Vintage Martin Guitars

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~ THE EVOLUTION OF THE MARTIN GUITAR ~

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~ PART 1 ~

~ The Nineteenth Century ~

~ EARLY C. F. MARTIN INSTRUMENTS ~

Before the Styles Were Defined

Chapter 1.

Martin Stauffer Style Guitar

The history of the Martin begins with this guitar. Several books show this guitar, labeled as a Stauffer, along with what has been considered to be the
earliest existent Martin guitar, to show the influence of the Viennese Stauffer workshop, where Martin once apprenticed, on the first guitars built by
Martin in the new world. A large photo of this instrument is displayed in the Martin Museum next to the early Martin to illustrate this connection.

When I compared the two guitars side by side and photographed their interiors, the DNA emerged of two near identical siblings, obviously conceived
by the same hands at the same time with minor cosmetic variation, a fact now accepted by other Martin experts. As you'll see as you read further, it was
typical in the early days of Martin, when they had an order for one guitar, to build a second with minor variation in trim. The two instruments feature
small, shallow, figure-eight shaped bodies with large upper bouts and identical dimensions, and spruce tops and maple veneer backs over spruce with
maple sides. Both have Stauffer style headstocks with Vienna gears, necks with inlaid stripes of ebony and ivory, raised angled fretboard extensions,
abalone soundhole designs set in mastic, and intricate ivory and ebony ice cream cone heels with clock key adjustments and hand shaped neck blocks with
identical hardware. Each guitar is ladder braced with a similar "buttress" under the fretboard extension of each.

This guitar has no stamps or label, adding to the belief that it came from the workshop of Stauffer, not Martin. Once I recognized that it came from
the same hands as the Martin, the question was raised of whether this guitar and the Martin stamped example might both have been built by others in Europe,
and one was imported by Martin, with the Martin stamp added, along with a label proclaiming Martin as an "importer of musical instruments". Perhaps both
were made by a fellow immigrant living in New York City. Mr. Martin, after all, was a busy owner of a Manhattan music store. Martin's records, however,
show that Martin imported only more affordable guitars, and Martin moved to this country with his friend Heinrich Schatz, a well trained luthier who worked in
Martin's New York shop, and who's later work was similar to and every bit as skilled as the finest early Martins. So it's likely that these two guitars were
both built in Martin's shop after all.

It's traditionally been assumed that all early C.F. Martin guitars were built by C. F. Martin. We now know that Mr Schatz, at a minimum, had a hand in building
the guitars. Schatz was a fine builder, and Martin a busy shopkeeper. Did Schatz do all the building of the early fine Martin guitars? Perhaps we will never know.

These two guitars, if not typical, are the pinnacle of guitars offered by C. F. Martin when he first came to America.

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"The similarities between these two guitars are startling... Note the almost identical bridge, soundhole rosette, and angled cut at the end of the fretboard,
as well as the adjustable neck with fretboard floating above the soundboard. Both guitars also have maple backs and sides, though Martin would soon
shift almost exclusively to rosewood."

Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873"

Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar"

Chapter 2.

Early C.F. Martin Hudson Street Viennese Style Guitar

While the earliest Viennese influenced Martins had rather small figure-eight shaped bodies with large upper bouts, the "Hudson Street label" Martins built later in the
1880's could be surprisingly large and deep guitars reminiscent of the later Gibson Nick Lucas. These guitars, like their Viennese predecessors, had simple ladder bracing.

This guitar is typical of what Martin was building in the late 1830's before leaving New York for Pennsylvania. While most people associate the Viennese influenced Martins with
Stauffer style headstocks with Vienna gears, many of these originally had slotted headstocks with machines, some of which have been improperly replaced due to misunderstanding.

While the back and sides appear to be Brazilian rosewood, the back is in fact a rosewood veneer over spruce. Most early Martins were built in this fashion, with
the customer's choice of a variety of quality hardwood veneers over either spruce or mahogany.

Most of the Hudson Street Martins have a top border of "thumbprint" inlays as well as the "herringbone" trim that has distinguished Martins for many years. The inlays may
have been crafted from halves of button blanks from neighboring lower East Side garment dealers.

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"Martin ledgers from the 1830's suggest that most of C.F. Sr.'s guitars were small and plain. The eye catching inlays on this fancy model probably
ensured it's survival, while most of the simple guitars from this period were discarded long ago."

Chapter 3.

Martin & Schatz Guitar

One of the most significant early Martins, this Martin & Schatz labeled guitar resided in a glass case at the new Martin factory in the years
preceding the addition of a formal Martin Museum.

During his first decade of operations in New York City, C. F. Martin's discovery of the fan braced guitars of Cadiz, Spain greatly influenced the
direction of the design of his guitars.

Built in the old world tradition with Viennese gears, and one of a handful of Martins with an ivory fingerboard and a small few with an ivory
shield shaped bridge, this was also one of the first one or two Martins built with a variation of fan bracing and the narrow early Spanish
"plantilla" or body shape.

This instrument was built with a rosewood veneer over mahogany and rosewood sides.

Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873"

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker".

Illustrated in "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries", where a diagram erroneously shows a
significantly different bracing pattern than the photo above shows to be true, and the narrative implies an evolution from ladder to fan bracing, while fan bracing
was not "evolved" by Martin, but copied from the Spanish guitars he observed.

Illustrated in "The Martin Story: A Brief History of the Martin Guitar Company", .C.F Martin & Co.

Illustrated in Carter "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments".

Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar"

Chapter 4.

Martin & Coupa Brazilian "Tigerwood" Guitar

Once the Martin family moved from New York City to rural Pennsylvania in 1838, distribution of the guitars remained in New York, handled by guitar teacher John Coupa,
and the guitars were either affixed with a "Martin & Coupa" label, or continued to be stamped "C.F. Martin, New York".

