PLEASE READ, THIS HAS A STORY.

This 1951 Martin D-18 was owned by Hank Kalvin, co-owner of Ace Music in Santa Monica for over 50 years. It was his favorite acoustic guitar, the one he kept for himself out of everything that passed through his hands in a lifetime of buying and selling instruments.

Hank bought it in 1959 at age 18 from Art's Loan, another pawn shop on Santa Monica Blvd. He and his brother Jack had grown up working in their parents' pawn shop, Ace Loan, before eventually converting the business into Ace Music, which ran on Wilshire Blvd across from the Mercedes-Benz dealership for 25 years until it closed in the late 1990s.

Sometime between 2010 and 2015, Hank brought the guitar to Paul Flynn for a refret and minor repairs. Paul had worked at Ace Music and went on to become a founding co-owner of Truetone Music in Santa Monica, where he remains a working luthier today. Paul, Ken, and Rusty essentially inherited the Ace Music customer base when they opened Truetone. Taking on this refret was almost certainly a gift, a labor of appreciation for the years of work Ace gave him and the customers who followed him there. The job was done with the kind of care no paying job guarantees.

Two stories stand out from the guitar's time at Ace Music. A roadie for the Rolling Stones once asked to borrow it for a recording session in Los Angeles. Hank said to me, "yeah right, and later they would call call from England to ask how much money they should send for that D-18, because they'd forgotten to return it." Separately, John Kay of Steppenwolf bought a guitar from Hank and wanted the case Hank's D-18 was in. Hank traded cases with John. The guitar has been housed in John Kay's case ever since, the road case is stenciled JOHN KAY.

Hank saw countless D-18s move through his family's pawn shop and his own store over the decades. This was the one he kept. I can't say for certain if this was sentiment from 50-plus years of ownership or if the guitar is simply a unicorn standout example, but Hank's ear for instruments was the real thing.

In his late 70s, Hank decided he wanted me to have the guitar. I acquired it on September 17, 2017. I don't play anymore, and this instrument belongs with someone who will play it seriously, the way Hank did.

The guitar is a 4 lb featherweight in excellent vintage condition. Tuners have been changed; see photos for detail. The refret and minor repair work was completed by Paul Flynn at Truetone Music in Santa Monica. I'm open to offers.