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1934 Martin 000-18
An incredible sounding instrument, this 1934 000-18 is everything most of us want in a mahogany 000, or in most any guitar for that matter. It’s both dark and defined, and is both subtle and powerful, adjusting easily to your attack and playing style. Dry, articulate, and clear, but still full-bodied, deep, and soulful, this 000-18 manages to check every box in our list of tone descriptions. It’s a confident flatpicker and a competent fingerstyle guitar, dynamic, and touch-sensitive, and simply a pleasure to hold and play.
Beyond all of that, the neck carve is heavenly (as Martin’s 1934 necks almost always are). It’s a very rounded V carve, with plenty of roll to its edges and just the slightest hint of a V along its centerline. The 1st fret depth measures .883”, and the thickness tapers to 1.080 by the 9th fret. 1-3/4” nut, a fat 2-5/16” string spread at the saddle; 24.9” scale.
The guitar presents quite nicely, with original finish throughout, and very few cracks. The bracing and bridgeplate are original and untouched, and the guitar has never needed any braces reglued. The original pickguard has never been off and has pulled a minor crack into the guitar’s top along its outer edge which we’ve left unrepaired (our preference). The back and sides remain crack-free. The body’s only repair is to a crack along the treble-side of the fretboard extension, which has been attended to properly with reinforcement added under the extension by our shop.
The neck reset appears to have been done recently. The technician damaged the spruce under the fretboard extension, chipped the treble side of the heel, and oversprayed the heel to correct things. There is also a ¼” finish touch-up to the side adjacent to the heel cap. The overspray is localized to the neck heel and doesn’t extend past the 13th fret or onto the guitar’s body. The neck angle is perfect. There are three infilled screw holes at the guitar’s bottom from a trapeze tailpiece that was once installed.
The bridge is a replacement with a correct footprint, the pins are new Antique Acoustic unslotted style 18, the frets are newer and nicely dressed, and the nut is original. We have the guitar set-up with Darco 12-54 strings and an action of 5-6 64th, with a fairly straight neck. Playability is excellent and the frets play cleanly in all positions.
All told, this is an exceptional sounding guitar with playability to match.
With 1950s Lifton hardshell case
