1972 Martin 00-21 Excellent, Original Hard, $3,995.00

We sold this guitar new, as Martin dealers, in 1973, and it is now back to us from the estate of its original purchaser. We have the original receipt from its buyer; the guitar was delivered to us from Martin late in 1972 and we sold it early in 1973. It is in wonderful condition, plays perfectly, and the tone and volume are exactly what one would expect from a more than 40-year-old Martin built in the style of their most popular model, dating back to the mid-19th century. The 00-21 was, as some of you know, their longest-running continuously-made model, starting in the 1870s and on into the early 1980s, when they dropped it from their standard lineup and more’s the pity, as these can be complete and total winners. This particular guitar, based on some very detailed inspection by us, went back to the Martin factory years ago when they reset the neck, refretted it, and replaced the pickguard, nut, and saddle. Their work is like handwriting, very identifiable if one is intimately familiar with it, and I can promise that all this is correct. Why they did all that is beyond me (possibly at the request of the owner?) but they did a beautiful job and even included, which we still have in the case, the original pickguard (in nearly perfect condition), the original nut (which is genuine ivory), the original saddle (probably ivory as well), and all the original bridge and end pins, each in their own little envelopes hand serial-numbered to the guitar by Martin’s repair department. Interestingly, the fingerboard and peghead veneer appear to be of Brazilian rosewood and if so, this would be due to their having stockpiled neck blanks in the late 1960s. We also have the original Lifton hard shell case with its “Built Like A Fortress" label, which cases were sold separately in those years; we used to get them directly from the Lifton factory here in NYC. What all this adds up to is a totally charming 44-year-old Martin 00-21, from as nice a period of Martins as there is, for the very attractive price of $3995 w/ohsc