This is a typical early Martin parlor guitar, showing a mix of Viennese and Spanish influenced features: Still with the Stauffer Style headstock and Vienna gears, ebonized neck
and "ice cream cone" heel, combined with Spanish fan bracing, an early precursor of Martin's faux Spanish foot, extending the width of the upper bout, and an early version of
Martin's typical Spanish influenced body shape, with a smaller upper bout than the Viennese influenced guitars, and a flatter base of the lower bout than is found on later Martins.

This instrument has been noted in several books as an early illustration of Martin's use of Hawaiian koa wood, long before koa was first thought to have been used during
the Hawaiian craze of the teens. Recent testing has shown this wood to in fact be Goncalo Alves from Eastern Brazil, commonly referred to as "Tigerwood".

The back is a Goncalo Alves veneer over mahogany.

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"You don't often find Hawaiian koa on mid-nineteenth-century guitars; in fact, you don't find much koa on anything at that early date. Around 1915,
when the Hawaiian music craze swept the nation, Martin began to make lots of instruments from this beautiful wood, but one can only speculate
why C.F. Sr. chose to try it on this Martin & Coupa from the 1840's."

Illustrated in Carter "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments":

"Stuck over the Martin & Coupa label is one indicating that the guitar was "Sold by John F. Nunns". Martin & Coupa claimed the largest assortment of
guitars that can be found in the United States."

Chapter 5.

Jose Recio, Cadiz Guitar

The developing shape of the Martin guitar, with a smaller upper bout, was influenced by the guitars of Cadiz, Spain. The "Spanish" style Martin guitars of
the 1840's copied many of the features of guitars of Cadiz, including fan bracing, the cedar neck with thin curved heel, square headstock with "volute",
tuning pegs, "Spanish foot", two piece sides, rosette with thinner outer rings, and tied bridge with ivory or bone inset.

Chapter 6.

Martin & Coupa Spanish Style Guitar

This example epitomizes the Martin guitar at a critical point in it's evolution. The "Spanish" Martin is a distinct style with specific features clearly
showing Martin's awareness of the pre-Torres guitar of Spain. This guitar retains features of Martin's earliest Viennese influenced guitars,
including the "Stauffer Style" headstock with "Vienna Gears", while adding features of the Spanish guitar.

This fine example of perhaps the earliest of Martin's versions of a Spanish guitar has many prototypical Spanish features: cedar neck with
elegantly curved Spanish heel, Spanish style interior false foot, tie style bridge with ivory inset, fan braces, two piece rosewood sides with simple
lengthwise center strip dividing the two pieces, and both bindings and simple back strip with straight lines made of holly extending into the heel.

This guitar is also an early example of features which would become hallmarks of Martin design for years to come, such as the ebony pyramid style
bridge, and Martin's version of the Spanish body shape with a smaller upper bout than the Viennese influenced guitars.

This could be the earliest Martin we've seen to have solid Brazilian rosewood backs and sides in place of a back of rosewood veneer.

Illustrated in Evans, "Guitars: Music, History, Construction and the Players, from Renaissance to Rock"

While interviews related to a recent museum exhibit of early Martin guitars infers that the "Spanish Connection" is a recent discovery, the
importance of this instrument in illustrating the significance of the influence to C.F. Martin of the "Pre-Torres' guitars of Cadiz, Spain was clearly
recognized here by Evans, in these words published 46 years ago, in 1977, and reprised in the 1997 writing of Washburn and Johnston:

"This instrument has a combination of features that is, to our knowledge, unique on a Martin guitar. The head design is similar to that used by
Martin in the 1830's, with the tuning machines concealed under a metal plate and buttons on one side, after the manner of Stauffer. The body,
however, does not have the Stauffer-inspired, wasp-waisted shape of the 1830's, but is closer to the mature Martin style of twenty years later.
The shape suggests strongly that Martin had had the opportunity to examine a Spanish-made guitar of about 1840, and was
experimenting with Spanish-style construction."

"This supposition is reinforced by the presence of Spanish features such as we have seen on no other Martin guitar, including simple fan
bracing with three radiating struts, and a Spanish head and slipper foot into which the sides are slotted. The division of the rosewood sides by a
narrow decorative hardwood strip is another feature borrowed from the nineteenth-century Spanish guitars. The presence of this strip weakens
the sides; to give them strength, Martin fitted several vertical braces into which the cross struts of the top and back are notched, framing up the body."

"The design of the bridge is very modern for it's date. In shape it conforms to the "pyramid" bridge pattern used by Martin throughout the latter
half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth. But this is one of the very few nineteenth-century Martin guitars to be made with a
tied rather than a pin bridge. The strings pass over a broad, backward sloping ivory saddle-piece before being secured at the rear of the bridge."

"This guitar proves that C.F. Martin was one of the few makers outside Spain in the early nineteenth century to be aware of the possibility of fan strutting
on the guitar, and that he experimented with it before developing his own famous X-bracing system. It shows the American gut-stringed guitar, the
ancestor of the steel-sting guitar, at a critical point of it's evolution, about to break away from the diverse European influences to which it owed it's beginnings."

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"The most interesting parts of this Martin & Coupa are what you can't see. The neck has a Spanish-shaped heel, with the sides slotted into a
neck block with an interior "foot". The top is also fan braced, a feature this guitar shares with several other Martin & Coupa instruments. Other small
details from this experimental period at Cherry Hill strongly suggest that C.F. Sr. was turning away from Northern European guitar design and
incorporating ideas found on Spanish instruments predating guitarmaker Antonio Torres's guitars.

