1953 Martin 00-18 Flattop Guitar

Update 2020: I've updated the blog post entirely with new photos, a video, and description.

Back in 2015 I sold this guitar to a friend of mine while he was on a tone quest for the "perfect vintage Martin." He had old dreads and newer Martins, but he wanted a smaller-body main squeeze and this was it. At the time, I was hemming and hawing over buying it myself as it was (and still is) my favorite Martin that's passed through these doors.

Not only is it a '53 (my favorite year for them), it also has a more medium-thickness neck profile and the sound is everything you could want in something under-D-sized. It's full-sounding and has a good, warm, woody bottom-end but yet the mids and highs are clear and fundamental in nature with crazy-fast response. It's loud, too, and will cut through a mix just fine. I guess it's a bit of a Gibson-lover's Martin as it has that Martin refined sound to it with all the velvet and sculpted-voice tone you might want, yet it's very direct and plainspoken and has a ton of sustain. It's easy to love.

On top of that, the top of this guitar is most likely red spruce that was milled by the Eaton Lumber Co just 5 minutes up the road in Hancock, Vermont. This is per the research of The Guitarphile, with whom I've had contact with and dug-into the story a bit locally. Eaton was producing wood for Baldwin pianos, among others, and any spruce it would've been milling from up here at the time as a supplier would've been red.

Anyhow, back in 2015 I hadn't done much work on the guitar save a glorified setup, but this time around I gave it a fresh neck reset and associated work. It's now playing just as spot-on as it was before, but has a hair more power and snap to its voice, too -- and plenty of saddle for action adjustment later-on.

Life has changed around my friend, so that's why it's back up here for consignment and so I get to enjoy it again for a few days until someone snags it yet again. I'm in no position at the moment, myself.

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, new bone saddle (the bridge had been lightly-shaved in the past, so I converted this to a drop-in slot that looks like the through-cut original, but is more stable), replacement ebony bridge pins and endpin, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: the saddle is tall, the neck is straight, the frets have some meat left on them (though they're lower and flatter than original), and it plays spot-on with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, strung with 54w-12 gauges in phosphor bronze.

Scale length: 24 7/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/16"

Body length: 18 7/8"

Lower bout width: 14 1/4"

Waist width: 9"

Upper bout width: 10 7/8"
Side depth at endpin: 4 1/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back wood: solid mahogany
Sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: straight x-bracing

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: rosewood, bone saddle

Neck feel: medium C/soft-V shape, ~12" board radius
Neck wood: mahogany

Condition notes: the guitar is entirely crack-free save one tiny ding that looks like it was patched some time back (not even dime-sized) on the lower-bout-side. I've shot a photo of that. It's all-original save pins and saddle, though the top deck of the bridge looks like it was lowered less than 1/32" of original height. It was like that when it came in back in 2015 as I recall, and had a low original saddle in it. The bridge also has filled worn-in string ramps that're not obvious at a glance. There's use-wear throughout the instrument including pickwear on the upper bout, discoloration of the pickguard from pickwear, and light scratches, nicks, and dings all over. Still -- it looks glorious rather than abused. It's well-traveled but not beat. There are divots in the fretboard in first position from tons of play but unless you're a neck-squeezer, they won't cause issue. If you do press hard when you fret, I could fill them so you're not playing "scalloped" -- but I like the evidence of life too much to do that to it without cause.

It comes with: a Recording King 00-size case with some tour stickers on it.