1945 Martin 0-17 Flattop Guitar

My friend Rick picked this up from a consignor of mine right after I'd finished it and before I even jotted-down the specs. It's a 1945 0-17 and it's pretty stock except for a '50s-era Harmony bridge (Brazilian rosewood, mind you) that I modified into its current state to look (and function) more respectably -- and the saddle, nut, and some older replacement bridge pins.

While it's obviously got some miles on it, this 0-17 is in rather good shape for its type. There's only one hairline crack repair to the back and it's otherwise crack-free. The brass frets had enough meat to level and dress into submission but they'd also obviously been played like nuts. It sounds the biz with that airy, woody, velvety, chocolate thing that these have. It's a really hard sound to replicate and while there are plenty of newer hog-top Martins that also sound good, the old '40s and '50s ones have that certain something that makes them superb.

Per the usual, it's got a solid mahogany body throughout, mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard and bridge. The x-bracing is "slim straight" with fairly tapered ends and that gives this a lot of mid-range focus and push and plenty of volume.