Illustrated in "The Steve Howe Guitar Collection"

Chapter 7.

Schmidt & Maul Spanish Style Guitar

The Martin & Coupa above has been touted as containing a singularly unique combination of features not found on any other known Martin guitar,
including elements showing Martin's Viennese and Spanish influences, as well as the beginnings of his own style.   When I purchased this 1844 Schmidt
and Maul guitar at auction from Christie's, I was shocked to discover that it contained every single one of the unique elements recognized by Evans in the
Martin & Coupa above, including Viennese gears and Spanish fan bracing, split sides with marquetry, simple holly borders and back strip following through
the Viennese Style headstock with gears, and Spanish Style cedar neck with a distinctive raised volute that has been flattened to fit under the gear plate. This
guitar shows us that Schmidt & Maul were also influenced by Spanish guitars at an early date.

It is inconceivable in the small community of German immigrants that one builder would have so blatantly "ripped off" the work of another, especially considering
that Schmidt and Maul were formerly both employees of Martin, and retained a friendly relationship into the 1850's. It was likely John Coupa, Martin's partner,
distributor, and a classical guitarist who introduced Martin to Spanish guitars, also introduced the Spanish guitars to Schmidt & Maul, who
worked upstairs at the same address as Coupa.

Chapter 8.

Early Transitional Viennese/Spanish Style Martin & Coupa Guitar

Some folks studying early Martin guitars make a point of presenting the guitars in chronological order to establish a sequence of events. This can be a difficult
endeavor with somewhat unsatisfying results. Once Martin introduced a new feature, it was added to his menu of available options for customers to choose from, so
not only do features show up far after one would have thought them to be obsolete, but guitars keep popping up with features that we thought to have come far later.

This guitar has some features associated with the Martin & Coupas, including the ebony pyramid tie style bridge with inset ivory saddle, the "shelf" style of
"Spanish foot", and five strut fan braces. The wide, open rosette is more reminiscent of Panormo or the guitars of Cadiz, Spain. This guitar has a Viennese
influenced ebonized neck with "Stauffer Style" head with Vienna Gears and ice cream cone heel. We see the herringbone border on the sides that are usually
found on Martin's earliest guitars from the Hudson Street days. And we are surprised by a wide marquetry top border of the style generally found on a Style 34,
after Martin's styles were established in the 1850's.

Not surprisingly this guitar shares features with some of Martin's simplest guitars, while the herringbone side trim is seen on Martin's most decorative guitars,
and the delicate back border is only seen on a handful of early Martins. The back is rosewood veneer over mahogany.

By comparison, the Spanish Martin & Coupa above looks similar from the front with it's Spanish shape, "Stauffer" head, and ebony tie bridge with inset,
but has an "earlier" three strut fan, which generally defines the era, and a later Spanish heel, while this guitar has the earlier ebonized neck with ice cream
cone heel and herringbone side trim, and a later style of marquetry.

Chapter 9.

Martin Spanish Style Guitar

This guitar is a uniquely fine example of Martin's version of the Spanish guitar, with many of the typical features: cedar neck with elegantly curved Spanish
heel, large, square headstock flared to a wide end, with pegs, nickel silver nut, Spanish style interior false foot, tie bridge, fan braces, two piece rosewood sides
with decorative side filets and a decorative lengthwise center strip with marquetry dividing the two sections, and back with rosewood veneer over mahogany.

With the fancy appearance of perhaps the most jewel-like Martin "presentation" guitar existent, with a top border of pearl diamonds set in mastic, and a
version of one of the three basic pearl diamond-adorned soundhole designs with two rows of glittering tiny pearl diamonds surrounding a solid band of colorful
abalone, this example was clearly built to be played, with a large, long scale, modern feeling neck, which gives this guitar the feel in-hand of a much larger guitar.

Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873":

"This instrument has rosewood sides and back (laminated); marquetry on back and side edges and through the center of it's sides; pearl trim around the
center of it's sides; pearl trim around the top, and an abalone rosette. Note in particular the beautiful abalone soundhole and top trim, found on Martin's
highest-style guitars, and the ivory tie bridge."

Matt Umanov, Umanov Guitars, New York:

"Most interestingly, it also has a longer scale; at 24.5" it is nearly that of a grand concert size Martin. This suggests possible construction for concert use,
as it gives the guitar an amazingly sonorous tone, far out of proportion to it's size."

Chapter 10.

Martin Renaissance Style Guitar

This guitar shares many features with the 1840's Spanish Style guitar above, including the ivory bound headstock with pegs and thin ebony lines
delineating all edges of the headstock, volute and neck, cedar neck, elegant heel, nickel silver nut, fan bracing, identical ivory tie block bridge, 2 piece sides
divided by a longitudinal strip of marquetry, details of internal construction, and a long modern feeling neck. This unique "Renaissance" shape,
however, can be seen on only a handful of early Martin guitars.

But the unique details go further than that. This is the only known example of a Martin with sides tapered to fit the contour of the neck heel in a
most elegant fashion. The neck is a full 2" wide, with a 24.75" scale, and this is one of only two Martins known to have a unique peak at the
tip of the ivory bound headstock. Besides being one of the most unusual Martin examples known to exist, the condition is breathtaking, all original
and looking like an almost new guitar.

This is another early example with solid Brazilian rosewood backs and sides in place of a rosewood veneer back.

Richard Johnston, co-author "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference":

"This is the earliest Martin guitar I have seen in many years, and without doubt the most unusual. Words like “unique” and “extremely rare” get tossed
around frequently when describing vintage guitars, but in this case we’re not exaggerating. Only seven of these unusual “Renaissance” shape Martins
have surfaced to date, and only this one has the sides tapered to fit the contour of the neck heel."

