ACOUSTIC GUITARS
What is MAP? MAP means the "minimum advertised price.” This refers to the minimum price at which manufacturer will permit a retailer to advertise something, in print or on-line. Sometimes (often) the prices at our showroom are actually lower than what we are allowed to show in print (the MAP). You are invited to call us (718 981- 8585) or email (mandolin@ix.netcom.com) us to learn our actual selling prices on any item that presents as just “List” and “MAP.”
The Online Vintage News was written by Stan Jay. We publish a newsletter version, containing a compilation section in the back, which lists our entire used and vintage inventory. This printed version is delivered to you by first class mail anywhere in the world for only $20 for a one-year subscription (domestic) or $25 for one year (foreign). We invite you to become a paid subscriber since these descriptions are, like all fine literature, worth keeping and on the internet they go “buh-bye” as each piece is sold. Please phone in, fax or email your card information or regular-mail us your personal check. Your comments about our descriptions, unpredictable demeanor, hallucinatory imagery or sequined outfits are always welcomed.
HOW TO NAVIGATE OUR WEB PAGE: When you are on, say, our Acoustic Page, click “Control F.” This brings a box to the middle of your screen. Type (say) “D-28” in that box and click “Find Next.” Your computer will take you to the first listing on the page for a D-28 guitar and, as you keep clicking “Find Next,” it will take you to all the listings for D-28 on the page. We call this occult knowledge “The Secret of Life” and so will you, once you try it. If you have a Macintosh Computer you can do the same by combining the "Apple" key with F. The Apple key is called the Command Key.
78-7699 Kim Walker (new) Style A, Small Jumbo Cutaway, #214, in a tawny sunburst top made of 80-plus year old Brazilian rosewood and a bearclaw Adirondack spruce top, in a Cedar Creek custom hard shell case.
If ever there ever was a “last guitar thou shalt ever need to buy” it would surely be this. While one generally hesitates to intone the words “the finest new acoustic guitar that has ever seen the inside of the Mandolin Brothers’ showroom,” it may actually be this -- a guitar so beautiful, and so improbably fine sounding – that it changes the very definition of what a six-string vessel of vibration is capable. There is no error we know in a Kim Walkerino, every kerf is perfect, every brace is placed in the space that graces and amazes our happiest faces. The abalone that encircles both top and soundhole, the multi-colored 3 ½” flourish of multi-colored flowers, the abalone-bordered rectangle of floral fantasy (found north of the soundport between frets 16 and 20) frankly flabbergasts. The jet black, neo-classical fretboard measuring 1 ¾” at the nut provides a low-profile polished surface on its other side. The top and back are bound in three-dimensional tiger-striped golden-natural tinted maple, contrasting with the Sunset in the Canadian Rockies sunburst of the face and the Expresso-in-the-Mocha, largely straight-grained, Brazilian experience on the back. Two additional thin lines of curly maple, positioned 1/8th” from the corner of the ledge at the cutaway serve to make us aware of subtleties that combine, within this masterpiece, to make it the preeminent acoustic experience.Kim says that the Adirondack spruce top on this guitar is 140/1000th” thick, and that this is the first time he has cut the wood to this dimension. He voiced the chamber for this slightly heavier cut and the result is that its added density allows the instrument to be brilliant, even effervescent, buoyant, right out of the box. The wood came from a finder who calls himself a “Forester Consultant.” This person lives in the Adirondacks and finds extremely rare woods, such as the bearclaw Adirondack that Kim used on this guitar, which wood just about doesn’t exist. The exotic Brazilian rosewood came from the late Rude "Rudy" Osolnik, who was a Professor of Woodworking at Berea College in Kentucky. Rudy told Kim that he salvaged this wood, which had been destined, in 1936, to be used for burning – for heat -- in the B&S Veneer Mill -- a large sawmill. Luckily this wonderful wood was overlooked, never gathered for that ignominious purpose and remained behind when the place either went out of business or they switched over to oil heat. Kim obtained this wood from Professor Osolnik back in the 1970s. The idea of using the world’s finest tonewood for burning shows us how prevalent and inexpensive Brazilian rosewood was in the 1930s when the term “Amazon” meant more than just an on-line discount retailer.
The nut and saddle are carved with the deft dedication of the diligent; the bridge pins are nestled into a countersunk domicile of consummate comfort. The action is effortless, every finger-plucked triad and chord produces a tone so lush and legato it may remind you of the first time you heard the string quartet in the original recording of “Eleanor Rigby.” The gold-plated Waverly tuners offset the dark Brazilian rosewood headplate with its classic twin-peaked pediment and the flowing, formal “Walker” inlaid pearl script logo. Guitars like this are timeless testament to the transcendent and the tasteful. It fulfills, with panache, a promise and portent of palpable pleasure.
15-6706 Santa Cruz (new) Custom OM-Brazilian and Adirondack, #3503, with plush lined hard shell case.
We have been ordering Santa Cruz Guitars from that fabled company since around 1985 and we can safely say that this is one of the finest sounding and beautiful examples of this brand as we have ever received. That voice! It is unmistakably the Brazilian and Adirondack sound – the open, airy, woody, acoustic resonance; the brisk, crisp cut and chop of the clear and present ranger. The polished Brazilian headplate with the mother of pearl script “Scgc” logo inlaid there in is bordered in grained ivoroid, so is the ebony fingerboard likewise bound in ivoroid with the teeny pearl dots of decreasing size. The top is wide at the side and so close grained at the center as to have cross-silking. We like that. The sides are bordered in grained ivoroid and the Brazilian on the sides is as close to straight-grain as anything we have recently seen. Of course, wood like this comes with a price and that price is 7 nearly perfectly book matched wormholes but hey, worms gotta live too and if they can help make a guitar as mellifluous as this one is, we don’t mind seeing their wake which takes the form of black spots. The book matched back is bisected by a zipper marquetry stripe with a border of mitered ebony and spruce. The Brazilian on the back is wavy and wonderful with a burl near the bottom that may leave you hypnotized for hours. It shows, at top center of the back, a succession of three dark marks left by something that has passed. The back of the neck features a carved and pointed diamond dart, the tuners are open-gear, butter-bean buttoned Waverly brand, the heel cap is grained ivoroid and the end graft is zipper. We ordered this with the Advanced X, Forward Shifted bracing. It is an ideal instrument, it is unlikely that a new OM could be better – being acutely musical – with an acoustic transparency unmatched by any other OM we have in the store.
15-6710 C F Martin (used, early 1957) D-18, serial# 153341, in excellent condition with newer Calton Standard fiberglass hard shell "flight" case - silver exterior, blue interior.
In the year 1957 C F Martin made a total of only 1,078 D-18s. If you were to compare this number from those halcyon times, to the 5,254 D-18 guitars that Martin Company built just a few years later in 1971 you would instinctively have a sense of the slow, controlled pace at which guitars were produced in the era of Dwight David Eisenhower, Sputnik (Oct. '57), and air raid drills ("Run f'yer lives!"). The guitars of the 1950s are prized for their beauty, gorgeous woods, attention to detail and certainly not least of all their sound, tonal range, projection and quickness with which the sound, when the string is plucked, reaches the ears. This guitar is in largely original condition, having a new bone (through) saddle and an added strap pin in the treble quadrant of the heel. It shows light normal signs of use including scratches on both sides of the fingerboard extension, belt buckle marks on the back especially on the lower treble. There is a nick on the back of the neck between the original Kluson Deluxe tuners, a couple of chips on the headstock. There are three old hairline cracks on the treble side, below the waist (you’ll excuse the expression) that have, in the past, been glued and cleated with (you’ll excuse the term) popsicle sticks (not really popsicle sticks – they look more like tongue depressors). This work was well done and the entire guitar appears to the (same caveat) naked eye to be in solidly excellent condition. And it is.Our dedicated team of professional luthiers has just completed a needed neck reset and refret and made that new saddle. A prior owner provided large (attractive) crème colored bridge pins and a strap pin in the treble heel of the neck. There is an added rectangular, fairly small brace inside the body in the lower treble bout - why this was done is unclear since we do not see any crack there. The headstock is curved at top, as they were, and the “C F Martin & Co., Est. 1833” logo glows with euphoric intensity. Tuners are the original Kluson Deluxe rectangular back with the oil hole at the "o" in Kluson, with small metal buttons. The back of the neck is what we call "the old Martin shape," deep, hand-filling and comfortable, but not Veed; the bindings are tortoise shell celluloid. The top is wide grained at the extremes, close-grained in the middle. Although we know that this shouldn't be Adirondack it shares a lot of visual characteristics of the Red Spruce, which is probably also why it sounds so unbelievably good. The pickguard is thin and tortoise shell celluloid. There are small aberrations in the wood right at the edge of the binding at the side top edge, possibly due to shrinkage, and there are crazing lines overall. The bridge, fingerboard and headplate are beautiful Brazilian rosewood. Owning a 1957 Martin D-18 is, in so many ways like winning the lottery. It is the fulfillment of the waking dream, the culmination of a life well spent. $7732 or, at our cash discount price, $7500 (remember this is with a Calton professional hard shell case).
78-7131 Bill Collings (new) OM-2HA Adirondack top, ordered with the 1 ¾” nut width and Adirondack spruce top, #14181, with plush lined hard shell case.
$4,338 or, at our cash discount price, $4,207.
78-7175 Bill Collings (new) D-1A Varnish Finish, ordered with a 1 ¾” nut width, #14136, with TKL ‘AVS’ plush lined hard shell case.
We had no idea what it would be like to take delivery of the first Collings varnish finish guitar we have ever ordered. Would our customers feel that the additional expense is worthwhile. Well, friends, the waiting is over. $5,312 or, at our cash discount price, $5,152.
78-7212 Collings (new) Model 0-1A, a small bodied professional quality guitar that sounds as big as some other company’s jumbos and dreadnoughts, #13984, with a 1 ¾” nut width and plush lined hard shell case.
$4,199 or at our cash discount price $4,073
78-7325 Gibson (1965 or 1967) J-50 #309792, very good plus condition, with the natural top, mahogany sides and back, and the height adjustable Brazilian rosewood bridge, housed in a worn black hard shell case.
Handsome beyond all get-out with considerable finish checking on the top, normal finish checking on the sides and back, having the large tortoise-color celluloid pickguard that’s 10 ¼” measured diagonally, the double ring soundhole rosette, the rosewood adjustable saddle, the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard – a penurious 1 9/16” at the nut with a 2 1/16th bridge spacing, having darkly finished mahogany sides and back and a now-orange spruce top that’s bordered in crème and black and bound, like the back, in crème celluloid, having 7 mother of pearloid dotmarkers in 6 positions on its fourteen fret-to-the-body board. It came in with replaced Grover “Pat Pend.” tuners, but we’re thinking of replacing those with replica Klusons and filling the shaft holes; it came in with added strap locks, a lifting bridge, a buckled bridge plate, a moderate action, a worn out hard shell black case whose lid is separating. Our workshop will be doing the required work – reglue the bridge, replace the bridge plate, remove the Grovers, dowel and replace with appropriate tuners, and set it up, making it “Niesz” and playable and great sounding. At that point, at that time, and that time will be around 6 months down the road, you will have a guitar that is profoundly wonderful – great sounding, great playing, and handsome beyond all get-out. So get out yer wallet, friend, ‘cause you may be needing it. $2,263 or, at our cash discount price, $2,195.
78-7305 Gibson (used, 1997) J-185 AN, blonde, #91777038, in excellent plus condition with original hard shell case.
There are few guitars more beautiful in the Gibson acoustic line as the all-blonde figured maple sides and back, select spruce top small jumbo that was first debuted in 1951. This guitar is memorable for having twin Iron crosses in the belly-up rosewood bridge – one on each side, representing strength and fortitude, bravery and valor. Sometimes people refer to the Iron cross as a Maltese cross, but it’s not – this was originally the symbol of the Teutonic Knights. Even more meaningfully, the Iron Cross was invented on March 10, 1813 in the town of Breslau and bestowed on soldiers during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon. But this guitar is far more than that. We start with the dimensions which are 16” in width at the lower bout, 4 ¾” deep at bottom side. It exudes class with a quadruple-bound top and triple-bound back. It has the short sale of approximately 24 ¾”, double parallelogram fingerboard inlays in a dark rosewood crème-bound fretboard, the Gibson logo in postwar script inlaid in mother of pearl with the Gibson flower there under, and a white bordered truss rod cover. Sides are singly bound in crème celluloid, pickguard is 10” long measured diagonally and a point facing east and bulbous termination point at lower treble. The neck is single piece, solid mahogany but for the ears on the extremes of the headstock; tuners are Gibson Deluxe in the Kluson tradition with ivoroid tulip buttons; it has compensated saddle, original strap button at bottom and none added to the neck. The guitar shows almost no sign of having been played – all surfaces and the frets are virtually perfect. The tone is exceptional. The price is $1907 at our discount price or, at our cash discount price, $1850.
78-7192 James Goodall (new) Rosewood 14-fret Parlor Cutaway, RPC14-5397, with plush lined hard shell case.
Although Goodall calls this a Parlor others might call it a Grand Concert. It sounds as big as most Auditorium sized guitars, and it is uncommonly beautiful. $4634 or, at our cash discount price, $4495.
78-7313 and 78-7314 Guild (new) GAD-25, #GAD30220 and GAD30538, in what they call “natural” which is odd because the top, back and sides are all mahogany, with hard shell case.
Each guitar is both beautiful and fine sounding and that’s why it’s so difficult to believe that it has a Discount Price (and MAP) of only $525.
