1923 Martin Style A Mandolin

This was one of two Martin mandolins I worked on for their owner, though I'm sad to say I didn't get pictures of the other one -- a super-clean 1920 Martin Style B -- as it was only in for the afternoon. I've posted on a number of old Martin Style As because they're the most prevalent Martin mandolin to be found. These '20s-era ones are often the best of them as they're a little lighter in build and so sound a bit more full and warm. I've noticed ones from the '40s and later tend to have more punch, however, which helps when playing with others.

Work was light -- a fret level/dress, hairline crack repair, replacement (vintage) tuner buttons, cleaning, and setup. It's got 32w-9 gauges on it and it plays bang-on and easy. I love how worn-in this particular instrument is, too. The finish has wear all-over and it's had so much UV-fading that the colors are all warm browns. The darker rosewood binding has turned creamy-brown (like "Rhode Island coffee") and the celluloid pickguard has lost almost all of the red pigment it originally had.

It's all-original save the tuner buttons.