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"This elegant peghead has been seen on only a handful of early Martins... The ivory sides... later evolved into a thin border on only the uppermost
edge of the peghead."

"The compound curve of the guitar where the sides meet the neck is sure to inspire admiration from any serious woodworker...no other Martin
guitar has surfaced in which the sides form a continuous, smooth transition into the neck. The low-profile shoulders would make playing in
upper positions on this guitar almost as easy as on a cutaway guitar.

Please note: I'm proud to say that the "Renaissance Martin" shown above, as well as it's "likeness" or image, are the sole property of the Corwin Collection.

Sadly, numerous images of this important guitar were knowingly reproduced in the book "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of
C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries" by Szego and Shaw without proper attribution, and without obtaining the necessary permission requested and required
to legally reproduce it's image for commercial use.

The image and "likeness" of this guitar are the sole property of the Corwin Collection, and may not be legally reproduced without permission.

Chapter 11.

Martin & Coupa Hybrid X Braced Guitar

It is believed by many that Martin developed X_bracing. X braced guitars, in fact, were ordered by Madame De Ghoni from both Martin and Schmidt
& Maul. The similarity of the treatments show more than similar interpretations of the same request. An investigation into the development of X bracing
on Martin and Schmidt & Maul guitars leaves us wondering again about the relationship between the two firms.

Besides Henirich Schatz, we now know that Louis Schmidt was also an employee as early as 1834 or 1835. The longer we study this guitar, the more we
must wonder if Mr. Maul also played a large part in building early Martin guitars, and perhaps continued to consult with Martin after Martin left New York
and moved to Pennsylvania, playing much of the role in the development of X braces and the modern guitar, that Mr. Deichmann played in the development
of the 14 fret guitar and the Martin Dreadnaught. Schmidt & Maul were certainly familiar with Martin guitars, and if a customer of John Coupa returned a guitar
for repair, it certainly would have been more convenient to deliver the guitar upstairs for repair rather than return it to Nazareth!

This Martin was built with what I believe was the first experimental variation of X-bracing, appearing at about the same time on a handful of Martin and Schmidt
& Maul guitars. One Schmidt & Maul, not necessarily the earliest, is dated 1845, while the example produced by Martin for Madame DeGhoni is dated 1843.

This example, which is quite close in size to a standard Size 2 Martin, also foreshadows a standard Martin Style 21, with simple, tasteful appointments including a
herringbone rosette and back strip and a top border consisting of simple light and dark lines. The back is a rosewood veneer over mahogany.

Illustrated in Carter "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments":

"By 1839 Martin had moved his workshop from New York to Pennsylvania, and this relatively plain example of a Martin & Coupa guitar was
probably made at the new location. Note also the squared off headstock with rear-facing tuning pegs rather than the old Stauffer-influenced design."

Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker" with Schmidt & Maul Guitar:

"The mystery of which is the first X-braced guitar will probably never be solved, but these two early candidates were clearly made by builders who were
aware of each other and may have even been acquaintances. The fact that two very similar guitars - both sold in New York in the latter 1840's and
both made by German immigrants - have nearly identical X-patterns under the top suggests that there was a considerable pool of talent at work. Whether
X bracing was a concept shared among compatriots or pirated by competitors is the only question left unanswered. (This) guitar bears a Martin & Coupa
label, and Martin historian Mike Longworth's research into insurance policies held by C.F. Martin Sr. on Coupa's 385 Broadway address suggests that
Martin had guitars there as late as 1851 and certainly for several years before that. Regardless of which came first, Martin was the firm that went on to
make X bracing a standard feature of the American guitar."

Chapter 12.

Schmidt & Maul 1847 Alternate X Braced Guitar

This Schmidt & Maul, dated 1847, has another experimental form of bracing, consisting of fan braces, with three struts, and a tone bar that extends past the
treble end of the bridge and across the treble strut to form a small X under the treble side of the top.

The Schmidt & Maul contains many elements similar to the Martin, including herringbone trim, a Spanish false foot, ebonized neck with ice cream cone
heel, ebony tie style pyramid bridge with ivory inset, and a similar company stamp on the upper back near the heel, not surprising since Louis
Schmidt worked for Martin ten years earlier.

I suspect that this variation was an early one, as it contains a complete three strutted fan, while the other variation, seen on Martins, Martin & Coupas, and
Schmidt & Mauls, contain only the outer struts of the fan in combination with a large X.

Chapter 13.

Early Hybrid X Braced Spanish Martin Guitar

This Martin, with the exact same experimental variation of X-bracing appearing on the Martin & Coupa in Chapter 11, also has several distinctive 1840's
features, including a Spanish foot, Spanish heel, nickel silver nut, and large abalone fretboard markers on the side of the neck, as well as the colored diamond
backstrip, outer rosette rings with a tiny rope pattern, and checkerboard binding sometimes seen on early Martins.

This early Spanish Style Martin appears in a larger Size 1, with a variant of the classic three ring soundhole rosette with double ivory center
rings that later distinguished the Style 28.

Chapter 14.

Early Hybrid X Braced Schmidt & Maul Guitar

This Schmidt & Maul also has the "Hybrid X" bracing identical to that in the Martin & Coupa in Chapter 11 and Martin in Chapter 13.

This instrument includes many of Martin's features of the period, including a Spanish cedar neck with slotted headstock, a pin style pyramid bridge, a Spanish
false foot, neck block and center strip stamps, a three ring rosette with green "tooth" inner ring and small "rope" outer rings, "half arrowhead" marquetry top and
side borders, and an "arrowhead" marquetry back strip.

Chapter 15.

