2008 Martin M-21 Steve Earle Sunburst, Excellent, Original Hard, $2,995.00

One of the rare and much sought-after Martin Steve Earle M-21 guitars has just arrived, and we’re so happy to have another; they simply don’t stay around for very long. This one is somewhat unusual as it has a complete, active onboard pickup system, the Martin/Fishman Premium Blend with full controls right where you want them; I’ve never seen another like it. We got this guitar from its original owner, who had ordered it specially that way. The finish is what I would call Martin’s 1935 Sunburst, quite unlike the very few sunburst ones we had made for us back then and possibly unique; it does look quite spiffy. It went back to Martin some years ago when they put one additional coat of lacquer on the body, probably to somewhat mitigate a couple of minor dents in the original finish though I can’t really see why; they look like minor battle scars to me, and are purely cosmetic. Meanwhile, this Steve Earle Signature model (it’s got both Steve’s and my genuine hand-inked autographs on the label inside, I having been its designer) sounds and plays just like they always do: terrific. Perfect action with an .012 set of strings, very very large, clear tones across the whole range, and lots and lots of, well. everything. Steve still carries three of these Limited Edition Martins on tour with him all the time. This particular one is #68 of 154 made. And the price is a huge bargain at an incredible $2995 w/ohsc