78-7166 Guild (new) F-50 all-blonde Deluxe jumbo, made in the USA, #TK254026, with hard shell plush lined case.
The Guild List is $2599.99 and the Guild MAP is $1950.
78-7378 Guild (new) GAD-F20 a small bodied steel-string guitar in Ice-Tea ‘Burst, with a factory provided Fishman Matrix pickup, guitar, #GAD29151, with hard shell case.
The Guild List is $1187.19 and our Cash Discount Price is $820.
78-7377 Guild (new) GAD-F20 another small bodied steel-string guitar in natural top finish, with a factory provided Fishman Matrix pickup, guitar, #GAD28522, with hard shell case.
The Guild List is $1187.19 and our Cash Discount Price is $820.
78-7376 Guild (new) GAD-30E a medium sized (auditorium) guitar in Ice-Tea ‘Burst finish, with a factory provided Fishman Matrix pickup, guitar, #GAD22366, with hard shell case.
The Guild List is $1231.99 and our Cash Discount Price is $850.
78-7379 Guild (new) GAD-F-40 a medium sized guitar in Ice-Tea ‘Burst finish, with a factory provided Fishman Matrix pickup, guitar, #GAD24143, with hard shell case.
The Guild List is $1567.99 and our Cash Discount Price is $1090.
78-7133 C F Martin (new) 00-42K “Robbie Robertson” model, Hawaiian Koa and solid Italian Alpine spruce, #1260245, with hard shell case.
The Martin List is $8799 while the Martin MAP is $6999.
78-7134 C F Martin (new) 00-21KT Kingston Trio Model, #1263442, individual number 59 of 100 made total, with Geib style hard shell case.
The Martin List Price is $6299 and the Martin MAP is $4999.
78-7182 C F Martin (new) OM-21, #1260408, with hard shell case. A dovetail joint, all solid wood, glossy finish instrument, scalloped braced, extremely fine sounding – one of the best bargains in the current C F Martin line-up.
The Martin List is $2599 and the Martin MAP is $1949.
78-7183 C F Martin (new) DC16GTE Premium, #1242393, with hard shell case.
A cutaway, all solid wood dreadnought with a sophisticated Fishman pickup system. The Martin List is $1949 and the Martin MAP is $1449.
78-7315 C F Martin (new) DC16RGTE Aura, #1262176, with hard shell case.
A cutaway, all solid wood dreadnought with the most versatileFishman pickup system. The Martin List is $2299 and the Martin MAP is $1699.
78-7185 C F Martin (new) DXME, a High Pressure Laminate electric-acoustic guitar with Classic IV Sonicore pickup, #1271304, with no carrying case (we recommend your consideration of a Levy’s/Mandolin Bros.gigbag).
The Martin List is $839 and the Martin MAP is $599.
78-7186 C F Martin (new) JC16RE Aura, #1262122, an all-solid wood guitar with one of Fishman’s finest pickups and hard shell case.
The Martin List is $2999 and the Martin MAP is $2199.
78-7150 and 78-7149 C F Martin (new) 000-16GT, #1260304, and #1260303, with hard shell case.
A Martin modern model, having the mortise-and-tenon neck joint, made from all solid woods including a Sitka spruce glossy finished spruce top and matte finish sides, back and neck. For a highly attainable price it sounds just great, and looks and feels the same! For each guitar, the Martin List is $1399, the Martin MAP (and our Discount Price) is $999.
78-7151 C F Martin (new) 000C16RGTE Aura, #1256808, with hard shell case.
This has it all – an Auditorium body with solid rosewood sides and back, solid Sitka spruce glossy finished top, with a sophisticated pickup inside and a Venetian cutaway. Utilitarian, and highly affordable. The C F Martin List is $2299 and the C F Martin MAP is $1699.
78-7152 C F Martin (new) 000-16GTE Premium, #1256186, with hard shell case.
The Martin List is $1949 and the Martin MAP is $1449.
78-7153 C F Martin (new) D-16GT, #1263459, with hard shell case. Quite a bargain, this is the Martin gloss top finish, mahogany sides and back dreadnought made with the mortise-and-tenon neck joint.
Fine sounding, and very affordable. The Martin List is $1399 and the Martin MAP is $999.
78-7154 C F Martin (new) D-18V, the Vintage Series version of the famous D-18, #1259227, with Geib style plush lined hard shell case.
This guitar has advanced X-forward shifted bracing, and the cosmetic accoutrements of the prewar Martin mahogany and dreadnought, except with a Sitka spruce top. The Martin List is $3199 and the Martin MAP is $2399.
78-7322 C F Martin (new) Model D-18GE, #1243375, the second-highest level Martin (along with the rosewood Marquis series), having solid mahogany sides and back and a solid Adirondack “Red” spruce top.
Great sound, gorgeous looks with Geib style hard shell case. The Martin List is $4199 and the Martin MAP is $3149.
78-7200 C F Martin (new) 000-18NB Norman Blake model, #1252381, in solid mahogany sides and back
– an unusual combination of 12 frets to the body and a solid headstock, with the special “Secret Sauce” bracing recipe, making it sound unique, vibrant and as acoustically satisfying as a modern guitar gets. It arrives in a Geib style plush lined hard shell case. The Martin List is $4599 and the Martin MAP is $3699.
78-7155 C F Martin (new) OM-18V, #1250922, with Geib style plush lined hard shell case.
A semi-recreation of the prewar OM-18 in mahogany sides and back, with a Sitka spruce top, a 1 ¾” nut width, having an adjustable truss rod, a modified v-shape neck and the cosmetic appointments of the 1931 original. The Martin List is $3199 and the Martin MAP is $2399.
78-7156 C F Martin (new) M-36, #1253090, with hard shell case. The three-piece back, bound fingerboard version of the illustrious Martin M-38.
The Martin List is $2999 and the Martin MAP is $1949.
78-7176 C F Martin (new) D-18V Vintage Series, high quality mahogany and Sitka spruce dreadnought, #1262263, with Geib style hard shell case.
This model features the cosmetic features (and the forward shifted scalloped braces) of the prewar. The Martin List is $3199 and the Martin MAP is $2399.
78-7190 C F Martin (new) 000-18GE Golden Era, #1243421, with Geib Style hard shell case.
One of the finest sounding and most beautiful of all short scale mahogany sides & back Martin guitars; this one has an Adirondack spruce top. The Martin List is $4099 and the Martin MAP is $3099.
78-7312 C F Martin (new) OM-28M Roseanne Cash model, #1260604, Madagascar and Adirondack, with plush lined Geib style hard shell case.
The Martin List is $6999 while the Martin MAP is $5999.
78-7319 and 78-7320 C F Martin (new) LXME, #70243 and 71040, each of these is a very small travel guitar, made out of High Pressure Laminate with a pickup (and volume and tone controls) with zipper gigbag.
The Martin List is $469 and the Martin MAP is $339.
78-7306 C F Martin (used, 1981) Model 7-28, a 7/8th size dreadnought, #435148, in virtually new (near mint plus) condition with original tags in original hard shell case.
This unusual model first appeared in 1980, making people scratch their heads the world around. Martin called it a 7/8 Dreadnought but in fact the body on this delightful fourteen fret pleasure dome measures 17 ½” long by 13.6875” wide, total length is 36 ½” and scale length is only 22 ¾. Regular Martin Dreadnought guitars have a 40 ¼” total length, 20” body length and 15.625” body width. This makes it, then, a 9/10th size dreadnought by total length, 87.5% dreadnought by body length, 87.6% dreadnought by body width. This may be more than you wanted to know. It has every single feature of a full sized dreadnought including the Indian rosewood headstock overlay which hosts, in this instance, a small C F Martin & Co. Est. 1833 gold logo, full sized button Shaller mini-tuners, 8 mother of pearl dotmarkers, a three-ring rosette, a slightly smaller black teardrop pickguard, a carved ebony bridge, a solid mahogany neck with a diamond dart, and a decorative repeating geometric pattern back stripe in crème and black. It has five-ply black white top purfling and two-ply back, with yellowed ivoroid side binding. The neck shape is low oval, it has a non-adjustable truss rod (it don’t need no adjustable truss rod, the neck is dead straight); the East Indian rosewood on the back and sides and the cross-silked and book matched Sitka spruce top both seem Select in grade. It has a small maple bridge plate and happiest of all it is scalloped braced for unrestrained sound and demonstrative tonal range. This guitar is presently fitted with the 6 treble strings from a set of 12-strings so that it can be played as a “High String” guitar. What’s a High String guitar, you ask? It’s like having a “no-action” impossibly easy to play 12-string guitar that fills in the mandolin range when played in an acoustic ensemble. The sixth through third strings are an octave higher than the standard but the second and first are standard tuning making this guitar’s unique stand out. Clean as a patrolperson’s whistle on the first day after graduating from the Academy, this guitar sparkles with a sonic intensity and joie de vivre that is seldom found on the ground; it’s a spinet in near mint, a sweet treat for your musical prodigy or for the jaded player seeking solace in something special. Depending on the head you’re in, you’ll never see a Bedouin. $3,350 or at our cash discount price $3,250.
78-7198 Martin (new) Arts and Crafts-2, #1264113, a Solid German White Oak back and sides, whose grain forms as a very unusual “Cathedral” or herringbone pattern, Individual No. 41 of 100 made total, solid Engelmann spruce top Auditorium housed within a plush lined hard shell case.
We loved the first Arts and Crafts model Dreadnought but we wish that it had been made with a 1 ¾” nut width. Well, guess what? The A&C-2, which is a tastefully decorated 12-fret 000 with a solid headstock for easier/faster string changing has a 1 ¾” nut width. Structural features include mahogany internal blocks with a dovetail joint, herringbone with black/maple fiber purfling. The top braces are ¼” Sitka spruce, the endpiece and the bindings are East Indian rosewood. The top is bordered in bold herringbone, the low profile neck is “selected hardwood” and the nut and saddle are carved of bone. The headplate is solid East Indian rosewood hosting the “C Martin F” block gold mother of pearl logo, and an inlaid pearl Ginkgo leaf floral border. This is a long-scale guitar being 25.4” nut to saddle, it has 20 frets total, a string spacing of 2 ¼” at the 12th fret and 2 ¼” at the bridge. The fingerboard is inlaid in the Arts and Crafts style of American furniture, architecture, decorative arts and interior design, or Pre-Raphaelite in the fine arts, being Ginkgo leaves inlaid in gold mother of pearl at frets 5,7,9 and 12, with a mother of pearl border. The aging toner top, as well as the sides, back and back of the neck are all finished in Polished Gloss lacquer. Bridge and end pins are solid black ebony. The bridge is a Pyramid Stauffer style tuners are Gotoh Antique gold machines with large buttons; the guitar is housed in a Geib style #535AC five-ply plush lined wooden case. This guitar was designed without a pickguard. The interior label is signed by C F Martin IV and this one bears the individual number 14 of 100 such guitars made (there are certainly not a lot of them being made). In keeping with the Arts and Crafts movement, the back stripe is made up of a repeating Rosewood & Oak Dovetail Design and adjacent to the heel of the neck are inlaid four rosewood squares with a repeating sequence at the end graft. The entire effect of this guitar, being made of Oak and being influenced so greatly by this aesthetic movement that occurred between the eras of Art Nouveau and Art Deco at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries (call it 1880 to 1910), is one of stately, timeless beauty. If you have any questions about this or wish to hear it being played over the phone (subject to prior sale of course) you are invited to phone us. The Martin List is $6499 and the Martin MAP is $5199.
78-7368 C F Martin (new) 00-15, the all-solid wood top, back and sides Grand Concert acoustic guitar, #1246485, with hard shell case.
Big sound, small body, small expense. The Martin List is $1249 and the Martin MAP is $949.
78-7201 C F Martin (new) OM-28 Marquis, #1087630, with plush lined hard shell case.
The Martin List is $5149 and the Martin MAP is $3899.
78-7372 C F Martin (new) D-41, the pearl inlaid top, pearl inlaid soundhole rosette scalloped braced clarion of clarity whose sound and simple beauty we admire from afar, with 640 thermoplastic hard shell case.
The Martin List is $4699 and the Martin MAP is $3499.
78-7369 C F Martin (new) D-45, all abalone, all over, scalloped braces, a sound direct from the fretted instrument gods, #1262674, with 640 hard case.
The Martin List is $9299 and the Martin MAP is $6999.
78-7370 C F Martin (new) OM-21 Special, the 1 ¾” nut scalloped braced Orchestra Model that has many accoutrements of the vintage and the sound of the ages, #1251744, with hard shell case.
$3699 is the Martin List, $2799 is the Martin MAP.
78-7371 C F Martin (new) 000-42 Marquis, #1235341, with Geib style plush lined hard shell case.
There are some code words you need to know – When we say Marquis, GE or Authentic, it means “Adirondack spruce top and advanced X forward shifted bracing” It also means “top of the line, historically accurate appointments, and the sound that all acoustic guitarists crave.” If prewar sonics you’ll be wanting, you may find the quest quite daunting. Mandolin Brothers waits for thee - Authentic, plus Marquis, GE. The Martin list on this abalone encrusted gem of an acoustic guitar is $6999 while the Martin MAP is $5599.
78-7367 (and 78-7366) C F Martin (new) 000-28EC Eric Clapton, #1263961 (and #1262506), each with hard shell case.
