1943 Martin 00-21 Vintage Wartime Acoustic Guitar Collector Grade w/ohc

Up for sale, a 1943 Martin 00-21 in exceptional, collector-grade condition and in perfect working order. A rare wartime example, this 00-21 was one of only 24 built in 1943 with features such as an Adirondack spruce top, lightweight, scalloped braces, and slotted diamond fingerboard inlays which were not seen after '45. Crack-free and remarkably well kept, this Martin has received the required maintenance due any guitar of this vintage, with a professional neck reset, new hand carved nut and saddle, and a reseated original bridge.

With its Grand Concert body size of 14 1/8" across the lower bout, the 00-21 has a focused and powerful sound that never gets too boomy, but has a sweetness, clarity, and power that belies its size. With a solid Adirondack spruce top, solid Brazilian rosewood back and sides, original bridge plate, and scalloped braces, the sound has a piano-like clarity and incredible depth. It's the kind of early Martin that's braced to handle steel strings, yet still light enough in its construction that sound simply leaps from the instrument. There's truly no other tone wood that can match Brazilian Rosewood for both its warmth and detail, and this instrument maximizes the potential of this hallowed tone wood. Professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar, this Martin has ideal action and is strung with a fresh set of Thomastik Plectrum 12-59 strings.

The mahogany neck has a prominent V profile with enough shoulder to feel quite substantial and comfortably meet the edges of the ebony fretboard. The original slender fretwire is intact with plenty of life left, having been leveled and crowned in the guitar's lifetime. The frets currently show virtually no wear and the guitar plays cleanly in all registers with action that's ideally set, measuring 1/8" at the bass side at the 12th fret, and 3/32" on the treble side measured at the same fret. The nut measures a full 1 7/8" in width and is ideally spaced for fingerpicking. The slotted headstock features a rosewood veneer on the face, extremely clean original Martin logo and stock nickel open gear tuning machines that have very clean plating and original white buttons.

On the body, the guitar retains its original tortoise pickguard, and other cosmetic accents include a herringbone rosette and backstrip. All original braces are intact and solid and the bridge sits flush with the top, having been reglued in the guitar's lifetime. This guitar is crack-free and incredibly clean, and the top finish is all original with the exception of light, targeted overspray adjacent to the pickguard from when the guard's edges were flattened and reglued, as they often curl up over time. The original finish is also present on the neck and Brazilian rosewood back and sides of the guitar. On the back there are a two very faint roughly rectangular outlines from old setlists or lyric sheets, and the back and sides have light and old overspray over the original finish. While there is light lacquer checking on the top, the back and sides have virtually no checking and aside from a few requisite light finish scratches and nicks, there's truly no wear to report. This is one of the cleanest 00-21s from this era to surface in quite some time, and it has been incredibly well cared for and preserved over the past 70+ years.

The original hardshell case is included. This case retains all of its working latches and the skeleton of the original handle.