c.1998 Martin 000-1R OM-style Guitar

December 15, 2013

c.1998 Martin 000-1R OM-style Guitar

This is a friend's guitar that's now on consignment here at the shop. It was most definitely a snow day today but I wanted to get that natural lighting thing going on -- and besides, it doesn't hurt to let this guy into a little cool weather for 30 secs to snap some shots.

The owner has had this guitar since new and it's been a good, faithful companion. She recently moved to a smaller-body, shorter-scale instrument and this guitar hasn't been getting as much attention of late. It's in pretty darn good shape and has only a couple of dings on the top and some pickwear to the upper bout treble side. Otherwise it's all good to go and comes with spot-on action and a big, warm, sweet voice.

I installed a K&K Pure Western (roughly $90) a bit ago which is the 3-sensor variety of the pickup and it sounds great and gives plenty of (passive) output and a mic-sounding signal. As of the time these pics were taken, there's a bit of light fret wear in the 1-5 area and I'll be giving this a fret level/dress and further setup before it ships out.

The 000-1R model was made for a short time and features a solid spruce top over laminate rosewood back and sides. The neck appears to be mahogany and the fretboard and bridge are rosewood. Aside from the K&K pickup, everything on the guitar is original.

Classic Martin headstock with rosewood veneer. The nut is 1 11/16" as per the standard for these guys.

This guitar is more like an OM than a 000 model as it has the long (25.4") scale which is more popular with bluegrass players and heavy strummers as it pulls a bit more tension out of the strings.

The string ramps on modern Martin instruments are so nice to have -- they give great back-angle to the strings.

Here you can see some of that pick wear on the upper bout treble side. From the front this guitar looks like it could be a classic 000-18 or something, especially with the 60s-style tortoise binding.