C. F. Martin 1-18 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1919), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 13533, natural lacquer finish, Adirondack spruce top, Honduras mahogany sides and neck, ebony fingerboard and bridge, black tolex hard shell case.

This is a nice player's example of a just-pre 1920s 1-sized mahogany Martin, something we don't see that much. Martin's Size 1 is just slightly smaller overall than the much more familiar Size 0, but while the 0-18 became a big success in the 1920s and beyond the 1-18 was destined for oblivion. 1919 was the peak production year for the 1-18 with 236 built; that was more than twice the total of the year before. After this the model's sales rapidly declined, eclipsed by the slightly larger 0-18 and the final example was shipped in 1927.

In 1919 the 1-18 initially listed at $25 but the price was raised significantly to $33 later in the year. By this point the 1-18 had recently settled into its specifications as a mahogany-bodied, spruce top 12 3/4" wide guitar and would be built in this form until disappearing. That $33 price was oddly the same as the 0-18, and likely most customers saw little advantage to a slightly smaller but not any cheaper guitar. That pricing policy seems to have killed the 1-18 off in short order; by 1922 it was reduced back to $30 but disappeared from further price lists as Martin apparently just shipped out stragglers for the next few years.

This small-bodied guitar may have been near the bottom of the Martin line, but was still more expensive than many early 1920s guitars, and built to the lofty standards that only C.F. Martin ever sustained. The very tight-grained spruce top and mahogany back are bound with rosewood, the bridge and fingerboard are high-grade dark ebony. The mahogany neck has a soft but noticeable "V" contour, the fingerboard inlay is simple descending-sized pearl dots and the tuners are unplated strips with celluloid buttons. While technically built for gut strings, this 1-18 has been strung with silk-and-steel for some years and shows no ill effects.

The sound is more powerful than one might expect for a small instrument and has surprising depth. As might be expected it makes a great fingerstyle instrument, but also works very well with a flatpick, punching out rhythms for stringband music to early jazz and beyond. This is simply a neat and rather rare little pre-1920s guitar, an obscure discreet Martin gem.

Overall length is 37 3/4 in. (95.9 cm.), 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/8 in. (10.5 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 13/16 in. (46 mm.).

This guitar shows general wear from over a century on the planet, with some typical repairs scattered around but no major alterations. Overall it remains in more original (and less worn) condition than many 100+ year old Martins. The original thin varnish finish has light wear overall, heaviest on the top. This shows dings, dents and scratches but not too much of the typical pick wear; just numerous light nicks in the top below the strings and a small area down to the wood below the high E string. There is an odd worn-away spot on the top just above the upper bass bout waist curve.

There are several sealed grain splits to the top, all in the area of the lower bout on the treble side of bridge. These are sealed with only a little light topical touch up added. There is an old impact crack on the top/edge seam of the lower treble bout, topically sealed on top, lightly touched up on the side. There are a couple of old small repaired cracks to the sides around the lower bass bout solidly repaired with no overfinish and not at all conspicuous.

Internally the rear leg of the main X-brace on treble side was cracked and reglued (related to the top cracks noted above). This was repaired a bit sloppily but solidly with a large diamond cleat added on the outer edge. The rest of the delicate bracing remains original. The neck has been reset and the original bar frets recrowned. The original ebony pyramid bridge has holes neatly patched outside both ends of the bridgepins while the very small original bridgeplate has two corresponding holes from bolts added and then later removed. The top of the bridge may have been taken down long ago and the bone saddle is newer. The original tuners show some clouding to the metal but still work well.

While this was not designed as a steel string guitar it performs well with silk-and-steel strings with a lovely sound. We would not recommend full steel stringing on this guitar. It lives in a recent HSC, a cool and slightly unusual relic of Martin's transitional era before the company's modern (95 year old) guitar styles were developed. Overall Very Good + Condition.