A Pre-War Martin O-18K

1934 Martin O-18K (12 fret to body)

This great sounding Martin acoustic guitar from 'The Golden Era' weighs just 3.30 lbs. and has a 13 1/2 inch wide and 4 1/8 inch deep Hawaiian Koa body. 'Cross-braced' top with a multi-bound 3 9/16 inch diameter sound-hole. Two-piece back with a black backstripe. The top of the body has five-ply 'fiberloid' binding and the bottom single-ply binding. One-piece mahogany neck a nut width of just under 1 13/16 inches and a scale length of 24.90 inches. The soft 'V' neck profile measures 0.91 inches at the first fret and 1.07 inches at the ninth fret. Slotted headstock with "Martin & Co. / Est. 1833" silkscreened on face and the original Grover three-a-side open-back nickel strip tuners with rear-facing flower-shaped metal buttons. Ebony fretboard with 20 thin frets and neck joint at twelfth fret. Straight bone saddle on rectangular ebony 'belly' base with six black bridge-pins. The body is stamped ""C.F. Martin & Co / Nazareth-PA". on the inside center strip and the neck block is stamped "O-18K / 58154".

This wonderful sounding guitar was the unfortunate recipient of a terrible accident… A cabinet door 'fell' onto the guitar resulting in a serious break on the top… We have had our luthier restore the top and the guitar has now been restored to at least part of its former glory. The work that was carried out was as follows: "Repair crushed top and side and four braces; Refinish top and sides; Fret level and dress". An opportunity for a player to own a lovely pre-war Martin that plays and sounds just as it should - and at a reasonable price.

"A Martin with the 'K' designation after the model name… was made with Hawaiian koa wood, which gave it an extra element of beauty as well as a unique voice." (Walter Carter. The Martin Book, p. 31).