The vintage toner Sitka top, the 1 ¾” nut width, the wholly tenable modified V-shaped neck, the scalloped bracing, the herringbone details, and the butterbean button tuners are only a small part of the joy that awaits you when you try this most popular of Auditorium-sized guitars. The individual number guitar on 78-7366 is #13,877, which is the number of Eric Claptons that C F Martin has made to date. Wow, that’s a lot of guitars. One wonders whether, after Les Paul, the Eric Clapton model Martin might be the second most popular artist-endorsed guitar extant. The Martin List is $4149 while the Martin MAP is $3099.
15-6944 C F Martin (used, 2006) Eric Clapton 000-28EC, Serial #1080982, Individual number #10489, in excellent plus condition with original Geib style hard shell case.
If you really wanna know, its last owner purchased this guitar on 2/14/06 from a mail order merchant in Oklahoma. He feels terribly guilty in not having purchased it from Mandolin Brothers, or at least so he told us, and we have magnanimously absolved him of these anxious feelings by way of standard capitalistic-based expiation. That he is allowing us to sell it for him is, to us, just same as if he purchased it from us. We have vetted the piece and found it to be, in every way, in excellent plus condition and not only that but this had the good luck of being introduced to our repair staff who provided and installed a new bridge saddle that is contoured to the neck contour. Bridge saddles do net get better than this. This guitar, in nearly unplayed condition, has all of the features that endeared us to this model in the first place. It has the squared headstock, the old style Martin black-bordered gold decal, the etched diamond fingerboard inlays in an unbound ebony board, the herringbone top border with the reverse-direction herringbone soundhole rosette (to maintain the feng shui). It has the beveled edge faux tortoise shell teardrop pickguard, the drop-in bone saddle, the crème color, black dot, bridge and end pins, grained ivoroid body bindings, heel cap and end piece. We should note that there is a very slight orange coloration to a small area of the body bindings at the back, bottom side. We attribute this to playing the guitar too quickly after having well-seasoned garlic bread with one’s dinner, but it could also be from contact with a latex body suit. Tuners are butterbean button open backs that bear the Martin logo, the neck is modified V and extremely comfortable with a 1 ¾” nut width and a 2 ¼” bridge spacing. The sound is at one time boisterous and exuberant, filled with acoustic information and redolent of the overtones and harmonics, progressions and yes, inversions that come from the very fingers of the professional musician who co-designed the instrument. $2263 or at our cash discount price $2195.
78-7399 C F Martin (new) 000-28VS twelve-fret slothead in East Indian and Sitka, #1260413, with hard shell case.
The guitar that has approximately 61 square inches more air space inside of it because the body joins the neck higher up on the neck. An incredible sound. The Martin List is $4399 and the Martin MAP is $3299.
78-7338 C F Martin (used, 1963) 0-16NY, #190444, acoustic guitar, in very good condition with a completely worn out, ragged, period chipboard carrying case. We’ll see if we can find it a much newer and better chipboard case.
This 12-fret to the body, slotted headstock Martin guitar was made during a period in which the suffix “NY” (for New Yorker, since the guitars made pre-1899 were small body, lightly braced and many had a slotted headstock) meant that the instrument was braced to accept either nylon strings or steel strings. It has a teardrop shaped tortoise shell color plastic pickguard on the treble side of the soundhole, like a steel string, matching tortoise color top and back body bindings, thin black-white 4-ply top purfling and multi-ply soundhole rosette. The Brazilian rosewood fingerboard bears no markers on its front surface but there are 7 ivoroid side markers. The smaller black-bordered gold “C F Martin & Co. Est 1833” logo resides on the Brazilian rosewood headplate. Overall the condition is very good with one notable 3 ½” worm-like mark on the treble back that looks like the scar “real” men (such as ourselves) get from having a broken beer bottle thrust against our unprotected cheek in a bar fight. There is glue around the pickguard, an incipient pickguard crack at the treble waist on the face, dings and nicks overall and a worn away area of finish on the treble side upper bout where the guitar made contact with an abrasive (only on the outside) codpiece worn by the first owner during Elizabethan times. There is a amebic-shaped wen on the lower treble portion of the back that appears to be a brief episode with a Taser Model M-26. Did you know that TASER is an acronym for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle” based on the Tom Swift character? We didn’t know that. But we digress. This guitar sounds great (read: utterly incredible) and plays comfortably and, while it has seen much use and playing time it was at all times done lovingly, by a person who embraced the instrument with the throes of extreme passion. Its unexpected sound will surely seduce you. $2159 or, at our cash discount price, $2095.
78-7397 C F Martin (new) 000-18GE, #1250213, with Geib style hard shell case.
This is Martin’s foray into making a close-to-prewar reproduction 000-18, one model under the ultimate reissue, the Authentic. Like the Authentic, it has prewar bracing, a 1 ¾” nut width and, for pristine clarity and transparency, an Adirondack spruce top. Unlike the Authentic it has an adjustable truss rod (what are they thinking?), a modified V-shape neck, and it is all held together by aliphatic glue and not hide glue as the A series has. It is, nevertheless, for all its unutterably significant deficiencies (joke), half the price of the Authentic. The Martin List is $4099 and the Martin MAP is $3099.
78-7278 C F Martin (new) Model MC-DSM, #1258454, the guitar designed by C F Martin’s District Sales Managers, including our own hero of the wholesale, Ralph Chreiman -- in flamed Hawaiian Koa wood and solid Italian Alpine spruce top.
This guitar charms every person who has the honor of playing it. It rings and sings and sustains in ways other guitars can only dream of. It is an M, formerly known as Colonel Quadruple-O when it served in the French Foreign Legion, a fourteen-fret to the body cutaway. It is not ornate in the usual ways but timeless tastefulness is evident in every pore of its being. It has, for example, a single ring of herringbone around its soundhole; the Sitka spruce ¼” (high-definition) bracing is standard X-scalloped and forward shifted. The back is purfled in ebony with black-white Boltaron trim, the end piece in solid black ebony, the body in black-white Boltaron. The neck is “selected hardwood” and carved low profile, the bone nut is 1 ¾” wide; the headstock is solid, square tapered with square corners and capped with polished black ebony that bears the C F Martin script logo in select abalone. The scale is long, the fingerboard measures 2 ¼” at the 12th and the bridge string spacing is the same. All surfaces (except fretboard and bridge) are polished and glossy including the back of the neck. Fingerboard markers are William Foden Special style; tuners are actual Waverly brand with oval buttons; and the bridge is “straightline” with a drop-in saddle (drop in any time). It comes standard with no pickguard; the saddle is 16” radius, compensated and made of bone. Bridge and end pins are solid ebony with abalone pearl dots and it is housed in a Geib 570 five-ply case. Only 100 are being made, and this one is #32. It is an instrument to be treasured and pleasured. The Martin List is, well, it’s $7999 (don’t ask) and the Martin MAP is $6,399.
78-7398 C F Martin (new) D-28 Marquis, #1268730, with hard shell case.
The Marquis Series is, in an East Indian Rosewood (usually EI, though sometimes more exotic woods are substituted) equivalent of the GE series – i.e., guitars made with the genuine mahogany sides and back, advanced X forward shifted scalloped bracing, and the visual appointments of the old. Both the Marquis and GE models have been provisioned with the Adirondack “Red” spruce top which provides a new guitar the effervescence, acoustic clarity and aural visibility to allow both player and audience hear, to absorb, to embrace each new note in each progressive fretted position with renewed ardor. The D-28 Marquis is a close-to-prewar spec dreadnought with a few aberrations – a) it has an adjustable truss rod (thank you!). b) it has a modified V-shape neck and not the full Tumescent Bambino. c) it has East Indian rosewood sides and back and not the dutifully defended Dalbergia, the forbidden fruit of the Rio Amazonis. d) it is made with modern Aliphatic resin glue and not the detritus of the late, lamented but still odd-toed ungulate mammal of the family Equidae. If you want the closest living relative to The Real Deal buy the D-28 Authentic (which we have, by the way), but if the notion of a forty thousand dollar list price scares you (it scares me) then the D-28 Marquis will, without a doubt, sound every drone in your bagpipe. The Martin List is $5149 while the Martin MAP is $3899.
78-7417 C F Martin (new) D-41PW “Porter Wagoner,” #1269970, with plush lined deluxe Geib 545E hard shell case.
This special guitar is individually numbered “41.” “The Wagonmaster Custom Edition” was designed to commemorate the life and music of Mr. Wagoner, (1927-2007). Fanciful and fun, it has the largest and wildest pickguard we have ever seen on a new Martin guitar – taking the form of an asymmetrical bat with wings outstretched! This would be a Delmar tortoise color pickguard that is beveled and polished. Sparkling touches abound including 8 attractive abalone stars – Martin calls them “scalloped hexagons” - inlaid in its crème-bound ebony fretboard. You can’t miss that majestic abalone top and soundhole border, or the “C Martin F” vertical abalone logo inlaid into its polished East Indian rosewood double-bound headstock, offset by six gleaming and gold-plated Gotoh brand, Martin logo, open-geared butterbean button tuners. It has both a sharp diamond dart and a -45 style multi-colored marquetry back stripe, and twin rustic wagon wheels adorn the solid, carved ebony bridge with the drop-in bone saddle. The (bone) nut width is 1 11/16th and the bridge spacing 2 ¼”. Interior bracing is Sitka, 5/16th” and forward-shifted-scalloped; the top is solid Engelmann spruce aged to a toasty toner. The neck is polished gloss finish and low profile, Inside, it bears two labels – one is signed by Porter Wagoner himself and, as well, by Marty Stuart, the other is a photograph of the artist in a red shirt and white suit playing his own guitar which, in the photo, appears identical. The C F Martin List is $5799 and the Martin MAP is $4407.
78-7415 and 78-7416 C F Martin (new) 000-X1, #1274676 and #1274683, with no carrying case.
We recommend that you consider the purchase of a Levys/Mandolin Bros. zipper gigbag. One of the nicest sounding, and least expensive, of all C F Martin guitars, this Auditorium model has a solid Sitka spruce top and that’s what gives it that smooth, luxurious melodious tone. Oh sure, the back and sides are High Pressure Laminate that, on the surface, you would think is flawless mahogany right out of the rainforest. But it’s not, it’s made from fiber and resins and the kinds of things that trees are made of, plus a few high quality dietary supplements. No matter, the entire instrument holds its own alongside guitars that are considerably more expensive, and I can tell you from personal experience – this model makes more beginners happy than you could ever imagine. Try one at our showroom and see for yourself.
78-7135 James Goodall (new) Aloha Koa Parlor 14-fret Cutaway, #AKPC145374, with plush lined hard shell case.
$3633 or, at our cash discount price, $3523.
78-7213 James Goodall (new) Traditional Mahogany Baritone, made with AAA mahogany sides and back and AAA Bearclaw Sitka spruce top, TMHB5404, with hard shell case.
$4824 or, at our cash discount price, $4679.
78-7166 Guild (new) F-50 BLD (blonde finish all over), Deluxe, American Made Jumbo, TK254026, with plush lined hard shell case.
The Guild List is $2599.99 and the Guild MAP is $1950.
78-7193 Huss & Dalton (new) Custom DM, with Koa body bindings, Bearclaw Sitka spruce top, Mahogany sides and back, #2410-1MB, with plush lined hard shell case.
$3336 or, at our cash discount price, $3235.
78-7419 McPherson (new) MG4.5 in Cocobolo and Western Redwood, #1101, with Ameritage Deluxe hard shell case.
Each McPherson guitar comes with the L. R. Baggs internal pickup whose battery is amazingly easy to change (when needed, which isn’t often) since the D-shaped offset soundhole requires no detuning of the strings. $5670 or, at our cash discount price, $5500.
78-7420 McPherson (new) 5.0XP, in flamed Hawaiian Koa sides and back with a Western Red Cedar top, #1099, with Ameritage Deluxe hard shell case.
As outstanding, beautiful, and luscious sounding a guitar (for under $6806) as you will experience when you visit our vast inventory of all that is vibrating. If you like Koa, you’ll love this instrument. $6805 or, at our cash discount price, $6600.
78-7401 McPherson (new) MG4.5 in Brazilian Rosewood and Engelmann spruce, #1098, with Ameritage Deluxe hard shell case.
I know we said that the Koa/Cedar was one of the finer sounding guitars in our inventory but that one is, well, Koa from the Islands and superlative beyond words in a whole different price range. What we meant to say is that this Braz-Zoolian guitar is simply one of the best sounding acoustics we have recently heard. The chosen woods are enough to make one’s socks alternately rise and fall like a demonstration of the pistons in a combustion engine. The sound is nothing less than exquisite, causing grown men to weep and stalwart women to comfort them. We don’t know how Matt McPherson does it – how he makes acoustic guitars of this caliber, that is. It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the New Champeen. Still reasonably priced, considering its lineage. $9073 or, at our cash discount price, $8800.
78-7374 RainSong (new) WS-1000, #9888, the Auditorium-sized cutaway in all graphite composite, with the superb tone and built in pickup and preamp, with hard shell molded thermoplastic case.
The RainSong List is $2995 and the RainSong MAP is $2249.
78-7373 RainSong (new) OM-1000, #9887, the Orchestra Model (15” wide) cutaway in all graphite composite, with the exceptional tonal range and the built in pickup and preamp, with hard shell molded thermoplastic case.
The RainSong List is $2995 and the RainSong MAP is $2249.
78-7343 Santa Cruz (used, 2003) Model H-14, sunburst top, in Adirondack “Red” spruce and flamed maple, #H-705, in excellent plus condition with original hard shell case.
