C. F. Martin 00-21 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1930)
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Item # 13466
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C. F. Martin 00-21 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1930), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 42755, natural lacquer finish, Brazlilan rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, period black hard shell case.
This guitar is a lovely 95 year old 00-sized Brazilian rosewood Martin with more soul than a room full of jumbos! It has an added correct-style pickguard and some finish work done to the top but is a fantastic sounding and playing guitar. The 12-fret, steel string Martins of the late 1920s and very early 1930s are some of our very favorite guitars, period. For a few years right at this time -- just before altering nearly all their designs to the 14-fret neck "Orchestra Model" pattern -- Martin crafted a relatively small number of these traditional long-body flat-tops intended for steel strings instead of the gut used previously. The build is very light and the scalloped bracing extremely graceful and delicate compared to what was to come in the ensuing decades.
This Model 00-21 dates to early/mid 1930. Style 21 -- the lowest price rosewood model -- was cataloged as a gut strung guitar until 1927, when most of the line finally bowed to the reality that the steel-string flat top was the new normal. The other features remained pretty much as they had since the 19th century, with a slotted headstock over the wide ebony fingerboard on the neck which joins the body at the 12th fret. These guitars were the final evolution of the original 1800s Martin patterns before the "modern" 14-fret design became the standard just a few years later. This 1930 guitar has the then brand new larger ebony "belly: bridge, a feature just added to allow a larger gluing area to help resist the increased tension.
The 00-21 is a relatively rare model with just over 100 shipped in 1930, after which this "old fashioned" style quickly dropped out of favor. The traditional 12-fret body was supplanted within a few years on nearly all Martins by the new 14-fret Orchestra Model design, leaving only a few models to carry it on. The 00-21 was only sparingly made after 1931 making it a relatively rare model despite its midline status; not many of these very lightly built instruments have survived without major repairs.
Martin's preference for straight-grained rosewood also results in Style 21 instruments often carrying more colorfully figured Brazilian back and sides than their higher-end siblings. The bookmatched back on this one has some subtle but interesting cross-grain figure and plainly visible saw marks inside. The spruce top features a herringbone soundhole inlay and rosewood binding while the ebony fingerboard has small notched diamond pearl inlay. The original nickel Waverly strip tuners have grained ivoroid buttons.
Overall, this is a truly superb steel-string 12 fret Martin, a real treat to play either fingerstyle or "plectrum" as it would have been termed back when this was a new guitar. In any application it is a featherweight tone machine, a delightful instrument with a voice belying its (by modern standards) small size.
Overall length is 38 1/4 in. (97.2 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/16 in. (10.3 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This 95 year old Martin remains in excellent playing condition, showing general wear and some re-working to the finish on the top. This area only has a very old and thin non-professional overfinish likely done many decades ago; this is not polished out to the level of Martin factory work but is consistent in color with the original look is not too distracting. There is finish pooled in a few dings indicating the top was not stripped and leveled for re-finishing completely. This finish has some light wear with noticeable checking, most heavily in the area behind the bridge. The pickguard fitted is in the Martin style tortoise-pattern celluloid but not of the exact period; still it looks to have been in place for decades.
Overall the otherwise original finish on the rest of the instrument shows checking with scattered dings, dents and scrapes but no large areas of concentrated wear except the lacquer is worn through to the wood in the lower positions on the back of the neck. The ebony belly bridge appears original, possibly slightly lowered long ago and certainly reglued at some point. The original tiny maple bridgeplate is intact with a couple of small tape marks on it but only light wear to the pin holes. The delicate internal bracing remains original and unaltered.
