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1932 Martin 0-18 Shade Top
Built at a time of great transition at Martin, the guitar features a mix of then new and old features. The belly bridge, pickguard, and 14 fret body were all very recent design changes in 1932; as was the early all-gold headstock logo. The guitar's gossamer-light build with tiny braces and bridgeplate is reminiscent of the guitars built a decade earlier, and the tuner placement on the guitar's paddle headstock is suggestive of the friction-peg guitars built years earlier. Notice how little space there is at the top of the headstock for the logo!
Crack-free top, a couple of small side cracks. Original finish to the top and 95% of the sides. Neck reset has been done in recent years, original bar frets, excellent action and feel. The bridge appears to be a nicely made reproduction with an accurate footprint that might otherwise pass for an original. There are repairs at the bottom of the guitar's back and the finish has been redone to the entire back and to a small section of side that was injured in the same accident. The color is a very good match, but the finish is largely new in appearance with light crackle. One reglued back brace, no other repairs or modifications to the guitar's bracing.
24.9" scale, 1-3/4" nut with, soft V neck profile, ebony fingerboard with sea snail dot inlay. Original tuners, nut, bridgepins and endpin. A glorious guitar, and one of the best sounding 0-size guitars in our collective memory.
With modern hardshell case
