1959 Martin 00-18 Steel String Acoustic Guitar- Used

How often do we get a 66 year old Martin that makes us scratch our heads, wondering “besides being played, has anything been done?” The playing wear to the barrel of the neck is obvious, ditto the light crazing to the original lacquer finish. There’s some finish missing around the lip of the soundhole (along edge of pickguard), and one of the short crazing lines on the top (near bottom of treble side) MIGHT be a hairline crack, but it doesn’t flex at all so we’re making no claims one way or the other. Frets show some wear, but not much, and what appears to be the original saddle is an ideal height with good string action (there’s room to lower the saddle if you have to).

Starting at the top: original Grover tuners, nut, pickguard, and bridge. Original finish shows no signs of touch-up or overspray, all internal bracing is original, and the bridge plate shows almost no string ball wear.

The gaps under some of the fret tangs suggest this has been refretted, but if so that was a long while ago. And neck straightness and angle suggest it may have had a proper reset, also probably long ago (this has been in a California collection for many many years). Sure sounds good!

Comes in a new case with proper fit.