1967 Martin 00-21 Flattop Guitar
Yeah, I'm not going to argue with a Brazilian rosewood-backed 00 Martin. They're great guitars, plain and simple. This one definitely prefers fingerpicking and a light touch, but its lightweight, 12-fret build pushes the sound right out there. Playing it is a clean and crisp experience with the rosewood-y depth and sustain you'd want to keep the notes creamy and full.
I worked on this for a customer of mine and, frankly, it had a great sound both before and also after surgery. You hear everything on this guitar and it doesn't mush-over any mistakes, which is something I like to hear from a 12-fret instrument. Often these can get a little bass-heavy and mids-scooped as they age-in if they've been played hard with a pick their entire lives.
Work included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, bridge reglue and slight relocation, and a new bone saddle with proper compensation. It's wearing a set of 50w-11 gauges, plays spot-on with hair-under 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, and the neck is straight.
Scale length: 24 7/8"
Nut width: 1 7/8"
String spacing at nut: 1 11/16"
String spacing at bridge: 2 5/16"
Body length: 19 3/8"
Lower bout width: 14 1/8"
Upper bout width: 10"
Side depth at endpin: 34 1/8"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
Bracing type: lightly x-braced
Fretboard: rosewood
Bridge: rosewood
Neck feel: medium C/V shaped, 14-16" radius on board
Condition notes: it's entirely original (and crack-free) save the saddle.
Comments
I have a dearly loved Brazilian rosewood 1969 that I may decide to sell and have been thinking of bringing up to you for a tune-up in a month or two.
For the moment I'm just restringing it and trying to decide between John Pearse light gauge or extra light because those are what I have in hand... The ones you used are apparently right between them (.010-.047 vs. .012-.053).
Any advice between those two sets of strings?
I love my 00 for fingerstyle, but have injured my fingers, which now might be happier with a flat pick and/or narrower string spacing. Seven months into what the doctor says could be a year of recovery that still might not be full function.
I'll go shopping later. Now I have a new problem. When I went to replace the B string, I was surprised that the string came completely loose at One Touch of the tuning knob. Surprise! The gear of the two new machine had gone flying across the room and took me about an hour to find. Apparently the screw that held the gear in place had gone missing some time earlier. I am on my second round of going over the carpets and stray shoes and other things. Sigh. Will check to see if my local music store has a replacement tomorrow. Also noticed that one of the screws had already been replaced, since four out of six are rounded heads and one is flat.