Martin Mid-1840's Alternate X Brace Spanish Style Guitar

This Size 1 Martin has another experimental variant of X bracing, similar in concept the Schmidt & Maul in Chapter 12, with a large X, and a tone bar below
the bridge crossing the treble brace of the X to form another, smaller X. Following a similar train of thought as the Schmidt & Maul, with a tone bar crossing on the treble
strut of the fan to form a smaller X, this appears to be the first of the variants to contain a large, complete X.

The soundhole of this guitar has another variation of the diamond rosette, with a tasteful single center ring of alternating long and short abalone diamonds.
This example also has features typical of a mid-1840's Martin, including a Spanish foot, Spanish heel, nickel silver nut, large abalone fretboard markers
on the side of the neck, ebony pyramid bridge with a "scooped" or "lipped" back, and a large diamond end strip and outer rosette rings with a tiny rope pattern
of early Martins and arrowhead backstrip of later 19th century Martins.

Chapter 16.

Martin Mid-1840's X Braced Spanish Guitar

This Spanish Style guitar has been called perhaps the earliest known Martin to feature a mature X brace, essentially the same as it has appeared for many years since.
Still with the earliest typical Spanish features such as cedar neck with Spanish heel, two piece rosewood sides with a simple lengthwise center strip dividing
the two pieces, distinctive holly binding, and simple back strip with straight lines extending into the heel. The heel on this guitar is thicker and not as elegantly
curved as on earlier examples, and the Spanish foot has been eliminated.

Bill Capell, from the essay "Early C.F. Martin Guitars":

"This is the earliest known example of this style bracing that would go on to become the standard for all modern acoustic guitars."

Images of this important guitar were also included in the book "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries"
by Szego and Shaw, without the required permission, and were erroneously attributed to the Martin Collection, which has never owned this guitar.

The image and "likeness" of this guitar are the sole property of the Corwin Collection, and may not be legally reproduced without permission.

Chapter 17.

Martin 1840's Spanish Style Guitar with Ebonized Spanish Neck

This highly unusual guitar is the only example of a Spanish Style Martin known to have a Spanish heel neck with an ebonized finish and no volute, with the exception of an early Martin
harp guitar who's ebonized neck could easily have been designed to match the ebony support. This may be an extremely early example, and perhaps the first incarnation, of a Spanish
neck Martin. Being identical in many aspects to the Martin in Chapter 11 with "Hybrid X" Bracing, this is likely to also be one of the earliest examples of a Martin with "mature X" bracing.

This is also an early example of a Martin with a solid ring of pearl in the rosette. Many of the finer early Martins had elegant decorative rings of "white pearl" diamonds and/or squares.
By the early 1850's, the jewel like rings of pearl are replaced by a thin central ring of solid abalone. This example has an elegant, somewhat wider 7/64" solid ring of pure "White Japan
Pearl", most likely a transition from the white pearl diamonds and squares, to the 5/64" wide solid abalone ring found on the standard Style 27 and Style 30 and higher Martins.

George Gruhn:

"An incredibly rare and historically significant instrument. I do not recall having seen any with a Spanish heel, lack of a volute on the back the peghead, and black neck finish like this one."

Chapter 18.

Martin 1840's Mahogany Size 3 Guitar

C.F. Martin Sr. did not generally use mahogany for backs and sides of his guitars, choosing instead Brazilian Rosewood, maple, and even "Tigerwood". The first cataloged
model with mahogany was the Style 17 when it was reintroduced in 1906 by Frank Henry Martin.

In the 1840's, however, before standardizing models, Martin did build a number of Size 3 guitars selling for $16 with mahogany backs and sides.

The typical $16 size 3 Martin had no binding on the back.

This highly unusual example has a rare combination of ebonized neck with a solid headstock and pegs, beautiful figured mahogany, rosewood fingerboard, and fancy binding
on the back, as well as a Martin stamp on the upper back, an original scooped back pyramid bridge, and strap pin on the back.

Chapter 19.

Martin 1850's Ivory Fingerboard Stauffer/Spanish Style X Braced Guitar

Martin sometimes held over features for many years, offering guitars with a mix of features from many periods on request. One such set of features is
the Stauffer Style headstock with Vienna gears on an ebonized neck with ice cream cone heel. This fancy, small size 3 presentation guitar with ivory clad
fingerboard and Vienna gears was most likely built in the 1850's.

This example has the third of the three basic pearl diamond soundhole designs, with twin bands of tiny alternating long and short pearl diamonds, as
well as fancy wood marquetry on the top border and on the sides adjacent to the top and back binding, and rare, gold plated frets. With beautiful Brazilian
rosewood veneer over spruce on the back, the earliest features such as the ebonized neck and ice cream cone heel are combined with mature X braces.
The back is a rosewood veneer over spruce.

Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar":

"Gradually, Christian Martin began to bring to the guitars he made more of his own ideas on construction and design. The most obvious visual
change when comparing this example to the earlier Stauffer-style is the narrower upper body, giving an overall shape that is more like a modern guitar."

Chapter 20.

Martin 1850's Pearl Rosette and Pendant Guitar

This final example combines decorative details typically found on earlier Martins with construction elements that would be standard for years to come. With
a beautiful decorative pearl rosette that is possibly one of the earliest examples to contain a version of the continuous thin band of pearl seen on the rosettes and
borders of pearl Martins until WWII replacing the rows of tiny pearl diamonds found on the finer Martins of the mid-1800's, and an abalone pendant similar to
the ones adorning the bridges of early Hudson St. Martins. The guitar is spruce lined. The Jerome tuners, with uncommon, large bone rollers, have intricately
carved pearl buttons of the type appearing on only the smallest handful of Martin guitars, while more typically seen on ornate 19th Century presentation banjos.

