C. F. Martin 00-17 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1954)
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C. F. Martin 00-17 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1954), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 140770, natural lacquer finish, Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, period brown chipboard case.
This is a nicely preserved Martin 00-17 from late 1954, just coming up on its 70th birthday! The 00-17 was the largest of the all-mahogany Martins of the 1950s, the company's lower budget 6-string offerings. Style 17 guitars were sold at a relatively modest price (list on this 00 was $75 in early '54, without a case) but they were still built to the same exacting quality standards of all Martins. 850 of these mahogany 00's shipped out in 1954, the best sales year the model ever had.
To achieve this economy, the company used mahogany instead of spruce for the top and applied only the most minimal decoration: there is no binding anywhere, only small dot fingerboard inlay and the gold Martin decal adorning the peghead. Other typical features include a discreet 5-ply sound hole ring, a small straight rosewood bridge and a tortoise celluloid pickguard. The tuners are the standard post-war Waverly individual openback machines with plastic buttons seen on many guitars in this period.
Older mahogany-top Martin guitars are known for their distinctive ringing tone, with a somewhat "tighter" and more detailed response on each note than the typical spruce top model. They are generally considered particularly excellent fingerpickers, especially suited to blues and ragtime styles. The larger 00 body size gives the sound more depth than the more common smaller 0 size models and this is also a good general "strummer's" guitar. The 00-17 records and amplifies easily and also makes for an excellent singer-songwriter's instrument as well as a great all-around choice in a vintage Martin.
Overall length is 38 13/16 in. (98.6 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a decently clean guitar overall, remaining all original and really looking not too heavily used over the last nearly 70 years. The top finish shows some minor wear mostly to the edges but hardly any of the common pick scratches except just forward of the pickguard. The finish on the back and sides is somewhat more worn, with some dings, scratches, scuff marks and areas of finish worn away on the unbound back/side edges, typical of these Style 17 bodies. The back of the neck has some very small dings and dents but nothing too distracting.
Internally the guitar is untouched, with a clean original small maple bridgeplate and the typical neat Martin bracework. The guitar has two visible grain splits that have been sealed and show no signs of movement. The top has a split along the inner edge of the pickguard, which sealed when the pickguard was glued back down. The second grain split is on the back on the bass side of the upper bout above the center seam which is also properly sealed. There was no added finish for these repairs.
The neck has been neatly reset, and the fingerboard has been professionally planed and refretted with appropriate wire. The original bridge appears to be full height on the bass side, with the treble side possibly slightly lowered. The bridge has a new bone saddle, and the original ebony nut is still intact. This is an excellent player with a big sound for an all-mahogany guitar, housed in a period correct chipboard case Overall Excellent - Condition.
This is a nicely preserved Martin 00-17 from late 1954, just coming up on its 70th birthday! The 00-17 was the largest of the all-mahogany Martins of the 1950s, the company's lower budget 6-string offerings. Style 17 guitars were sold at a relatively modest price (list on this 00 was $75 in early '54, without a case) but they were still built to the same exacting quality standards of all Martins. 850 of these mahogany 00's shipped out in 1954, the best sales year the model ever had.
To achieve this economy, the company used mahogany instead of spruce for the top and applied only the most minimal decoration: there is no binding anywhere, only small dot fingerboard inlay and the gold Martin decal adorning the peghead. Other typical features include a discreet 5-ply sound hole ring, a small straight rosewood bridge and a tortoise celluloid pickguard. The tuners are the standard post-war Waverly individual openback machines with plastic buttons seen on many guitars in this period.
Older mahogany-top Martin guitars are known for their distinctive ringing tone, with a somewhat "tighter" and more detailed response on each note than the typical spruce top model. They are generally considered particularly excellent fingerpickers, especially suited to blues and ragtime styles. The larger 00 body size gives the sound more depth than the more common smaller 0 size models and this is also a good general "strummer's" guitar. The 00-17 records and amplifies easily and also makes for an excellent singer-songwriter's instrument as well as a great all-around choice in a vintage Martin.
Overall length is 38 13/16 in. (98.6 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 in. (10.2 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a decently clean guitar overall, remaining all original and really looking not too heavily used over the last nearly 70 years. The top finish shows some minor wear mostly to the edges but hardly any of the common pick scratches except just forward of the pickguard. The finish on the back and sides is somewhat more worn, with some dings, scratches, scuff marks and areas of finish worn away on the unbound back/side edges, typical of these Style 17 bodies. The back of the neck has some very small dings and dents but nothing too distracting.
Internally the guitar is untouched, with a clean original small maple bridgeplate and the typical neat Martin bracework. The guitar has two visible grain splits that have been sealed and show no signs of movement. The top has a split along the inner edge of the pickguard, which sealed when the pickguard was glued back down. The second grain split is on the back on the bass side of the upper bout above the center seam which is also properly sealed. There was no added finish for these repairs.
The neck has been neatly reset, and the fingerboard has been professionally planed and refretted with appropriate wire. The original bridge appears to be full height on the bass side, with the treble side possibly slightly lowered. The bridge has a new bone saddle, and the original ebony nut is still intact. This is an excellent player with a big sound for an all-mahogany guitar, housed in a period correct chipboard case Overall Excellent - Condition.