This is one ultra-lovely Santa Cruz H-model guitar, having 14 frets to the body. The top is Adirondack spruce, and the sides and back are tightly flamed maple, with the two book-matched halves of the back separated by a thin black line. Santa Cruz reports that the maple was supplied by the commissioning California dealer. The neck is also flamed maple, two-piece, book matched, with the simple, elegant thin back line down the center continuing the theme set by the back and carrying it up to and through the headstock. All this is shaded in a lovely dark sunburst that fades to a golden glow in the center (sometimes I fade to a golden glow in the center, but that's usually after an oil change). The black ebony fingerboard sports tiny pearl dots at fret positions 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, and 15. Its fingerboard, headstock, and body are bound in grained ivoroid, and the squared, solid headstock sports an ebony headplate with the standard pearl “Scgc” logo inlaid therein and two rows of gold Waverly tuners with gold butterbean knobs. Its heelcap is grained ivoroid; the top purfling comprises six plies of b-w-b-w-b-w (reading from the outside in), and the sides and back are three-ply. The rosette consists of two separate circles of purfling whose plies are too numerous to count; the outer ring might be five-ply and the inner circle could have as many as eleven. The black ebony bridge has the shapely belly and carved wings of the Santa Cruz FS-style bridge; the ebony bridge pins have small pearl dots. Provided is a nice dark OM-teardrop-shaped Greven Tor-tis pickguard of high veracity to the prewar. Impressively, the sound is lush, warm and well-balanced, with the brightness of the maple back and sides tempered by the more complex voice of the Adirondack top. Bass notes have a considerably 'elastic' feel to them as they are struck, considered by many to be a sign of an exceptional top. The nut width is 1-11/16" and, combined with the oval shape of the back of the neck it is comfortable to hold, delightful to play. The string spacing at the saddle is 2-13/16"; the scale length is standard long-scale. There is a passive Baggs iBeam pickup mounted in the correct position inside on the bridge plate, with the tailpin jack installed and attached thereto. Condition is beyond merely excellent, with only a few blemishes: the most compulsive readers will want to know that there are the usual infinitely small pickguard scratches, one tiny ding on the top on the lower treble bout, some easily missed scratches in the top-side edge binding at one spot on the butt, and a handful of small, crescent-shaped finish blemishes on the butt, five or six in number that look almost as if the instrument had come in contact with the edge of a hot surface at some point, or maybe it was just the hot fingerpicking that was played on it. Don’t let the description frighten you – to see the guitar you might think it, and its sound, new and supremely exciting. $4118 or, at our cash discount price, $3995.
78-7342 Santa Cruz (used, c. 2005) Bob Brozman Baritone, #D4854, in excellent condition with original hard shell case.
The Santa Cruz Bob Brozman model is, in our opinion and that of actual magazine writers who review things like this, the leader in the under-$4000 price range, the stentorian potentate, the prince of presence, strength and tone; it is melodious yet it takes up most of the space in the room when it speaks with radio-announcer articulation. The reason it is so good (and powerful, like a merciful monarch) is because it has the 27” scale and the wider neck suitable for baritone playing. It is plentiful with the herringbone topography, border and soundhole, a zipper back stripe, and it has the tasteful position markers of four etched mother of pearl diamonds. Its tuners are gold and side-mounted on the squared-slot open peghead, its bridge pins are inlaid and countersunk and once you have felt these low-rider pins under your palm you may never want to go back to the silent cylindrical sentinels that stand stout and tall and are useful if you wish to demonstrate stigmata. With the Brozman Baritone you can play at any volume including wincingly loud, you can sound like a cello or a growling lion, whichever metaphor scratches you under the chin (and behind the ears). The Brozperson-Barry sounds like no other six-string you have ever heard or will hear, and owning it will set you apart from the masses. It is, more than you know, like being acquired by the angels, all over again. $3,763 or, at our cash discount price, $3,650.
78-7333 Taylor (used, 2006) Model 614-CE, flamed maple and Sitka spruce, #20060511111, in excellent plus/near mint condition with original hard shell case.
This is one of the most beautiful (and fine sounding) modern production guitars. It is striking and yet exceedingly tasteful, having a white bound, polished ebony headplate inlaid with just the Taylor script logo, a matte finish ebony truss rod cover, 6 flying birdie pearl fingerboard inlays in a jet black ebony board bound in white celluloid, a five-ply bordered face and three-ply bordered sides, with a large abalone soundhole rosette buttressed by four-plies of black-white on each side. To indicate how new and unplayed this guitar is; the pickguard still bears the “This guitar is equipped with Elixer strings” sticker. It is also equipped with the famous Expressions sound system in which three separate sound transducers are mixed through an internal preamp to create a sound, when amplified – especially through the Fender Acousticsonic UltraLight 250-watt output amplifier -- that sounds like a movie in Dolby Stereo. Tuners are gold-plated sealed backs with Taylor logo, and the flame maple is so rich, deeply etched and three-dimensional that it practically takes one’s breath away just to see it. Playing it acoustically one is impressed by its crispy clarity while retaining a warm, substantial, palpable bass and midrange response. So many use the term “articulate” so often that it occasionally loses its meaning, but when you hear this Taylor 614-CE you will again remember what it was that drew you to playing guitar in the first place. It sounds wonderful! In addition to this you get a guitar whose serial number actually ends in “11111.” The Taylor MAP (the standard advertised price) on a new one happens to be $2,949 but this used one can be yours for $2366 or at our cash discount price $2295.
78-7396 Taylor (new) Model 914CE, the pearl inlaid model that resides at the highest grade in the numbered series
with the fancy fauna inlaid into its bound ebony fingerboard, the Venetian cutaway and the Expressions System whose controls reside on the upper bass side, #20080108132, with plush lined hard shell case. The Taylor List price is $5428 while the Taylor MAP is $3999.
78-7395 Taylor (new) Model 514CE, the genuine mahogany sides and back, genuine cedar top grand auditorium soft cutaway with the wonderful Expressions sound system built in, #20071002103, with plush lined hard shell case.
The Taylor List price is $3558 while the Taylor MAP is $2649.
NEWS FROM R. TAYLOR GUITARS
– hand made instruments for the most discerning player: The new R. Taylor Style 2 / Style 1 12-string -- The R. Taylor lineup continues to evolve with two new offerings: the Style 2 guitar and the Style 1 twelve-string.
The R. Taylor Style 2:
Style 2 is a direct descendant of Style 1, sharing many of the same features and options. With Style 2, the R. Taylor luthiers have redefined what the compact Grand Concert body size is capable of. The goal was to craft a smaller, lighter instrument that would yield nuance, balance, harmonic complexity and solid fundamental notes at almost any dynamic level. After experimenting with body shape and dimension, bracing size and placement, scale lengths, bridge size, and peghead design, the Style 2 was born. The body measures 15 inches wide at the lower bout (Style 1 being 16 ¼ inches), and 4 3/16 inches deep at the lower bout (compared to 4 7/16 inches for Style 1).
While Style 2 will certainly appeal to fingerstyle players, guitarists of every ilk will find inspiration at their fingertips. The sound is signature R. Taylor: superb note definition over the entire fingerboard, exquisite sustain, and chords that bloom as a finely balanced palette of expression. Together these tonal traits translate the player’s intentions into what we all ultimately seek: musicality. Available in short scale only (24 7/8 inches), with either a standard or slotted peghead, Style 2 is not only very comfortable to play, but is supremely responsive to any technique, from the most refined and delicate fingerstyle to robust flatpicking styles. Departing slightly from the Style 1 options, Style 2 features just one bracing pattern / top geometry: X bracing, with a 65-foot radius top. All of the R. Taylor nut widths and neck shapes are available on Style 2.
The R. Taylor Style 1 twelve-string:
The Style 1 12-string is a guitar we have been looking forward to for quite some time. Built with a modified X bracing pattern and a 65-foot radius top geometry, this outstanding instrument can be personalized in many of the same ways as a Style 1 six-string, with the additional option of being set up specifically for non-standard tunings. Many 12-string players love the power of tuning the entire guitar down a whole step or even lower. Just let us know what your 12-string desires are, and we can most likely accommodate you.
78-7328 Abe Wechter (used, c. 2001) hand-made “Marielle” model acoustic-electric nylon string “hybrid” guitar, #1213. in excellent plus condition with Wechter logo TKL hard shell case.
We offer you one of two such instruments designed by Abe Wechter to be an electric nylon string – and made as a sister of the same model, in the same woods, that he made for Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. The main difference between them is that John’s is festooned with abalone decoration – the owner says John’s has more abalone than a raw bar -- this one is kept pretty simple. After building both of these guitars Wechter came out with a mass production model of similar design that he called an Elite 9000 Florentine, but these guitars bear no resemblance to those replicants.This is a nylon string jazz model with 14 frets to the body and a Florentine cutaway. It is made of the same woods as John's (cedar top, beautiful sapele back and sides), and both have the under-saddle Fishman Natural 1 Piezo pickups. On this guitar the “ghost” rosette and the peghead are made of French "bois de rose" from the workshop of a French cabinetmaker. The tuners are Rodgers ultra-high-tech classical machines with black mother-of-pearl buttons, a significant upgrade from the tuners that would have gone into this model, and supplied by the person for whom the guitar was custom made. Minor imperfections: This guitar has a tiny mar in the soundhole rosette and three mars from string changing below the bridge. It may have other indications of light normal playing time on it as well. This absolutely astonishing sounding, clear-as-a-bell with acoustic transparency and aural accuracy not found in any electric nylon string guitar encountered since a sleepy Andre’ Segovia accidentally plugged his Norelco electric shaver into a 220-volt outlet in Bulgaria. $6180 or, at our cash discount price, $5995.
OUR “JUST SO YOU KNOW” DEPARTMENT.
Composite Acoustics Guitars has recently made some changes in the names of their models. There’s no more “GX Performer” – one of the most popular names in their roster. Nope. Now that model is called a Model 8M-CE. You may, perhaps, be wondering what some of their other models (that we have in stock) have been renamed. Here they are, in alphabetical order:Bluegrass Standard - 8LB (Bluegrass)
COT-Standard - 7L-E with COT option
GX Performer - 8M-CE
GX Player - 7M-CE
GX-RT Charcoal - 5M-CE
Legacy Performer D-12 - 8L-E
X-Performer - 7S-CE
Vintage Performer - 8L-E (Vintage)
X-COT - 7S-CE with COT option
X-RT Silver - 5S-CE
Please phone or email us for the price of each of these guitars!
Here’s how it works: The new travel guitar, called the CARGO did not earlier exist. It’s a cute little all graphite guitar that sounds great for its small size, and you need to try one. You’ll note that this is the only model that doesn’t have an alpha-numerical title. It’s just called the Cargo which is a triple pun since it’s made from Carbon Fibre, it can be played in your car, or on the bus or train (where legal) and can go anywhere. Here’s what happened to the other models: The new Series 5 was in the past called the RT, the new Series 6 was in the past called the RT Tribal (although I have to say that we have never before heard of the RT-Tribal), the new Series 7 was formerly called the Player, and the new Series 8 was earlier called the Performer. Furthermore, the S body was formerly called X and meant Grand Concert (Thin); the M body was formerly called GX and that’s a Grand Auditorium; and the L body was formerly called Dreadnought and you know what that is. Got it? Good, ‘cause there’ll be a quiz.
15-5119 Avalon (used, 8/04) "Dadgad/Amo" - a cutaway semi-custom variation on the O-10.
This guitar is said to have been Prototype No. 1 but is not labeled that way; it bears serial number L-000453 and is in near mint plus condition with original black hard shell case. This is said to be a custom copy of Pierre Bensusan's beloved Lowden S-22 (later called O-10) after George Lowden re-worked it into a cutaway. It is constructed, like the cigar-toting, head-dressed, life-sized monolith that stands in front of the South Beach "Rides and Pinball" concession of a more select cedar and specially chosen mahogany - i.e. it was built with Avalon's finest Premier Grade woods. One immediately notices its light weight construction as well as the tasteful Sycamore bindings, ebony fingerboard, rosewood pin bridge in Avalon's variant of the L-word jumbo body shape, with ebony bridge pins and a split saddle for better reception on those muggy nights. The nut width nominally 1-3/4", although we feel that it actually measures 1/32nd” wider, the string spacing at said split saddle is 2-3/8", perfect for fingerstyle. The neck is five-piece, three mahogany sections and two maple, body bindings are maple, heel cap is ebony, end piece maple, soundhole rosette abalone, fingerboard ebony and carved pine bridge rosewood. The guitar happens to be very resonant and responsive and although this probably has nothing to do with the clear pickguard, the two could be related. Gold Gotoh 510 gears with host bicycle-seat shaped ebony buttons. It has no pickup, but most Avalon guitars have their end-blocks drilled at the factory to be suited to pickup installation (it's not merely genetic), and the instruction is not only factory-supplied with an oversize rosewood end pin but its last owner installed a golden-hued strap pin in the heel of the neck. Housed, it is, yes, in an original molded Hiscox case without no stinkin' embossed logo. $2778 or at our cash discount price $2695.
78-7270 Bourgeois (new) Custom Vintage OM, #4485, made especially for the Winter 2008 NAMM Show, in Eastern Adirondack “Red” spruce for the top and Pao Rosewood sides and back, with hard shell plush lined case.