The body is a size 2 1/2, and the basic appointments follow the form of a Style 30, making this perhaps a $32 guitar. This guitar is possibly one of
the last before Martin models would become standardized.

' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

~ PART 2 ~

~ Defining the Acoustic Guitar in the 20th Century ~

~ DEVELOPING THE CONTEMPORARY STEEL STRING GUITAR ~

Chapter 21.

Martin 1902 00-42S / Style 45 Prototype

In 1902, three custom ordered Style 42 guitars were built with pearl inlay added to the border of the sides and back, as well as having an inlaid "fern"
design added to the peghead. The first of these had a fancy inlaid pickguard of the style common on the higher end Martin mandolins of the time, and an
intricate vine pattern inlaid on the fretboard.

The example below was the first to have the more prototypical fingerboard inlays of the type seen in 1904 when this design was introduced as the C. F. Martin Style 45 Guitar.

More on Style 45

Illustrated on p. 2 & 28 of Johnston, Boak & Longworth, "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference"
Subject of full page article by George Gruhn and Walter Carter on page 42 of May, 2008 Vintage Guitar Magazine

"This 1902 guitar features the first version of the Style 45 peghead inlay, which is sometimes referred to as the “fern” pattern. Martin pictured a
Style 45 guitar with this inlay in the 1904 catalog and the same photo appeared as late as the 1909 catalog, but Martin had actually begun using
a simpler pattern, known today as the “torch,” by 1905, and that version lasted until about 1927."

"The initial designation – Style 42 special – understated just how special Style 45 Martins would become. In the pre-World War II years, it was
only surpassed briefly by the OM-45 Deluxe (produced only in 1930), which featured additional inlays in the pickguard and bridge. In today’s
vintage market, Style 45s follow the same pattern as they did in their original listings."

"Although Martin has offered models in recent years with higher model numbers than Style 45, along with many limited-edition, commemorative or artist
models with fancier appointments, Style 45 remains today as it was when this “pre-45” guitar helped to get the Style 45 ball rolling – simply Martin’s top style."

Chapter 22.

Martin 1902 000-21 10 String / Martin Grows in Size to a 000

I look for important transitional guitars for this web site to illustrate the development of the steel string guitar, and this is an essential one. As a harp guitar, or
more accurately, a "10 string 000-21" ( Martin only used the term "Harp guitar" to refer to instruments with 2 complete necks ) this is a curiosity, although a
fabulous one.

More importantly, this instrument plays an integral part in illustrating the history of the 000 size Martin. This guitar was the first 10 string 000-21 designated as a 000,
making it the second Martin of any type ever designated as a "000" size Martin.

In January 1901, Martin built an "Extra Large Style 21" with a 15" wide body that was 5'16" deeper than what became a standard 000, followed by an extra large 10 string guitar.
In 1902, Martin built one 9 string 00-21, and shortly after, built a 10 string 000-28 followed by two 10 string 000-21, apparently believing that the 000 size body was necessary
to accommodate the wider bridge needed for a 10 string guitar.

The 000 was slow to catch on as a standard size.

In 1903, Martin built a single "standard" 000-21, their first six string 000, and three more were built in 1904.

From 1902 to 1910, Martin built only 23 "000" size guitars. Ten were "harp guitars". In 1907 and 1908, the only 000 built was a 000-45 Harp guitar.

In total, only 13 standard six string "000" size guitars were built in these first nine years.

Illustrated on p.84 of Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker"

Subject of a full page article by Richard Johnston on page 106 of July, 1997 Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Chapter 23.

Martin 1905 00-42S with Pearl Fingerboard

This singular original example disproves the myth that C.F. Martin, unlike their competitors, never lavishly embellished their fingerboards with pearl.

Entire fingerboard made of genuine white pearl, with intensely designed abalone on frets five, seven, nine, and twelve.

Subject of a full page article by George Gruhn and Walter Carter on page 42 of February, 2009 issue of "Vintage Guitar Magazine".

Chapter 24.

Responding to the "Hawaiian Craze" with Martin's First Production Steel String Guitars

Southern California Music Company Guitars

Martin 1916 Southern California Music "Rolando" Model 1350 Prototype

No serial number

One of six samples made for the California Musical Instrument Company, the first Hawaiian Guitars made by the Martin Company.

To meet the demands of the "Hawaiian Craze", Martin built three models of Hawaiian guitars with koa wood supplied by SoCal. The first samples were made with spruce tops.
Thefirst batch of production guitars used koa for the tops as well, and introduced specially designated serial numbers taking into account the early samples previously produced.

Martin 1916 Southern California Music "Nunes" Model 1400

Serial number 28

The first production "Nunes" Model 1400 made for the Southern California Music Company in 1916.

Illustrated on p.113 of Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker"

Illustrated on p. 247 of Johnston, Boak & Longworth, "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference"

Martin 1916 Southern California Music "Rolando" Model 1500

Serial number 181

Chapter 25.

Martin Develops the Dreadnaught

Ditson Ukes

Martin 1916 Ditson Style 3 Ukulele

In the early 20th Century the Ditson Company operated the Oliver Ditson & Co. Store in their home base of Boston as well as the Charles H. Ditson & Co. Store in New York. Ditson was a large Martin dealer that ordered many standard Martin models as well as special models designed specifically for Ditson. The Ditson stamp was applied to both the regular Martin models, otherwise identical to Martin instruments sold elsewhere, and the special Ditson "Dreadnaught" guitars.

Note that on this website uses the traditional spelling of "Dreadnaught" with an "A", since we are speaking here of pre-war examples, as opposed to the more recent spelling of "Dreadnought" with an "O", as commonly used today, but only since it's adoption in the 1960's.

