1925 Martin 0-21 Steel String Natural Owned by Eric Clapton Brazilian Rosewood

1925 Martin 0-21 Steel String Natural Owned by Eric Clapton Brazilian Rosewood

This Martin 0-21, previously owned by Eric Clapton, was auctioned off in 2004 by Christie's auction house as a part of the Crossroads Guitar Auction.  It is an exemplary pre-war Martin acoustic with gorgeous Brazilian Rosewood - please watch our video to hear how the instrument sounds!

Our in-house guitar repair technician took numerous photos of the exterior and interior details of this guitar, as well as blacklight photos. We can not attach all of them to this listing given photo upload limits on selling sites. Please contact us if you are interested in the guitar and would like to see all of the photos we took. 

TRADES - LAYAWAY - 0% FINANCING 

Weight: 2.8lbs

Case: Hardshell Case (Not original)

Year: 1925

Cosmetic Condition:  Guitar is in very good condition.  There is plenty of play wear around the instrument but nothing you wouldn't expect from a guitar that is about 100 years old.  There are some areas of scratching on the top, back, and sides of the guitar as well as a small chip on the corner of the headstock.  The neck has some small indentations as well that can be felt while playing. 

SETUP & INSPECTED BY OUR LUTHIER

Tech Notes: Amazing instrument that plays easily and comfortably up and down the board with medium playability and minimal relief. This action was likely what Clapton enjoyed himself, he is known for liking slightly higher action.  There is plenty of room on the saddle if someone wanted lower action, and the neck angle is spot on and a neck reset is certainly not needed at this time.  We used D’Addario 10-47 EJ15 Phosphor Bronze acoustic strings. The guitar was definitely refretted, and the installer did a wonderful job.  The frets are almost perfect condition wise, just a few very, very light divots on the first four frets on the b strings and a couple on the e.  I tried to photo the frets but you cannot actually see the wear spots, that's how small they are. The board is not worn in, likely from planing before the refret.  It appears to have had a board level at some point (common during a neck reset and refret) it appears the luthier leveled the fretboard extension flat and kept the 15” radius on the first half of the board.  This compound radius could very likely be from Eric Clapton's wants, or simply the way the luthier did the labor, either way it's great and plays well. The nut is perfectly carved and shaped and is very likely a replacement based on how fresh it looks, but it is perfectly positioned in the slot and almost could be original. Tuners were likely replaced as I see no old tooling marks, they turn well and hold tune perfectly. The D tuner is slightly bent but in no way inhibits functionality. After inspecting the inside, I noticed two large cleats supporting a previously cracked center seam.  After blacklighting it is clear there was a center seam crack that was properly repaired, and refinished over.  The bridge very likely is original, but could also have been a replacement, but it is extremely well made regardless and the saddle was certainly replaced with a hand carved compensated saddle. Bridge pins are replacements and one bridge pin is unlike the others (slotted vs the rest unslotted). Underneath, you can see the bridge plate has been supported with an additional piece of wood, this is generally due to the ball ends chewing through the original bridge plate, this is a very common repair. There may have been a crack on the lower bout, but no signs of it going all the way through or any repairs being done, so it may be a finish crack.  No other signs of repairs anywhere else.  All repairs are common for being almost 100 years old, and all repairs have been performed properly and professionally, likely by Clapton’s personal tech (my guess) based on how well they were done. When we received the guitar, we lightly touched up the fret ends, cleaned it and put new strings on it (Clapton's original strings in the case), nothing else was done by us to preserve originality.

Nut Width: 1 ⅞”

12th Fret Width: 2.29”

Depth at Nut: .83”

Depth at 9th: .93”

Fretboard Radius: compound 15”-Flat

Truss Rod Action:n/a

Truss Rod Functioning: n/a

Fret Size/Shape: short slim

Describe Neck Profile: v shaped neck, slim, comfortable