1963 Martin T-15 Tiple

It's true -- Martins are nice. That applies to their tiples, too. This guy was just in for repairs, though even without them, it played alright as-is. That's not bad for 50+ years of service... without servicing. The owner of this one had previously sent-in an older T-18 to get fixed-up and he's been patiently waiting for me to get around to this one ever since.

He wanted me to put in a compensated saddle like on the T-18 and then re-space the strings at the nut, but the extremely-low break-angle of the strings over the original fret saddle (and 3/32" action at the 12th fret) meant a neck reset would simplify setup work and allow it to be a player for the next 50+ years, so I went ahead with that, too. It honestly takes less time to just do the reset work than fuss-around with tweaking a bridge to work with bad angles.

The result is a fast-playing, clean-sounding, great little player.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, new compensated bone saddle, string spacing adjustment at the nut, setup.

Made by: Martin

Model: T-15

Made in: USA

Serial number: 191153

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: x

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Tone: clean, sweet, jangly, good snap, good sustain

Suitable for: blues, folk, country-blues, '20s-'30s popular, world, etc.

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 11/22s, 17/38w/17, 14/32w/14, 10/10 for GCEA

Neck shape: medium soft-V

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: unknown

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium modern

Scale length: 17"

Nut width: 1 1/2"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/4"

String spacing at bridge: 1 3/4"

Body length: 12"

Body width: 8 7/8"

Body depth: 3 1/2"

Weight: 1 lb 15 oz

Condition notes: very clean throughout, non-original saddle, only very light nicks/scratches here and there. No cracks, all-original otherwise.