years since we last saw it, and it has remained in excellent shape. As a repairperson it’s quite a treat to see work you finished long ago that still passes the test!
A superbly lightly built guitar, this instrument sings with a beguilingly dark and full voice. It is currently set up with D’Addario medium gauge Gypsy Jazz strings (11-45) but sounds great with phosphor bronze extra-light strings, with treble strings swapped out for slightly heavier .011 and .015s. The replacement bridge was made with some compensation on the saddle which ensures proper intonation with steel strings. Played fingerstyle, this 0-18 has a wide-open and full tone, excellent volume and concert-perfect string balance. Given its light build, it isn’t one for strumming and gives back its best under a firm medium right-hand approach. It is an exceptional-sounding guitar with a lovely breathiness and overtone richness when played softly, and it cleans up under a heavier attack. Lots of headroom available on this one, to the point that you’ll forget you’re playing extra light strings.
From a lumber perspective, 1920 was an interesting year for Martin. Perhaps due to the supply chain disruptions of the WWI era, or the lumber demands of the massive ukulele boom that had taken root by then, Martin found themselves building with timber species that weren’t the norm. Among those was Philippine mahogany, otherwise known as Lauan, which bears some cosmetic similarity to South American mahogany, but isn’t actually a mahogany species at all. The necks of many - or most - Style 28 and lower guitars made in 1920 are carved of this wood, as well as the backs and sides of many Style 18 guitars, such as they are with this instrument. Lauan is a light and soft tropical hardwood, usually less dense than S. American mahogany and imparts a darker and mellower feel to the tone as such. It’s hard to describe but is quite a pretty – and subtle – difference.
Red spruce top with scalloped X bracing and a single tone bar below the bridge plate, ebony bridge and fingerboard, bar frets; original tuners, nut, and bridge pins. Original finish throughout. 1-27/32” nut width (that’s a 1/32 smaller than 1-7/8), 24.9” scale, 2-3/8” string spread at the bridge, and action of 5.5-7.5 64ths with a straight neck. V-shaped neck with a depth of .825” at the 1st fret. 1/16 to 3/32 of saddle height available for action adjustment, however, the guitar plays easily and in tune with its action and string combination. There are three very minor repaired back cracks that are cleanly glued, uncleated, and nearly impossible to spot. There are a pair of side cracks that are well-repaired and hide nicely in the quarter-sawn grain figure of the Lauan as well. These are reinforced with tiny lightweight cleats. A pair of top cracks along the edges of the fingerboard extension were properly glued and reinforced while the neck was removed. None of the crack repairs have shown any movement in the 15 years since it was completed in our shop. No finish touch-ups were involved, and the repairs are very hard to see. The top is in excellent condition, no braces have been reglued, the original thin maple bridge plate remains perfect, and the inside of the guitar is as clean as the outside.
With original canvas case and modern high-quality deluxe hardshell.