There are no major cracks to the instrument, just a small grain split on the back along lower bout near the center seam that does not appear to extend fully to the inside. The neck has been neatly reset and playability is excellent. The guitar retains the original Martin bar frets, crowned down a bit with some light wear in the first position. The original tuners are intact and fully functional. This is simply a delightful instrument to play or to hear, with a rich and powerful sound. It resides in avintage but later period hard shell case, a splendid survivor of what many consider Martin's best era. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This guitar is a lovely 95 year old 00-sized Brazilian rosewood Martin with more soul than a room full of jumbos! It has an added correct-style pickguard and some finish work done to the top but is a fantastic sounding and playing guitar. The 12-fret, steel string Martins of the late 1920s and very early 1930s are some of our very favorite guitars, period. For a few years right at this time -- just before altering nearly all their designs to the 14-fret neck "Orchestra Model" pattern -- Martin crafted a relatively small number of these traditional long-body flat-tops intended for steel strings instead of the gut used previously. The build is very light and the scalloped bracing extremely graceful and delicate compared to what was to come in the ensuing decades.
This Model 00-21 dates to early/mid 1930. Style 21 -- the lowest price rosewood model -- was cataloged as a gut strung guitar until 1927, when most of the line finally bowed to the reality that the steel-string flat top was the new normal. The other features remained pretty much as they had since the 19th century, with a slotted headstock over the wide ebony fingerboard on the neck which joins the body at the 12th fret. These guitars were the final evolution of the original 1800s Martin patterns before the "modern" 14-fret design became the standard just a few years later. This 1930 guitar has the then brand new larger ebony "belly: bridge, a feature just added to allow a larger gluing area to help resist the increased tension.
The 00-21 is a relatively rare model with just over 100 shipped in 1930, after which this "old fashioned" style quickly dropped out of favor. The traditional 12-fret body was supplanted within a few years on nearly all Martins by the new 14-fret Orchestra Model design, leaving only a few models to carry it on. The 00-21 was only sparingly made after 1931 making it a relatively rare model despite its midline status; not many of these very lightly built instruments have survived without major repairs.
Martin's preference for straight-grained rosewood also results in Style 21 instruments often carrying more colorfully figured Brazilian back and sides than their higher-end siblings. The bookmatched back on this one has some subtle but interesting cross-grain figure and plainly visible saw marks inside. The spruce top features a herringbone soundhole inlay and rosewood binding while the ebony fingerboard has small notched diamond pearl inlay. The original nickel Waverly strip tuners have grained ivoroid buttons.
Overall, this is a truly superb steel-string 12 fret Martin, a real treat to play either fingerstyle or "plectrum" as it would have been termed back when this was a new guitar. In any application it is a featherweight tone machine, a delightful instrument with a voice belying its (by modern standards) small size.
Overall length is 38 1/4 in. (97.2 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/16 in. (10.3 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This 95 year old Martin remains in excellent playing condition, showing general wear and some re-working to the finish on the top. This area only has a very old and thin non-professional overfinish likely done many decades ago; this is not polished out to the level of Martin factory work but is consistent in color with the original look is not too distracting. There is finish pooled in a few dings indicating the top was not stripped and leveled for re-finishing completely. This finish has some light wear with noticeable checking, most heavily in the area behind the bridge. The pickguard fitted is in the Martin style tortoise-pattern celluloid but not of the exact period; still it looks to have been in place for decades.
Overall the otherwise original finish on the rest of the instrument shows checking with scattered dings, dents and scrapes but no large areas of concentrated wear except the lacquer is worn through to the wood in the lower positions on the back of the neck. The ebony belly bridge appears original, possibly slightly lowered long ago and certainly reglued at some point. The original tiny maple bridgeplate is intact with a couple of small tape marks on it but only light wear to the pin holes. The delicate internal bracing remains original and unaltered.
There are no major cracks to the instrument, just a small grain split on the back along lower bout near the center seam that does not appear to extend fully to the inside. The neck has been neatly reset and playability is excellent. The guitar retains the original Martin bar frets, crowned down a bit with some light wear in the first position. The original tuners are intact and fully functional. This is simply a delightful instrument to play or to hear, with a rich and powerful sound. It resides in avintage but later period hard shell case, a splendid survivor of what many consider Martin's best era. Overall Very Good + Condition.