A Superb, One-Owner, 1962 Martin 0-18

1962 Martin 0-18 (14 fret to body)

This 13 3/8-inch-wide, 4 1/4 inch-deep concert-style guitar weighs just 3.40 lbs. Mahogany back and sides with an 'X' braced, Adirondack Red spruce top. Five-ply binding on the top of black, white and tortoiseshell, single-ply tortoiseshell binding on the back. Three-piece mahogany neck with a nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a scale length of 25 inches and a very comfortable medium profile. Headstock with gold "C F Martin & Co./Est. 1833" decal. Individual Grover 'Sta-Tite' open-back tuners with skate-shaped metal buttons. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 20 original medium frets and with pearl dot markers and small white dot side-position markers. Three sound-hole rings in one-nine-one grouping. White bone bridge on rectangular (non-belly) Brazilian rosewood base with Martin black pins. The model and serial number are stamped in blind on the end of the neck-block "0-18 / 186550". There are a few miniscule and insignificant surface marks on the body and this one owner guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. This is a truly wonderful example of a fifty-two year old Martin. There is just some very minor fret-wear on the first & second frets and the fretboard shows no sign of wear whatsoever. Housed in the original three latch shaped light-brown softshell case with brown felt lining (8.75).

When we purchased this guitar from the family of the original owner we felt that the action at the twelfth fret was a little high and so we sent it to our luthier who carried out a most incredible and totally invisible neck reset. The scary thing is that you can not see any evidence under ultra-violet light - if we did not mention it one would never know…

"The first mention of style 18 appears in the Martin sales records of 1857. Over the years the style has been very popular. It has been made in most sizes, and in tenor guitars as well as six-string models." (Mike Longworth. Martin Guitars - A History, p.37).