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1934 Martin 0-17
This 0-17 dates from the last months of bar fretted guitar production at Martin. It was built without a metal T-bar in the neck and has the overtone-rich tone that is one of the hallmarks of pre T-fret / T-bar Martins. It’s dry and woody with rounded trebles, forward mids and open basses, and enjoys a colorful overtone accompaniment just below the fundamental. Carefully flatpicked, this guitar’s full soundscape becomes apparent. The lightly braced all-mahogany body offers a wonderful snap and incredible focus.
In excellent condition and largely unaltered, this 0-17 features excellent playability on carefully dressed and crowned original bar frets. The neck appears to have been reset not long before we acquired the guitar, and the work was cleanly executed. There are a handful of minor back cracks which have all been glued, but no top cracks or side cracks. The bar frets were dressed and crowned in our shop, and we’ve set it up with 12-53 strings and an action of 4-7 64ths. The bridge is full-height, pins are original, and the bone saddle is new. The clipped-plate Grover tuners are original, and one of them has a changed button. The ebony nut is original as well. Original finish throughout. A close look at the fretboard will show penciled-on fret numbers at the treble-side of each fret which must date from when the guitar was new, and we’ve gone to lengths to ensure we didn’t wear them away during the recent fret dress. The guitar was played lap-style with a nut-riser, and it was common practice for beginners to number their frets back in the 30’s. This also explains why there is very little playwear on the guitar and is likely the reason the bridge was never cut down to help lower action.
Rounded V neck carve with 1-3/4” nut. 24.9” scale, 2-5/16 string spread at the bridge. First fret neck thickness is .084”, 9th fret thickness is 1.08”.
With period chipboard case