This superb sounding instrument, made of rare materials, has a wood soundhole rosette, the body bindings are rosewood, the purflings are wooden, six-ply on the face, two-ply on the back; the headstock is squared and the Brazilian rosewood headplate bears the script, inlaid pearl Bourgeois logo; on the back of the headstock is the diamond dart of Arthurian legend. The ebony fretboard sports fourteen frets to the body with the 1 ¾” nut width true to the OM and five etched mother of pearl diamonds grace the 5th, 7th and 9th positions. The soundhole is bordered in 15 concentric rings of wood marquetry in three circles; the bridge is carved of ebony with a pyramid on each side; the back stripe is wood marquetry in the southwestern American arrow-and-rectangle motif; tuners are gold-plated Waverly brand with magnificently simple yet erogenously elegant oblong rosewood tuning buttons. The low oval (not-V-shaped) all mahogany one-piece neck is comfortable yet hand-filling and the sound, sustain, volume and range of tone are exemplary – notes hang in the air for what seems an endless duration (we welcome that). This is a singular experience, a special moment in what is already a special industry – the creation of wooden machinery on which to play, write, perform and express unfettered jubilance in the making of the music that we love. Here’s what Bourgeois says about these materials: “…the 50+ year old West African Pao Rosewood set used on this guitar makes it loud and rich and one of the best OM's we've heard.” $4130 or, at our cash discount price, $4005.
78-7300 Collings (used, 2004) OM2H BbA #9210, Cutaway Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack spruce, near mint with original hard shell case.
This Collings Fingerpicker’s Dream is a gorgeous guitar, starting from the tip end of its square-cornered Brazilian rosewood headplate of mostly dark grain contrasted with mocha on the treble edge, from which the pearl inlaid Collings logo shines like a beacon; tuners are Waverly brand nickel-plated open-gear butterbeans; the fretboard is jet black ebony with five etched squares as markers; the top is bordered in wood marquetry herringbone, the soundhole in infinitely tiny black and crème wood marquetry in three rings of 5, 9 and 5 with the middle ring having a center line of red. The bridge is carved of ebony and houses six ebony bridge pins; all bindings are grained ivoroid and so is your heel cap, the back stripe is zipper pattern, the end graft is ivoroid bordered by two black lines. The condition of this instrument is “near perfect” and the action has just been set (by our team of felicitous fangists) to “extremely comfortable and low.” From these nearly impossible- to-obtain tone woods to the flawlessness of its mien and bearing, from the profound sound of stalwart hound to the bayou baying of the hacking hawk, it is in every way an ideal instrument. $6700 or, at our cash discount price, $6500.
78-7259 Collings (new) D2HA Adirondack spruce top, #14138-1MB, with plush lined hard shell case.
$4,268 or at our cash discount price, $4140.
78-7036 Collings (new) OM-2H, #14058, with hard shell case.
$3433 or, at our cash discount price, $3330.
78-7233 Collings (new) 0-2H, a very small guitar with unbelievable sound, 1 ¾” nut width, #14125, with hard shell plush lined TKL “AVS” case.
$3500 or, at our cash discount price $3399.
78-7085 Collings (used, Summer 2005) Model CW (Collings Winfield) #10422, in East Indian rosewood sides and back with an Adirondack spruce top, with plush lined hard shell case.
A superlative instrument, one of the best sounding and most beautiful of all Collings dreadnoughts, the Collings Winfield (did you notice the initials are CW?) is the reintroduction of their famous earlier Clarence White edition, no longer made. This example is select East Indian and Red Spruce and the features include an engorged soundhole, 21 shiny and virtually unworn frets on the neo-classical ebony fingerboard that’s bound in grained ivoroid. The Winfield, on its infield, has no tongue brace, and that’s the reason it is so articulate and outspoken. The “Collings” script pearl logo beams from the Brazilian rosewood squared corners headplate, the tuners are Waverly brand, open-gear with butterbean buttons, the back of the headstock is bestowed with a carved diamond dart, the mahogany neck is “modified V shape,” the top is bordered in herringbone against a black background and then grained ivoroid on the sides, the pickguard is prewar Dalmatian style and there is what appears to be air space underneath it, just on the corner, in 3 areas. The soundhole rosette is comprised of two rings of multi-ply purfling, one darkish and five-ply, the other with grained ivoroid at the center and nine-ply. The nut is polished bone, the back stripe is wood marquetry zipper, the heel cap is grained ivoroid, the polished bone bridge saddle is “through” with a compensated “B.” The sunburst top adds a modicum of digitny to an experience that can only be described as “1937 all over again.” The soundhole sports a diameter of 4 3/16th” and the sound, itself, is as big as all of Texas. Remember: “Don’t ask what it’s costin’, it came here from Austin.” $4382 or, at our cash discount price, $4250
78-7232 Composite Acoustics Model GX-RT in charcoal, #RP6612-211073G with a zipper gigbag.
The CA List is $1732.
78-7231 Composite Acoustics Model GX-Player, #P6610-30073 with a zipper gigbag.
The CA List is $2000.
78-7024 Composite Acoustics (CA) Model GX-Performer, #GX621120075, with hard shell case.
The CA List is $2949.
78-7272 Gallagher (new) Doc Watson Signature Model, #3394, with hard shell plush lined case.
The J. W. Gallagher & Son Guitar Company of Wartrace, TN was founded in 1965. One of the first things they did was to provide Doc Watson with one of their mahogany dreadnoughts, which he took under his wing, so to speak, where it has remained to this very day. J.W.’s son, Don Gallagher says that it has never been their goal just to make guitars – they have aspired to use guitar making as a way of expressing excellence in craftsmanship. They make very few – this past year they made approximately one hundred guitars total. “Our guitar making is not just a business,” he says, “it is a way of life.” Since 1965 every guitar they build has been recorded in their ledger – when work is done on a guitar or if they know of a change of owners, that information are noted in the good book. This guitar is their Signature Doc Watson model, although it does not bear the National Treasure’s own actual signature. It is made with an African Mahogany body (also known as Sapele) but this is golden highlighted stuff and extremely beautiful. It has a Sitka spruce top, voiced top bracing, a fingerboard and headplate that are bound in maple, an ebony bridge and fingerboard, mother of pearl diamond and square position markers in the fretboard and a facsimile of Doc Watson’s signature inlaid ad the 14th fret. It has a bone nut and addle, herringbone purfling and soundhole inlay, a zig-zag backstripe, wide frets, a 1 ¾” nut width, and more profoundly strong acoustic density and tonal effervescence than any new guitar should come with right out of the box. Right now this guitar is priced at only $3095. It is our understanding the Gallagher is about to have a price increase on this model to $3995 (don’t ask! That’s a huge jump) so if you are seeking an excellent deal on a great guitar, I’d suggest calling us and ordering this one while it’s still this affordable.
78-7044 Gold Tone (new) GM-6 A-style, teardrop, six-string Octave Guitar, #2712347, with zipper gigbag.
Looks like an A-style mandolin, plays like a regular guitar, except an octave higher than usual. Great for helium parties, castrato conventions. $358 or, at our cash discount price, $247.
78-7238 Guild (new) GAD-30R ASB, GAD28002, with delightful hard shell case.
This is the Guild Auditorium-sized guitar, based on the great Guild F-30s of the 1960s and ‘70s. However, in this instance it is made in a land far, far away and although it looks beautiful, plays extremely easily and sounds truly remarkable, this all solid wood, glossy finish instrument sells, with that case, at a MAP of only $712. Hard to believe, I know. If you try one out you may say “I would have thought, playing it, that this was maybe $1712, but for $712 it’s the best deal in town.”
78-7055 Huss & Dalton (new) Custom Order D-RH, in Bearclaw Sitka spruce top, East Indian rosewood sides and back, #2363, with hard shell case.
$3303 or, at our cash discount price, $3204.
15-6811 Lowden (new) S-12, a small bodied guitar made from mahogany sides and back with a Sitka spruce top, #15969 with Hiscox hard shell case.
But man, it doesn’t sound small. It sounds gigantic. $3707 or, at our cash discount price, $3596.
78-7069 Lowden (new) O-32C, a jumbo sized guitar with a soft Venetian cutaway, made of finest quality East Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce for the top, #16023, housed in a Hiscox (made in the UK) “flight” quality hard shell case.
A singular tone, like no other guitar in the world. It produces a sound that will haunt you for a lifetime. Profoundly melodic, and yet so different from all the other brands. As you probably know, Lowden guitars excel at lower tunings. They lose no strength when tuned down – they thrive on your creativity. $3740 or, at our cash discount price, $3628.
78-7103 C F Martin (used, 1937) Model F-7 archtop guitar, #65794, a 16” archtop prewar Martin in straight-grain Brazilian rosewood, in very good plus condition with an arched and carved spruce top and a newer standard black hard shell replacement case.
Please see our full description (and discussion of the ethics of blind participation in a mass vivisection ritual) under ARCHTOPS in this issue of The Vintage News. $6705 or at our cash discount price $6500.
15-6861 C F Martin (used, 1972) D-18, #306401, in very good condition with a newer Guardian plush lined hard shell case.
This very fine sounding full dreadnought instrument, made in a good period, and sounding alive with tonal splendor, looks its age. Well, there is that small area, perhaps it’s a teeny crack, at 1 and 2 o'clock position on the soundhole from the removal of an old fashioned soundhole pickup. It has a strap burn on the face below the replaced bridge, normal playing wear on the face on both sides of the soundhole, a replaced, over-the-finish, pickguard and it shows playing wear below the pickguard. It has a repaired double pickguard crack under the first string, You will observe that it shows dings, scrapes, scratches, mars, nicks and wens overall, including on the back of the neck, whiplash type repaired cracks on both sides of the neck adjacent to the first fret. The treble side of the neck heel has a strap pin thrust into it. Under the top we have discovered a replaced maple bridge plate - it once had a large rosewood bridge plate and the indications of the old plate remain. All of the tuners are Grover Rotomatic, but the six-string tuner was replaced. Five tuners have "Pat. Pend" on their back and the 6 string tuners does not. Notwithstanding its deficiencies, it is a handsome instrument and one you would greatly enjoy owning. $1953 or, at our cash discount price, $1895.
78-7298 C F Martin (used, 1976) D-76 Bicentennial Lefty, #377256, Individual Number 1956, in natural Sitka spruce top, stained East Indian rosewood sides & back.
It is currently housed in an upgraded Geib style hard shell case. In the year 1976 C F Martin Guitar Company commemorated the nation’s Bicentennial by issuing 1,976 serial numbered instruments that had 13 star inlays in the ebony fingerboard, a spread bald eagle etched and inlaid on the headstock, twin, angled, herringbone backstripes on its three-piece rosewood back, 5 plies of black-white top purfling, two-plies of back purfling, a black plastic pickguard and herringbone soundhole rosette. It has the old style C F Martin & Co. gold decal logo with black border. We have never before seen one of these in left handed, but it was, at that time, orderable. Interesting footnote: The D-76 is the only guitar C F Martin Company ever made that has a transferable Lifetime Limited Warranty. This particular example shows normal signs of playing wear including scratches, scuffs, nicks and scrapes. There is an area of finish in front of the ebony bridge that is “pushing up” from the pressure of the strings on the bridge. The tuners are the original Grover Rotomatic nickel-plated. A strap pin has been added to the heel of the neck, treble side. The playing action is quite favorable and the sound and projection exemplary. The owner says that this guitar was sent back to the Martin factory, where it was re-topped in 1991, however, to see the guitar one would never think it – the Sitka top has oranged nicely and there is nothing about this instrument that doesn’t look original. The owner said that when he asked C F Martin Company how many they made in lefty they gave him a number like “five.” We have not asked Martin to certify that for us, but it has the rosette of truth. One thing’s for sure – there are not a whole lot of Bison Antennial Lefty D-76 Martins roaming the range. $3605 or at our cash discount price $3500.
78-7094 C F Martin (used, 1977) Model HD-28, #393897 in the blue fiberglass thermoplastic case.
This instrument has recently had its neck reset which is always a good thing. A strap pin has been forcibly driven into the heel of the neck. The guitar shows minor signs of use and wear. There is touch up on and under the bass side of the area below the nut which is that way because, when the nut was replaced the wood chipped. It has a replaced black pickguard. All of this aftermarket workmanship notwithstanding, we believe that this is quite a lovely instrument – having had its neck reset it plays easily and it sounds mahvelous. $2572 or at our cash discount price $2495.
15-6489 C F Martin (new) HD-28, #1226135, with molded thermoplastic 640 hard shell case.
The Martin HD-28 is one of the most popular new guitars (of any brand or style) that we sell and this has been so since the first ones were delivered to us (our first shipment of new product) which arrived on the same day that we moved into our present building, in September of 1976. 1976 was the first year for this model and only 500 were made that year. The HD-28 has since become the standard of the industry and we are proud (I say proud) to be selling them virtually as quickly as they arrive. What a fine instrument this is. The Martin List is $3299 and the Martin MAP is $2499.
78-7086 C F Martin (used, 2006) M3M George Martin Model M, #1137049, Individual number 95 of 127 made total, in “as new” (virtually unplayed) condition with original Geib style hard shell plush lined case bearing the Martin logo plate.
