1919 Ditson/Martin 1-45 Baby 45 Acoustic Guitar – Used

Sometimes called the “Baby D-45”, this is a fine example of one of the most rare Style 45 Martin models. Special models made for the Ditson stores in NYC and Boston dominated Martin’s guitar production in 1918 & ’19, but only a batch of four 1-45 models in the unique Ditson shape like this one were made and all were shipped in late July, 1919. It wasn’t just the softly curved waist of the Ditson models that was different, the tops of all these models were given fan bracing instead of Martin’s characteristic X pattern.

This example is quite original, and although the tuners aren’t the ones it was shipped with in 1919 they are from the same period. The bridge is an excellent facsimile of the original, with new bridge pins. There’s a repaired crack to the bass side, and French polish touch-up to that area and to the top around the bridge. All the rest of the finish appears to be original and the frets are original as well (neck has been reset but we don’t know when).

Despite the appearance of being a fragile antique, this is a very playable vintage Martin guitar with remarkable tone for its size. One of its 3 litter-mates is in the Martin Museum, and was mentioned in Mike Longworth’s early edition of “Martin Guitars, A History”. That 1-45 was pictured in the later 1988 edition, which set off a scramble among Martin collectors to find the other three examples of such an unusual Style 45 guitar.