Ditson Hawaiian Guitars

Besides the standard range of Ditson Hawaiian Guitars, Martin produced a small number of the distinctively shaped Ditson Standard Guitars with the appointments of typical Martin Styles 18, 21, 28, 30, 42, and 45. The 1-45 is often referred to as a "baby D-45".

This is one of 26 Ditson Standard Style 21 guitars.

Martin 1917 Ditson DS-21 (1-21)

Martin 1916 Ditson Model 11

With the tremendous demand in production in 1916, Martin sourced Chicago style bridges for the early Ditson guitars.

Martin 1920 Ditson Model 33

Martin 1919 Ditson 3/4 Size Terz Guitar

One of two 3/4 size guitars made for the Ditson Company that were likely the prototype for the "Travel Guitars" of today.

Chapter 26.

Martin Learns from the Teachers

Martin 1916 Foden Special Models C, D and E

William Foden ordered guitars with several levels of trim for his students.

The Style E combines the fretboard extension with no pearl of a Style 40 with the inlays on the backs and sides of a Style 45. The Style E also used the same
"propeller" fingerboard inlay found on the SoCal 1500.

It is said that Foden was the first to request 20 fret necks for his guitars, but I've also noticed several Martins made in 1902 with 20 fret necks.

Martin used single ring rosettes for the Foden guitars similar to those used for Ditson, Wurlitzer, and other private label guitars, but not on the top of the line Style E.

Martin 1922 Vahdah Olcott-Bickford Style 0-44 Soloist

Vahdah Olcott-Bickford requested the finest Style 45 level material in the guitars she ordered for her students, but shunned ostentation, ordering guitars with simple
straight line borders and no fingerboard inlays.

Chapter 27.

Pearl Makes the Transition from the "Ladies Parlor" to the Stage

Martin 1918 Ditson 000-42

In 1918 Martin produced the first two 000 size guitars with their top of the line 42 style trim.

From the earliest years, Martin used fancy pearl inlays to adorn "ladies size"parlor guitars. The idea of adding pearl to a "man's" guitar must have seemed
unthinkable at the time.

The 1918 000-42 illustrated here was built for the Ditson Company as a steel string Hawaiian guitar with fan bracing, the same build as a "Ditson Dreadnaught".
This guitar ends the myth that steel strings were never meant to be used with a pyramid bridge, never mind one made of ivory!

This guitar is an early example of a Martin with a pickguard. The early guards were inlaid into the top.

Illustrated on p. 41 of Johnston, Boak & Longworth "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference"

Chapter 28.

An Early First Appearance of Western Spruce

Martin 1919 0-45

In 1945 Martin began to have difficulty sourcing suitable Eastern red spruce of suitable size for guitar tops and switched to the huge Western Sitka trees for top wood.

It is little known, however, that in 1919 Martin experimented with the use of what was then referred to as "airplane spruce" for guitar tops. By the time World War II ended
in November, 1918, production of Sitka spruce for aircraft by the Spruce Production Division of the Army had reached 10,000 sq. ft. per month, and left the newly built
infrastructure and 1 billion board feet of Spruce.

Illustrated on p. 80 of Johnston, Boak & Longworth, "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference"

Chapter 29.

Martin Ships it's First Production Steel String "Spanish" Guitar

Martin 1922 2-17 With Steel Strings

The first Martin guitars to ship with steel strings were the Hawaiian guitars built for the Ditson and Southern California Music Companies.

In 1922, Martin built the all mahogany model 2-17 with steel strings, the first production steel string Martins for standard "Spanish" style guitar.

Martin began the process of shipping their standard guitars with steel strings as standard equipment with two Martin Style 2-17 guitars, #16879 and #16887, shipped to the John Wanamaker
Department Store in Philadelphia on March 27, 1922.

This guitar is #16879.

Chapter 30.

Martin's Experiments Resonate

1930 Wm. L. Lange Paramount Style L Hawaiian Six String and Tenor Resonator Guitars

Martin made approximately 32 resonator guitars in 1930 with the Paramount name for William Lange.

The Paramount Guitar was offered in three styles, all built with a double rosewood body:

Regular Spanish Guitar, a Hawaiian Steel Guitar, and a Tenor Guitar

These guitars varied greatly, some natural top and some shaded tops, some with pickguards and some without, some with soundholes, but most without.

The Tenor and Hawaiian Styles both had a moveable bridge and fixed tailpiece. The Spanish Style guitar had a permanent ebony bridge with ivory saddle.

Chapter 31.

Martin Enters the Market for Catalog Guitars

Martin 1030 Montgomery Wards 0-17S

While Gibson and other large makers built many Recording King and other guitars for the lucrative Montgomery Ward Catalog market, Martin built only a few small
batches of this distinctive model, the 0-17S, for Montgomery Ward

Chapter 32.

Developing the Contemporary 14 Fret Guitar

The Orchestra Model

Martin 1929 000-28 - 12 fret

Martin considered the 12 fret design to have a superior sound, but understood the practicality of the 14 fret guitar.

Martin 1929 00-28 G.P.

Martin built a small number of transitional guitars, such as this "00-28 G.P.", for "geared pegs", which still had a 12 fret body, but had the solid style headstock and
"banjo style tuners" of the OM. Pickguards and "belly bridges" were not used until 1930, but many Martins built before 1930 sat in the factory unsold, unfinished,
"in the white", due to the slow economy of the time, and were given a tortoise Celluloid pickguard and "belly bridge" before leaving the factory in the following years.