The Martin Web site says: As the most important producer in music history, Sir George Martin knows how to achieve excellence in the recording studio. In an illustrious career that has spanned five decades, he is probably best known as the man who signed the Beatles and produced most of their recordings. Moreover, his recording innovations have transformed how records are made. So when George Martin detailed his preferences for a namesake Martin Signature Edition guitar to fellow musician and record producer John Kurgan, his specific goal was to create an instrument uniquely suited to the studio. The M3M George Martin Studio Edition is that guitar: an acoustic with sensational recorded sound. The tailoring of this guitar for the studio shows in its distinctive body style and unique combination of premium solid tone woods. The M body, with 0000 shape (16? at the lower bout) and 000 depth (4-1/16? at the end pin), produces full, balanced and unusually pure tone. The top is crafted from rare Italian alpine spruce, revered for its quick response and full resonance: forward-shifted scalloped top braces broaden the tonal palette. The sides and back of genuine mahogany, preferred by many recording engineers for its clear bright trebles, show George Martin’s inimitable creativity. The four-piece back features a center wedge of rare quilted mahogany, separated from the wings by Style 35 white/black/white back strips. Two additional Style 35 back strips highlight a small wedge of unfigured mahogany below the neck heel. Together, the four back strips form a graceful M (for Martin) emblem.The M3M George Martin Studio Edition sports a generous 1 25/32th” (at the nut) low profile neck of genuine mahogany. The headplate displays quilted and unfigured mahogany and fine line inlays to create the same “M” emblem as on the guitar’s back. The headstock comes equipped with gold Waverly tuners with butterbean knobs and bears the “C. F. Martin & Co.” pressure stamp on the back. The black ebony fingerboard features a small “5” inlay at the fifth fret to commemorate George Martin’s role as the fifth Beatle, with Style 42 snowflake inlays marking the other positions. Sir George’s signature is inlaid between the 19th and 20th frets. Both the headstock and fingerboard are bound in grained ivoroid, with black/white inlay on the headstock and mitered black/white inlay on the fingerboard. The body is bound in grained ivoroid, with fine herringbone purfling encircling the top and fine black/white/black lines bordering the sides, back and grained ivoroid end piece. The Style -45 rosette highlights select abalone pearl, matched by the abalone pearl dots atop the ebony bridge pins and endpin. The nut and saddle are crafted from genuine bone. A polished and beveled tortoise-color pickguard adds to the vintage vibe of the aging-toned top. Polished gloss finish on body and headplate allows the beautiful natural color of the mahogany to shine, while a satin finish neck contributes to player comfort.
At Sir George’s request, the M3M George Martin Studio Edition originally came with Martin SP coated light-gauge strings to, as he put it, reduce “collywobbles” (his word for string squeak), the bane of recording engineers everywhere. Each guitar bears an interior label personally signed by George Martin and Martin Chairman C. F. Martin IV, and is numbered in sequence with the edition total. The original Martin List Price was $5699, but you can acquire this near mint (virtually unplayed, it comes “with tags”) example at $4015 or at our cash discount price, $3895.
78-7281 C F Martin (new) 000-42MEC (a Limited Edition model, whose label is personally signed by Mr. Eric Clapton), #1249345, with plush lined deluxe hard shell case.
Per the Martin Guitar Co. website: The top is Carpathian spruce, which blends the power and clarity of Adirondack spruce, and the warmth and responsiveness of Italian alpine spruce. The back and sides are Madagascar rosewood, prized for its uncanny resemblance in both appearance and rich resonance to the now endangered Brazilian rosewood. Scalloped top braces give both tone woods full tonal expression. The 1 3/4” (at the nut) V neck with diamond volute is carved from genuine mahogany. Reminiscent of the Brazilian rosewood 000-42ECB Eric Clapton Signature Edition Martin produced in 2000, the 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition features spectacular abalone pearl appointments throughout. Select abalone pearl inlays in the Style 45 rosette, and around the top and fingerboard extension, are highlighted by black and white fine line wood fiber borders. The Madagascar rosewood headplate on the square, tapered headstock provides the canvas for the rare Alternative Torch inlay, which originated on one of four Martin 1902 00-45 instruments and has been offered on only a handful of Signature Editions. In the tradition of classic Martins from the early 1930s and before, the back of the headstock bears the historic “C. F. Martin” pressure stamp. The ebony fingerboard showcases Style 45 abalone pearl snowflake inlays at the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 17th frets, with Eric Clapton’s signature inlaid in mother of pearl between the 19th and 20th frets. The 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition is fully bound in grained ivoroid; black and white fine line inlays accent the headplate and mitered fingerboard binding, while black and white fine line purfling enhances the back and side binding. A Style 45 multi-colored mosaic inlay strip bisects the back. The headstock is fitted with Waverly™ nickel open geared tuning machines with white ivoroid butterbean knobs. Style 45 bone bridge pins topped with abalone pearl dot inlays on the ebony belly bridge are matched by an abalone pearl-inlaid bone end pin. Both the nut and compensated saddle are crafted from genuine bone for exceptional sound. The polished and beveled acetate/nitrate vintage-style tortoise pickguard is particularly striking against this guitar’s two available top hues: the deep amber vintage toner offered standard and the optional 1937 Style Sunburst, available for an extra charge. Martin’s immaculate polished gloss finish on the body, neck and headplate enables the rich colors of the 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition’s tonewoods and inlays to shine. When Eric received his personal 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition guitar – a Sunburst – he responded with an email that simply said: “...absolutely beautiful!” Each 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition bears an interior label personally signed by Eric Clapton and individually numbered in sequence with the edition total. The guitars are delivered in a deluxe Geib™ style five-ply hardshell case. Left-handed instruments may be ordered at no additional charge. Authorized C. F. Martin dealers will begin taking orders immediately for the 000-42M Eric Clapton Limited Edition, which is limited to no more than 250 special guitars. The Martin List is $9749 and the Martin MAP is, um . . . .
78-7284 C F Martin (new) D-28EP “Elvis Presley,” #1258274, a replica of Mr. Presley’s own D-28 guitar, which we ordered without the leather cover (since if it had the leather cover you’d never hear much of the sound of the guitar) with plush lined deluxe hard shell case.
Per the description on the Martin website: “In tribute to Elvis Presley on the 30th anniversary of his passing – also, coincidentally, the 175th anniversary of the Martin Guitar Company – Martin is excited to offer two exceptional commemorative edition guitars fit for the King and his legion of fans. Sporting exclusive appointments throughout, the Martin D-28M and D-28 Elvis Presley Commemorative Editions capture Elvis’ unique charisma.The D-28 Elvis Presley Commemorative Special Edition features back and sides of East Indian rosewood and a top of Carpathian spruce. The combination of these fine tone woods and 5/16” scalloped top bracing produces a responsive guitar with impressive volume, punch and sustain. The Style 28 rosette is matched by Style 28 purfling around the top and back. The body is bound in grained ivoroid. The Elvis motif of these Dreadnoughts begins on the polished black ebony headstock just above the nut, where the silhouette of the King and his Martin – modeled after a famous 1956 photograph – are inlaid in mother of pearl and black pearl. Small pearl bordered abalone star position marker inlays at the 5th, 7th (two), 9th, 15th, and 17th frets on the fingerboard flank Elvis’ signature at the 12th fret. The black Micarta heel cap features his “TCB Lightning Bolt” logo – a design that originated with the “Taking Care of Business” pendants Elvis gave to friends – inlaid in mother of pearl. Classic 1950s-inspired Martin appointments common to these beautiful guitars include a 1 11/16” neck with diamond volute carved from genuine mahogany and satin finished, Grover deluxe nickel Kluson™ tuners with small oval metal buttons, the old style Martin decal logo on the headstock, black ebony fingerboard and belly bridge, genuine bone nut and saddle, and a flawless polished gloss lacquer finish with vintage-appropriate light amber aging toner on the top. In keeping with their black and white palette, these Limited Editions come with white bridge and end pins topped with black dots, and a polished and beveled black pickguard. Each D-28 Elvis Presley Commemorative Edition guitar bears two interior labels specially designed for these models. The primary label for the D-28 Elvis Presley is numbered in sequence without total and includes a holographic, official “Elvis Presley Signature” sticker of authenticity. The Martin List is only $6999 and the Martin MAP is $5499.
78-7286 C F Martin (new) 000-18A “Authentic 1937,” #1258249, with plush lined deluxe hard shell case.
Following the success of their D-18A and D-28A C F Martin has come out with the next model in this extremely high quality line, that being a short scale 000-18 made with the following features: The construction is dovetail joint, it has fourteen frets, a solid Adirondack spruce top, old style -18 rosette around the soundhole, Golden Era style forward shifted scalloped bracing with ¼” Adirondack braces. The back and sides are solid genuine mahogany, the end piece is tortoise-color Delmar in a narrow 1937 shape; bindings are tortoise color, the top is inlaid with multiple black-white Boltaron. The neck is actual mahogany in a shape called “Authentic 1937 barrel and heel.” The nut and saddle are fossilized ivory, the headstock shape is solid with a square taper; the headplate is solid Brazilian rosewood. The fingerboard, heel cap, and 1930s style belly with a long saddle bridge are solid black ebony. The fingerboard measures 1 ¾” at the nut, 2 ¼” at the 12th fret, and the string spacing at the bridge is 2 5/16th”. The position inlays are “old style -18,” the top is finished in aging toner and the entire body in polished gloss. The long bridge saddle has a 16” radius; tuners are Waverly brand nickel plated with oval buttons; the bridge and end pins are solid black ebony; the Delmar tortoise color teardrop pickguard is beveled edge, under the finish; the hard shell case is V18A Authentic style. This is a fantastic sounding Auditorium size guitar and one that, playing it, may give you the goose bumpies. The Martin List is $9749 and the Martin MAP is something like $7799.
78-7217 and 78-7218 C F Martin (new) D-28, #1258379 and #1258380, the olde reliable model in solid Sitka spruce and solid East Indian rosewood sides and back, with thermoplastic molded black hard shell case.
The Martin List is $2849 and the Martin MAP is $2149.
78-7215 C F Martin (new) Stephen Stills model 0-45S, a small body (13 ½” wide at lower bout) guitar that is abalone inlaid on every border and constructed from utterly gorgeous materials including Madagascar rosewood, with a plush lined hard shell case.
The C F Martin List is $15,999 and the Martin MAP is only $12,999.
15-6731 C F Martin (new) 000-28EC Eric Clapton in the dark and delicious “1935” Sunburst top, #1236094, with hard shell plush lined Geib style case.
The C F Martin List priceis $4399; the Martin MAP is $3299.
78-7045 C F Martin (new) HDC-40 Travis Tritt Model, #1248438, Individual No. 10 of only 40 made, with hard shell case.
The C F Martin List Price is $8999 while the C F Martin MAP is $7199.
78-7078 C F Martin (new) HD-28V, the Vintage Series, with advanced X, forward shifted scalloped bracing,
aging toner top, etched diamond fingerboard inlays, squared headstock, old style Martin decal, old style pickguard, modified V-shape neck, herringbone top border, and many other accoutrements of the prewar guitar, #1259246, with Geib style hard shell case. The Martin List is $3899 and the Martin MAP is $2899.
78-7076 C F Martin (new) D-41 Mandolin Brothers Custom Shop Edition, #1257641, featuring a crispy clean Adirondack “Red” spruce top,
advanced X, ¼”forward -shifted scalloped bracing, Adirondack braces just like George Washington had, and a Geib style hard shell case. Your cost on this most magnificent of acoustic guitars is $4407 at our Discount Price or, at our Cash Discount Price, $4275.
78-7059 C F Martin (new) D-28 Marquis, #1242674, with Geib style hard shell case.
The Marquis series is closer in specification to a prewar Martin than any other Martin in their line except for the $39,999 list price D-28 Authentic. This one is East Indian rosewood and Adirondack – both select, hand-chosen woods, and the appointments are all quite close to the original herringbone D-28 – advanced X, Forward Shifted, Adirondack bracing, through saddle, and so forth. The Martin List is $5149 and the Martin MAP is $3899.
15-6915 C F Martin (new) D-28 Marquis in Madagascar rosewood sides and back, #1252424, with Geib style hard shell case.
Madagascar is the closest phylum we have seen to good old Brazilian rosewood. Both are members of the Dalbergia family, a large clan that resided in a tenement in Hoboken, New Jersey in the 1920s and 1930s and went to grammar school with Frank Sinatra. In this instance the patriarch’s name was Dalbergia Baroni, but you can just call me “Baron.” Who tells you “I want you should talk nice with my sister, or you’ll have to deal wit’ me.” The Madagascarian Alternative is getting more and more difficult to export from that beleaguered island, and so the phrase applies: “If you seek to get personal with the Dalbergias you’d best soon succumb to those acquiring urgias. This is one of the most beautiful ways you can possibly spend your hard earned money, and if something smaller is your caller, we might also have it in the OM-28 Madagascar Marquis. Just aks us. The Martin List is $7499 and the Martin MAP is $5599.
78-7278 C F Martin (new) Model MC-DSM, #1258454, Individual Number 32 of 100 made, in Glorious Hawaiian Koa and Alpine Spruce, with hard shell case.
Extremely tastefully designed by C F Martin’s Field Staff, including by our own revered rep Sir Ralph Chreiman, the MC-DSM which means Size M Cutaway, 16” wide, 4” deep, designed by District Sales Managers, is an optimum size and shape grand auditorium cutaway studio performance guitar that combines a two-piece back and two bent sides of flamed Hawaiian Koa with a top of Italian Spruce ) good old picea excelsa (Picea abies H. Karsten) which is the type of stuff chosen by the finest violin makers of the 16th and 17th centuries. Enhancements include forward-shifted braces scaloppini (well, it is Italian spruce), which produces a powerful tone, tuning gears are Waverly brand nickel, oval button bearing and visually quite fetching; it comes in a Geib style vintage style case and has ebony body, fingerboard and headstock bindings plus an ebony heel cap, end graft and back stripe. The fingerboard and headplate, all ebony, are graced with Foden style inlays and Martin’s script logo in select abalone. A white line borders the headplate and fingerboard, and the soundhole rosette is herringbone against a black background. The bridge is rectangular and old fashioned and hosts 6 ebony pins with abalone dots. Wow – that’s gorgeous, and so is the sound which is, frankly, overwhelming. The clarity and the brilliance are remarkable. Ralph, you modest merchandiser – you have (with your peers) designed a guitar that puts aside all our reservations about what constitutes an ideal fingerpicking vehicle for the picky palate. This guitar will provision its owner with great, palpitating joy. The Martin List is $7999 and the Martin MAP is $6399.
78-7041 C F Martin (new) D-35, #1236398, East Indian rosewood and Sitka Spruce with ¼” bracing and a hard shell 640 thermoplastic case.
The Martin List is $2949 and the Martin MAP is $2199.
78-7047 C F Martin (new) OM-21L Lefty, #1258241, with hard shell case.
The OM is Martin’s intermediate size guitar having a 15” wide Auditorium-sized body with a long scale neck, a dovetail joint construction, made of all solid East Indian rosewood and Sitka Spruce. This one is left handed. The Martin List is $2599 and the Martin MAP is $1949.
78-7079 C F Martin (new) D-41 Custom Shop guitar, #1257641, Adirondack top, Adirondack braces, low profile neck, 1 11/16th’ nut, with Geib Style hard shell five-ply plush lined case.
Not satisfied to merely offer our customers the models that Martin conventionally makes, Mandolin Brothers continues in the tradition it established in having initiated the C F Martin Custom Shop back in 1977, by having Martin build special D-41 guitars that exceed the sound specifications for the standard model in every way possible. These are some of the best sounding, and most beautiful, acoustic guitars that we have, even speaking objectively, have ever set our claws to. We start out already loving the Martin D-41 regular guitars -- they somehow have a crispy clarity to them, even in Sitka top with regular scalloped bracing, but when you replace that Sitka with slightly stiffer, super-smooth response Adirondack, and you replace those 5/16th” scalloped braces with race-car fast and helium-light one-quarter inch bracing, you convert an already luxurious and languorously lyrical sounding six-string to an acoustic rocket-ship. The D-41, lest we forget, is abalone bordered on its face and soundhole, it has the small hexagon mother of pearl fingerboard inlays, the white Bolteron bound top, back and neck. It is made from choice, hand-selected, high-level, straight-grained East Indian on its sides and back, it has the multi-colored -45 style back stripe, the six matching sealed-back gold-plated Martin logo large button tuners, the low-profile neck with the diamond dart; the triple-bound East Indian headplate with the C Martin F vertical abalone logo. The back is bordered in white-black-white; the pickguard is attractive faux tortoise shell with beveled edges, the bridge is carved ebony with a bone saddle and six cr\'e8me pins with abalone dots. The Adirondack spruce is a creamy delight -- the combination of ineffable sweetness and penetrating clarity. Yes, it is the combination of advanced X- forward shifted Adirondack and the ¼” scalloped bracing that allows the top to vibrate with more alacrity resulting in more pop, projection and volume. It has the bone nut and saddle, the Geib style case (D-41 guitars usually get a thermoplastic case) and more sound quality and quantity than you ever thought you would, in your lifetime, hear. It is a pleasure to own and a joy to play. Tunes that you have played many times before come alive, when played on this amazing instrument. The Martin List is nearly six thousand dollars but the Martin MAP and our Discount Price is $4407.
78-7247 C F Martin (new) M-38, 1247326, one of our favorite models of Martin guitar, with hard shell case.
The Martin List is $4199 and the Martin MAP is $3199.
78-7248 C F Martin (new) J-40, #1253294, the deep body version of the Martin M-size guitar, with hard shell case.
The Martin List is $4049 and the Martin MAP is $3049.
78-7060, 78-7061 (sold) C F Martin (new) 000X-1, #1261064 and #1261063, each with no case.
The all solid Sitka spruce top provides this Auditorium size guitar with excellent tone for an exceedingly modest price. The sides and back are HPL but still, the sound is elegant. The Martin List is $719, the Martin MAP $499.
78-7048 C F Martin (new) DX-1, #1200073, made of HPL on the sides and back but having a solid spruce top, and so it sounds remarkably good, with no case.
The Martin List is $719 and the Martin MAP is $499.
78-7260 C F Martin (new) Backpacker Steel String, #187566, the long and winding guitar, with a zipper gigbag.
The Martin List is $299 but your cost is $231 with a cash discount price of $224. (Imported)
C F Martin D-16RGT, with hard shell case.
The Martin Guitar Company makes some truly wonderful low-priced guitars. They save money in two ways - first they utilize a mortise-and-tenon joint to connect neck to body, which does require a bolt to hold the two sections together, and secondly they finish the guitar in a matte or satin finish that looks divine and requires less final buffing and polishing than does a gloss finish guitar. The result is an exceptional sounding affordable instrument. This one displays four plies of black-white top purfling, three concentric rings around the soundhole, the center of which is herringbone decorated, has a teardrop shaped dark tortoise color pickguard a carved ebony bridge with a drop in bone saddle and six bone colored bridge pins with black dots. Another way Martin saves money is to not provide a decorative back stripe so the back is a wide expanse of beautiful (and solid) East Indian rosewood bound in white Bolteron®. Tuners are six nickel or chrome-plated C F Martin logo sealed-backs, by Ping or by Gotoh (by Jove). The black fingerboard (Peg of Micarta®) is inlaid with 8 mother of pearl dotmarkers in 6 positions. The headstock is lightly curved edge, East Indian rosewood overlain, with the modern puffy Martin gold logo in relief. Fingerboard is bound in White Bolteron® as is the end graft, and the heel cap is East Indian rosewood, no diamond dart protrudes behind the nut. We present a well-appointed and fine sounding, affordable Martin Dreadnought for the talented amateur player. The Martin List is $1649 and the Martin MAP is $1199.
78-7073 RainSong (new) WS-1000, #9779 with hard shell case.
We are proud to be a dealer for the Woodinville, Washington-based maker of the Auditorium-sized cutaway guitar that’s made entirely of carbon fiber composite, with the sound of a vintage wooden instrument of the finest period. The RainSong List is $2995 and the RainSong MAP is $2249.
78-7256 Santa Cruz (new) Vintage Artist, the mahogany, fancy, herringbone trimmed top dreadnought with the sound straight from heaven, #5592-1MB, with plush lined hard shell case.
The Vintage Artist model features a powerful bass response combined with the bright tone provided by the guitar's mahogany body. This model's prized deep, rolling bass response is achieved by both advancing the scalloped X-brace towards the soundhole and by meticulous attention to top voicing. The separation and clarity of tone produced by the guitar are characteristic of the style of the legendary Doc Watson, who owns the prototype of the Vintage Artist shipped to him by Mandolin Brothers. As Doc says, "This is the Dreadnought I've been looking for all my life." We believe that this guitar is the tonal equal and technical superior of the most respected pre-World War II dreadnoughts. $3,893 or, at our cash discount price, $3,775.
15-6930 Santa Cruz 2000 Tony Rice Pro in Colobolo and Germany with a 4 ½” soundhole, signed by Tony Rice, #2801R with hard shell case.
This WAS $4119 but is NOW ON SALE for $3866 or, at our cash discount price, $3750.
78-7058 Taylor (new) GS-8, Grand Symphony in East Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce, with the option of the Expressions sound system inside, #20070813122, natural top, with plush lined Taylor hard shell case.
The first time I ever saw a new model Grand Symphony it was hand-carried to my store by an informative, professional agent of the manufacturer - the Taylor regional representative who was so ultra-sharp that, shortly after he became our rep, he became Taylor’s Head of Sales. He cautioned “This is nothing like what you are used to – try it and let me know what you think.” I tried it – the sound blew me away. “Wow!” I said “I think Taylor has finally made an inroad into the full-frequencied traditional sound of the older American-made vintage flattop.” He explained that Taylor was re-entering the acoustic guitar market and had designed a series of small jumbo body instruments braced for maximum response, sustain and projection. He wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. The sound is killer and amazing. He also said that the design had come about from Bob Taylor’s ultra-high-end boutique guitar company, RTaylor Guitars, and people were loving it so much that Taylor Guitars sought to offer it at a lower price to their regular dealers. We’ve sold lots of them, but every so often we are moved to order one of these fine instruments with the sophisticated Expressions pickup system that sounds so amazingly good through the best acoustic amplifier we have so far heard – the Fender AcoustaSonic Ultralight. It’s a stereophonic 250-watt output dual channel amp with around 20 pre-sets for changing room ambiance such as by adding delay, slap-back, several levels of reverberation, chorus, flanger and phase, with a built-in notch filter to repress feed back. No quack – nothing artificial about the sound – it comes out like a HUGE acoustic guitar that fills the room with tonal spendor. What a colossal combination – the Taylor Grand Symphony which is refreshing played acoustic and brilliant played amplified, and that amplifier. Come to our showroom and hear it for yourself – or call us up and we’ll play it for you over the phone. Your expectations will never be the same. The Taylor List is $2798 and the Taylor MAP is $2098.
15-6812Taylor (new) Baby BT-3, maple sides and back, #2007-1217320, with zipper gigbag.
This is a new product from Taylor, up until now the Baby was made with mahogany laminate sides and back with either a spruce top or a mahogany top. The Taylor List is $398 with a Taylor MAP of $299.
78-7270 Bourgeois (new) Custom Vintage OM, #4485, made especially for the Winter 2008 NAMM Show, in Eastern Adirondack “Red” spruce for the top and Pao Rosewood sides and back, with hard shell plush lined case.
This superb sounding instrument, made of rare materials, has a wood soundhole rosette, the body bindings are rosewood, the purflings are wooden, six-ply on the face, two-ply on the back; the headstock is squared and the Brazilian rosewood headplate bears the script, inlaid pearl Bourgeois logo; on the back of the headstock is the diamond dart of Arthurian legend. The ebony fretboard sports fourteen frets to the body with the 1 ¾” nut width true to the OM and five etched mother of pearl diamonds grace the 5th, 7th and 9th positions. The soundhole is bordered in 15 concentric rings of wood marquetry in three circles; the bridge is carved of ebony with a pyramid on each side; the backstripe is wood marquetry in the southwestern American arrow-and-rectangle motif; tuners are gold-plated Waverly brand with magnificently simple yet erogenously elegant oblong rosewood tuning buttons. The low oval (not-V-shaped) all mahogany one-piece neck is comfortable yet hand-filling and the sound, sustain, volume and range of tone are exemplary – notes hang in the air for what seems an endless duration (we welcome that). This is a singular experience, a special moment in what is already a special industry – the creation of wooden machinery on which to play, write, perform and express unfettered jubilance in the making of the music that we love. Here’s what Bourgeois says about these materials: “…the 50+ year old West African Pao Rosewood set used on this guitar makes it loud and rich and one of the best OM's we've heard.” $4130 or, at our cash discount price, $4005.
78-7085 Collings (used, Summer 2005) Model CW (Collings Winfield) #10422, in East Indian rosewood sides and back with an Adirondack spruce top, with plush lined hard shell case.
A superlative instrument, one of the best sounding and most beautiful of all Collings dreadnoughts, the Collings Winfield (did you notice the initials are CW?) is the reintroduction of their famous earlier Clarence White edition, no longer made. This example is select East Indian and Red Spruce and the features include an engorged soundhole, 21 shiny and virtually unworn frets on the neo-classical ebony fingerboard that’s bound in grained ivoroid. The Winfield, on its infield, has no tongue brace, and that’s the reason it is so articulate and outspoken. The “Collings” script pearl logo beams from the Brazilian rosewood squared corners headplate, the tuners are Waverly brand, open-gear with butterbean buttons, the back of the headstock is bestowed with a carved diamond dart, the mahogany neck is “modified V shape,” the top is bordered in herringbone against a black background and then grained ivoroid on the sides, the pickguard is prewar Dalmatian style and there is what appears to be air space underneath it, just on the corner, in 3 areas. The soundhole rosette is comprised of two rings of multi-ply purfling, one darkish and five-ply, the other with grained ivoroid at the center and nine-ply. The nut is polished bone, the back stripe is wood marquetry zipper, the heel cap is grained ivoroid, the polished bone bridge saddle is “through” with a compensated “B.” The sunburst top adds a modicum of dignity to an experience that can only be described as “1937 all over again.” The soundhole sports a diameter of 4 3/16th” and the sound, itself, is as big as all of Texas. $4,382 or, at our cash discount price, $4,250.