Martin 1929 Carl Fischer Model Tenor Guitar

Credit for the 14 fret Martin design has been given to Perry Bechtel, the buyer for the Cable Music Company in Atlanta who requested the 14 fret OM guitar.
In fact, it was Al Esposito of the Carl Fischer Store in New York City who first requested a 14 fret design for tenor guitars as suggested by two local orchestra leaders
to appeal to banjo players. Mr. Bechtel's contribution consisted primarily of going fishing with Mr. Martin. When Bechtel showed up to meet Mr. Martin for their fishing
trip, he noticed the Fischer Model tenor guitars on the factory floor, and asked if the same could be done with six strings to give greater access higher on the neck.

Martin 1930 OM-18P Plectrum Guitar

To appeal to long neck banjo players, Martin also began to produce a long neck plectrum guitar in the OM Style.

Featured on the Television Show "Pawn Stars"

Martin 1930 OM-28

January, 1930

The first few OM guitars built for Cable Piano in 1929 and early 1930 had a pyramid bridge before the belly bridge, generally associated with the contemporary
flat top guitar, was used. The small teardrop pickguard and banjo style tuners were soon replaced by a larger pickguard and modern guitar tuners.

Martin 1932 O-18 and 1933 0-17 Model 32

With the "Model 32" 0-17 and 0-18, Martin extended the 14 fret body further into the product line.

Chapter 33.

Taking Ornamentation to the Next Level

Martin 1930 OM-45 DeLuxe

Featured in an article by Joe Konkoly

In 1930, Martin built only about a dozen "DeLuxe" style 45 guitars, the highest level production Martin to ever be made, before shortages of the high quality materials forced Martin to
cancel all future orders after November 28th.

This example was built in September 25, 1930.

Chapter 34.

Martin Responds to the Call for the Archtop Guitar

Martin Archtop Guitars

The first Martin archtops

Martin 1931 C-1 Prototype - Martin's First Archtop Guitar

Serial number 47368

Martin 1933 R-18

Martin 1932 C-2 12 String Archtop Guitar

Martin's first 12 String archtop guitar.

Serial number 50223

Illustrated on p. 172 of Johnston, Boak & Longworth, "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference"
Illustrated on p. 193 of Carter, "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments"

The Last Martin Archtops

Martin 1942 F1

- from the last batch of Martin F Style Archtops -

Serial number 82431

Martin 1942 R-18

- from the last batch of Martin R Style Archtops -

the final Archtop Guitars built by Martin

Serial number 82855

C. F. Martin's interest in archtop guitars was relatively short lived, beginning with the 15" carved top, round hole C-1 above, #47368, and five other examples, the first archtop guitars ever to
grace the work tables at Martin, on June 20, 1931.

By November of 1932, the C-1 was first built with F-holes as it's former position in the lineup was filled by the slightly smaller 14 3/8" pressed top roundhole R-18.

By the end of 1933, the R-18 had also become an "F" hole guitar.

By mid-1936, the R-18 was also built with a carved top.

The F-1 and R-18 above, #82431 and #82855, were from the last two batches of archtop guitars ever to be built in Martin's North Street Factory, stamped on September 18 and November 20 of 1942.

Before building flat top 12 string guitars in the 1960's, Martin built only six individual 12 string guitars, three flat tops and three arch tops.

The 12 string above, #50223, was the first 12 string arch top ever built by Martin.

Chapter 35.

Responding to the Limits of War

Martin 1939 D-28

Martin 1944 D-18 - with scalloped bracing and red spruce

These examples illustrate the changes necessitated by shortages of materials and personnel during the war years, as well as an effort to build stronger guitars to handle heavier strings.
Due to strictly enforced limits to the amount of metal to be used, the neck reinforcements in war time Martins returned from metal to ebony rods similar to those used decades earlier,
necessitating a bulkier but lighter weight neck with a different feel. The tuners were redesigned to use significantly less metal, and the nut material changed from ivory to ebony, all of
which contributed to a change in balance as the "top end" of the guitar became lighter in weight.

Due to a change in finish formulations, many of the guitars produced in 1944 developed a cloudy problematic appearance, necessitating in many examples being oversprayed.

On February 24, 1943, Martin built a batch of 000-42 guitars, the last batch of pearl inlaid Style 40, 42, or 45 Martins. With the last batch of D-28 in 1945 Martin exhausted their supply of
fingerboard inlays and began using dots. With the first batch of D-28 in 1947, Martin exhauted their supply of Germand made herringbone marquetry, and instituted the use on D-28
of the straight line borders first used on Martin's archtops.

Tapered Braces

Martin 1945 D-18

Martin 1946 000-18

When old guitars became "vintage guitars", players looked more carefully and noticed the "scalloped" top braces of pre-war Martins, shaved to form peaks and valleys, as opposed to the
earlier "straight braces". More recently, folks have noticed that "War Year" Martins have transitional "tapered" braces.

Looking more closely, I've discovered that guitars built in 1945 are distinctively different from those of other war years, with their braces considerably more tapered, creating a signature
loud and "punchy" sound. The photos above illustrate the slender braces of 1945 in constrast to the heavier, rounder braces of 1946. I would not be surprised if the more highly tapered
braces have even less mass than the scalloped braces of preceding years.

Chapter 36.

Martin's First Electric Guitars

F-50 #180644 and F-65 #179835 Electrics

While Martin produced flat top guitars with DeArmond pickups in the 1950's, in September of 1961 Martin made their first freshly designed "thin body" electric
guitars, starting with three prototypical examples of each of three variations, of which this top of the line, two pickup, double cutaway F-65 #179835 is one. In
November of 1961, Martin produced the first production run of 12 of each style, of which this single cutaway, single pickup F-50 #180644 is one.
Larger production in batches of 24 each began in 1962.

' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

~ PART 3 ~

~ FIRST FEATURES ~

The Introduction of Features
of the Contemporary Steel String Acoustic Guitar

Chapter 37.

Border Patrol