15-6168 C F Martin (circa mid-1860s) Style 3-24 parlor guitar, ISI-1757, Brazilian rosewood and close-grained spruce, possibly Engelmann or German,
(although Adirondack was a favored wood from 1833 until the late 1940s but we would think that on his higher level guitars C F might have used a finer grained variety) with ivory pyramid bridge, in very good condition with original (but restored) coffin case. Anthony (Tony) Huvard is likely the leading luthier living in Richmond, VA. He has done prodigious research into this instrument and its period and prepared an 11-page document, not counting the blank pages in which he traces the early history of the Martin Guitar Company and annotates the condition of this instrument. In this document Mr. H. states that he believes that this guitar is an early prototype of the Style 3 ½-34. We agree with the -34 suffix (Style 34 is like a Martin Style 30 except with an ivory bridge) but we feel it’s a Size 3. (You can stop holding your breath now.) This guitar has measurements that do not entirely conform to any one Martin model. The width of the body is 11 3/32nds”, at the upper bout 8 1/8”, total length is 33 15/16”, body length is 16 ½”, the scale length is 22 5/8”. This guitar has a 1 ¾” nut width, 2 ¼” width at the 12th fret, a soundhole diameter of just under 3 ¼”, depth at bottom is nominally 3 ¾.”According to Mike Longworth a body width of 11 3/32nd” is about right for a Size 3, an upper bout of 8 1/8” is also a Size 3, but a Size 3 has a scale of 23 7/8” and this has a scale of 22 5/8th”. A Style 3 has a 3 11/32” soundhole and this is 3 1/4”. We believe that specifications could vary in those days and that this is a Size 3 Martin. The trim includes colored wood “rope” marquetry around the face, and a three-ring soundhole rosette with abalone in the center ring, no fretboard inlays, but the fretboard, like the top and back, heel cap and end graft are all bordered in actual ivory. This guitar has a squared, slotted headstock, six gorgeous “Jerome” brand tuners with floral carved mother of pearl buttons and etched leaves encircling the four screws on each side of the German silvered plates. The back stripe is colored wood herringbone. The “C F Martin, New York” logo appears three times – on the back brace, the neck block and stamped into the back of the headstock. Mike Longworth says that if it doesn’t have “& Co.” in any of the three stampings, then it was made prior to 1868. As you all know, C F Martin Sr. moved his young company to Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1839, having hanged out in New York City for only 6 short years but because he had a New York distributor he left “New York” on his logo to add an aura of urbane sophistication. The neck is cedar and is comprised of a long V-shaped shaft connected to the slotted-squared headstock by means of a V-shape dart. Mr. Huvard says that a typical guitar finish of this era was “French Polish” which is when the varnish is applied while the finisher whistles "La Marseillaise,” but it is our assertion that this guitar was possibly sent back to C F Martin in the last third of the 20th century; at that time a large rosewood bridge plate was added, and the body (but not the neck) was either refinished or oversprayed in matte (satin) lacquer. The work, although regrettable, is exemplary. It has, at this time: normal signs of use and wear, dings, nicks, scratches, plus a repaired (and paper or fabric reinforced) 7” top crack on the bass side between waist and bridge. The area around that repair is discolored darkly, forming the silhouette of a 34-year-old garfish named Edgar who haunts the brackish water of the Mediterranean Sea, near Malta, and has been the bane and the obsession of local fishing persons since 1974. The guitar is housed in what appears to be an original coffin case that has been stripped, refinished (and plush lined in blue velvet inside) in natural but which retains its two original clasps (the clasp near the neck has a tiny broken off piece on one side, not important). The case also has two skeleton keys and an operable lockable center clasp.
Here’s the lovely part: on the headstock of the guitar, centered near the top, is a silver cameo measuring ¾” by 3/8” that has little waves etched in an oval around the surface and, at center, is engraved “Katie.” Katie was Aunt Kate, or Sarah Catherine Walthall, who was born in 1838, survived the evacuation of Richmond, VA (the “Night of Terror” on April 2, 1865), as was sung about in The Band’s “The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down,” and who died, in Richmond, in 1928. During her life she was an active musician who, in 1880, despite the misgivings of her parents, married her music teacher and mentor, Mr. Fitz William Rosier, “a cultivated English widower” and “eminent player” of his time, who was thirty years older than she. They moved to New York City where Mr. Rosier died suddenly after only 18 months of their marriage, at the age of 73, and Katie went back to Richmond and resumed giving piano lessons. Her students performed in her “Suiree Musales” at the YMCA Hall at and around the turn of the century. It should be pointed out that when he was only 45 years old Mr. Rosier ran a “School for Young Ladies” in Richmond, and his promise was: “Mr. R’s system of Education will continue the same [as] he has pursued during the many years he has been engaged in teaching. He endeavors, first, to form a solid foundation in all of the indispensable branches, after which it becomes comparatively easy to raise the ornamental superstructure: a harmonious union of the two being what is required to fit [a] woman worthily to occupy her true position in life.” This guitar has most recently been owned for almost 40 years by the Great Granddaughter of Katie Walthall’s sister Mary Jane (1840-1883). Katie must, every day of her life, have loved owning this extremely fine C F Martin guitar.
This nylon-strung instrument (and you will, of course, keep it that way) is in remarkable condition for its advanced age (around 142 years). It plays wonderfully easily, sounds supremely pretty and melodious in all registers. Yes, it does buzz slightly in the upper fret positions on strings 5 and 6 and to those who might find that any sort of fault we say “Go find another 142-year-old Martin in this clean condition and tell me that it has no such minor quirks.” The Brazilian rosewood, which was possibly cut from a tree that might have been a young adult in the time that the Monroe Doctrine was signed and John Quincy Adams was president, is as much a statement of Dalbergian perfection as one can ever hope to see. Said wood is straight-grain, quarter-sawn and consumed with spidery sparkle. The neck as straight as can be expected, the action is low and comfortable, and the sound brings us back to the wistful mood established so vividly in Randy Newman’s line: “A real nice way to spend the day in Dayton, Ohio on a lazy Sunday afternoon in nineteen hundred and three.”
We can’t think of anything that would make a guitarist happier than to own this symbol of both American history and a memorable measurement of this country’s mannerly musical mores of the antebellum and Civil War era. This WAS $12,939 but IT’S NOW ON SALE for $10,305 or, at our cash discount price, $9,995.
15-6903 Collings (new) D-2H, #13893, with hard shell case. Collings “Olde Reliable,” one of the most asked-for guitars in our stable, the D-2H has the herringbone, the pre-war look and a distinctly modern interpretation of the prewar sound.
Collings guitars are known for their clarity, balance and string-to-string separation. Another way of saying this is “acoustic transparency” which is similar to what you get with Korean style bunch-cooked mung bean “transparent” noodles (dahng myun) made with minced garlic, of course, and red pepper paste ... but I digress. Every element, every nuance of a Collings guitar represents a level of production perfection last seen at the Patek Phillippe watch factory in Geneva in 1951. Our price is $3433 or, at our cash discount price $3330.
78-7004 Collings (new) OM-2HA, #14003, Adirondack Spruce top and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, with hard shell case.
$7586 or, at our cash discount price, $7358.
15-6873 Collings (new) DS-2H, #13764, Adirondack Spruce Top, with hard shell case.
An outstanding quality (and also beautiful) 12-fret slot head slope-shouldered dreadnought made of the best materials and producing a sound that will make you purr. Our price is $4,640 or, at our cash discount price $4,500.
COMING IN SOON: Goodall (new) Hawaiian Koa and Sitka spruce Parlor Guitar, 14-fret, cutaway, #AKPC-14, with 5100P series hard shell case made for this size guitar.
This is Goodall’s least expensive model – a little bit “no frills” but still it would have to be considered one of the best sounding guitars you will ever have heard. Features are: 25.5” scale, 1 ¾” nut width, pearl inlays, chrome Gotoh tuners, plastic bridge pins and metal end pin, having the soft cutaway, ebony body and fretboard binding, Koa wood headstock overlay, Pheasant wood bridge and fingerboard, bone nut and saddle, mahogany satin finish neck, and a clear pickguard. Included in the case is an official Goodall logo guitar polishing cloth (one of the softest we have ever felt). The price including case is: $3633 at our discount price, or at our cash discount price $3524, and this is around a thousand dollars less than any other Goodall guitar.
A FRIENDLY REMINDER: WHEN THE CENTRAL HEAT IS ON IN YOUR HOME IT’S TIME TO HUMIDIFY YOUR INSTRUMENTS!
It is absolutely essential that your guitars, mandolins, banjos, basses and ukuleles receive humidification in order to survive. Keeping your fondest possessions humidified during the months that the central heat (or the wood burning stove) is in use is required. We like the “multi-room” or “whole house” humidifiers (although it isn’t really “whole house” the two-reservoir model could be considered multi-room) units sold at www.bemis-store.com. Spend the $185, and also order a few extra filters for it. You will never regret it. It’s not enough just to own this floor standing unit - you do have to use it, refilling it every few days, leaving it on at a moderate setting for a minimum of 12 hours a day. And you also need a good quality hygrometer hanging on an indoor wall, maybe seven feet up, positioned far from the humidifier, to tell you what the relative humidity is. We sell a fine one from a company called Abbeon Calibration. It sells for $150 plus shipping, and it’s handsome to look at and accurate. Try to keep the humidity in the room in which your instruments are stored at 50% (give or take 5% but 50% is perfect). This brand and model hygrometer was recommended to us by Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars. Your instruments will love you for having purchased one. Call us – ask for Rachel and she’ll ship you one. 718 981 8585.
15-6865 C F Martin (new) D-42 Cambodian Rosewood, #1239586, Individual Number #1 of 19 made (!), with special slate gray TKL “Geib” style plush lined hard shell case.
C F Martin Company has done something remarkable: they have come up with a family member of the Dalbergia clan (whose patriarch is Brazilian rosewood – Dalbergia Nigra) and used it to build a guitar. They had enough wood to make only 19 sx-strings; that’s not a lot of guitars. Here’s something you may not know – but it would be good if you memorized it: the names of the Dalbergia family of woods that luthiers use are: African Blackwood (dalbergia melanoxylon), Cambodian rosewood (dalbergia bariensis), Cocobolo (dalbergia retusa), Honduran Rosewood (dalbergia stevensonii), Indian rosewood (dalbergia latifoilia), Madagascar rosewood (Dalbergia baroni) and Brazilian (dalbergia nigra). In Cambodia, bariensis is known as “Neang Noun” and that’s pronounced “nang-noon.” Here’s what the website “Dynamic Hardwoods” says (paraphrased):This fine-grained wood is harvested from the jungles and has all the qualities of the best rosewood available in the world. The growth rings are very finely spaced so that the grain is extremely tight and smooth. On close examination, the open grain lines of this wood are extremely small. . . smaller than those of Madagascar rosewood. I have had instrument makers describe dalbergia bariensis as "glass-like" in referring to the smooth, close and very finely open grain. That implies that it creates an acoustically highly reflective surface. . . . Bariensis is rigid, but not brittle - it bends very nicely without cracking. A stringed instrument maker can expect to be able to sand or carve it until it is thin, and it will retain rigidity, allowing the superb tonal quality to be uncompromised by heavy bracing. The color tends to range from light to deep brown. Most of it is quite consistently medium brown, but the shades can range from light, like Honduran Rosewood, to quite dark like Brazilian. This is not typically a reddish rosewood - usually less so than Indian Rosewood, and also less so than most cocobolo.
This Cambodian rosewood guitar is made with the traditional Martin dovetail neck-to-body joint, it has a solid Adirondack spruce top, style -45 soundhole rosette, Golden Era (GE) style forward shifted bracing and back purfling; the top braces are 5/16th” Adirondack, the back and sides are solid Cambodian, the endpiece is grained ivoroid and so are the body, neck and headstock bindings; back, sides and headstock have a black-maple-black fiber border, the V-shaped neck is made of “select hardwood” but it sure likes like mahogany to me, the nut and saddle are carved of bone, the headplate is solid Cambodian rosewood and bears the C Martin F vertical abalone logo and six burnished gold plated C F Martin logo open back tuners with butterbean buttons; there is also a C F Martin stamp on the back of the headstock. The fingerboard is solid black ebony and is inlaid with snowflakes, etched diamonds and cats eyes. Fingerboard width at the nut is 1 ¾”, at the 12th fret 2 ¼” and at the bridge 2 5/16th”. The 16” radius bone long bridge saddle is 1930s style “through” but it is “drop in” so it can be removed. Bridge and end pin are camel bone with select abalone dots. The tortoise color, beveled edge, teardrop pickguard is made from Delmar, there is a diamond dart behind the nut, and the top is inlaid in abalone around its front border, bottom end of fingerboard peninsula and soundhole. The body and back of neck are gloss-finished and polished and the Adirondack wide-grained top, showing just a hint of bearclaw, is washed in aging-toner. This is a remarkable instrument, rare as a modern Martin comes, with a tonal range that will excite and energize you. The Martin List Price is $9999. The Martin MAP is $7999.
15-5385 C F Martin (used, 1913) Style 00-45 guitar, #11650, in very good plus condition, with apparently original hard shell case.
We haven’t seen a Martin original prewar 00-45 in several decades. Perhaps this is because C F Martin Co. made only a total of 157 of them during the period 1904 and 1942 and, as you know, at least half of them were eaten (and digested) by guitar-eating aliens during the era of frequent UFO sightings in the late ‘40s. In the year 1913 (the year this one was made) Martin made just 3 of ‘em. It was a guitar similar to this that propelled Joan Baez to fame. The 00 is, of course, a slot-headed 12-fret construction with a grand concert body that’s 14 ½” wide at the lower bout, having a 24.9” scale, a 1 27/32nd” nut width and a wide 2 5/16th” string spacing at the bridge. Additionally, it has a comfortable v-shaped neck, etched diamond, snowflake and cats-eye fingerboard inlays in a grained ivoroid bound fingerboard, displaying a 3 ¾” flower in abalone inlaid in the ivoroid bound white-black bordered rounded-corner headplate. The tuners are engraved-plate open-gears with the Handel-type squiggles of flora inlaid on both sides of each button. On a Style -45 guitar there is abalone trim around the top, the bottom edge of the fingerboard, the soundhole, both extremes of the rims, both sides of the heel (with at least four plies of black-white-black-white on each side of the abalone), surrounding the entire back and bestowed on four sides of the trapezoidal end graft. This is as much abalone as any family actually needs. Its top is golden yellow, the Brazilian rosewood is so straight-grained as to bring salty orbs to your eyes. Wood like this is the crux of our rainforest religion. The guitar sounds sweet and harmonious – for a little 14 ½” critter it sounds as big as many other brands’ dreadnoughts.And now the repair history: it has two old, long, parallel, repaired cracks on the bass side (the original owner, who had a real high squeaky voice, carried an open switchblade in his right pocket, just in case he needed to get at it quickly). The bridge was replaced with a “belly-
