A Virtual Museum of


Early Martin Guitars

 
and free e-book

Illustrating and Exploring the Early Development of the
Martin Guitar

Created by Folk and Roots Music Photographer

Robert Corwin




 
 


"perfecting the art of 'guitar porn' ... 

This site is an amazing labor-of-love, quite possibly the most in-depth, photo-intensive look ever at old, pre-war (and in many cases antique) Martin guitars … All online and for free."

--Jason Verlinde
The Fretboard Journal



"Without any hesitation I can say that in my opinion, the website that Robert has created is the most valuable source of information on Early Martin Guitars in existence today, in or out of print."

Bill Cappell, Early Martin Researcher, November, 2013



Robert's photographs can also be seen in the books "Martin Guitars, a History"
and "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference" by Johnston, Boak & Longworth


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A Note About this Web Site...


I've chosen to present this information on the web for free, rather than publish a printed book, to make a comprehensive resource available

...at any time,

...any place in the world,

...even on your smartphone,

...regardless of your means. 

Publishing on the web allows me to show you the latest information immediately, without waiting for publication, without missing information obtained after a book is
published, or including information found to be obsolete.   Fortunately, careful choices have allowed me to self-fund this project and share the results without charging.
If I should ever decide to publish a physical book, I still have no plans to replace these free web sites. 

I've learned that the instruments produced under C.F. Martin Sr. in his first dozen or so years in America and his 22 year old grandson Frank Henry Martin, who led
the company for 67 years, during the productive Hawaiian boom of the teens, through the influential depression era, to the "golden" pre-WWII years, virtually define
the evolution of the acoustic guitar as we know it today, so I've focused on collecting these transitional guitars. 

Martin's greatest achievement may have been listening well.  Virtually all of the greatest advancements in the development of the acoustic guitar were conceived of not
at the Martin factory, but at the suggestion of Martin's customers.  Martin's longtime distributor, John Coupa, lived in the classical world, who's players were attracted
to the influential guitars of Spain.  Madame DeGhoni commissioned guitars with prototypical X bracing, a necessary precursor to steel strings, from both Martin and
Schmidt & Maul.  Steel strings first appeared on the Hawaiian guitars commissioned by the Southern California Music Company.  The modern guitar shape is the result
of the neck meeting the body at the 14th fret as requested to attract former banjo players by Al Esposito of the Fischer Music Stores.  The Dreadnaught body style was
suggested by Harry Hunt of the Ditson Stores.  Martin Shop Foreman John Deichman helped realize many of these ideas.

Having guitars in hand has allowed me to to let the guitars speak for themselves, observing, measuring, and documenting, with exterior photos and images that
allow us to take a virtual walk through their interiors, and to present as often as possible the results of direct observation rather than speculation and debatable opinions. 
Simple observation has allowed me to correct errors in several of the most important elements of the narrative as presented by some major books on the subject, leading
me to question who was responsible for building the first Martins, adapting fan bracing, for "inventing" X bracing, and proposing the 14 fret neck design that informs
the shape of the modern guitar.

C.F. Martin & Co. has produced exquisite guitars, and I've been fortunate to assemble a number of the most beautiful, but I realized early on that any attempt at serious
research should also take the less expensive "bread and butter" examples seriously, rather than fall into the trap of relying on the "eye candy" of less typical "presentation
guitars" merely because they impress.  Unfortunately, while many more of the affordable guitars were produced, they were far less likely to survive their tough years.

I'm also fortunate to have lived life as a President's Fellow in Photography and Design at Rhode Island School of Design, in over 50 years of photographing musicians,
and as a professional designer with a background in publishing, so I've worked to apply my learnings to set a higher bar for graphic, vivid detail photos that I'm flattered
to find have been emulated already.  Producing the photos myself has also allowed me to avoid the industry funding used to help other projects cover the significant costs
of paying a commercial photographer, keeping this project independent and free of outside influence. 

While many of the foremost experts on vintage Martins are friends, and I owe thanks to all of them, I've been careful to avoid owing favors to friends, or to anyone in the
industry, that might interfere with my objectivity, or keep me from presenting my findings fully, letting the chips fall where they may, and not having to worry about who
  might be offended and who will "look good".

www.earlymartin.com contains 67 chapters.  www.vintagemartin.com is 115 chapters and growing, including more detail, photos, and free, full-size downloadable diagrams
than any book could include. 

I don't believe that producing a web site rather than a book is a compromise in any way.

More than simply a free e-book, I would not be surprised to see this inclusive personal experiment of creating in public to become commonplace in the future.   

This web site will always be a work in progress.  Not all sections are complete, and more may appear.  Hopefully, all of the links are working now.  I've reorganized the entire
site and the pieces continue to come together, but there are still holes and place holders.  Feel free to enjoy what's here, and check back for further additions, refinements,
and corrections as you wish.  Thanks to your suggestions, I've added an index.  I've also added more bracing diagrams, which are now cleaned up nicely thanks to the CAD
skills of luthier Per Marklund in Sweden.  I look forward to adding specific thanks to the many other friends and experts who have helped make this web endeavor possible,
along with links to other helpful resources.  On this platform, the possibilities are limitless.

I recently presented and videotaped a workshop in partnership with Fretboard Journal, with the help of friends including Noel "Paul" Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary, playing
a number of my guitars to demonstrate the differences in the sounds of their various features.  I hope to add this as well as other videos and sound clips to the web site soon.

  No project is perfect.  Perhaps my biggest asset is having you as partners, in daily communication, alerting me to new information, and providing an unprecedented team of
proofreaders, rather than have me grit my teeth over a newly published book filled with typos that will annoy forever.  :)  Thanks!

I thought you might want to take advantage of what we have so far.

Please let me know what you think.

Robert Corwin

- Please note -
Yes, this is a work in progress, as promised!  I'm in the process of adding several exciting new instruments to this web site.  
The new chapters for these instruments have not all been completed yet, so the associated links are not all operable at this time.
I also have not yet adjusted the index to reflect the new added chapter numbers, so the index is not now accurate.
I hope to finish making these changes in the coming days.  Thanks for your patience and understanding in the mean time!

  June 24, 2021


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One of the most gratifying aspects of this project has come in the form of notes received from luthiers I admire telling me that the site has provided information useful for
the restoration or repair of vintage instruments or the building of innovative new ones.

"The internet is another good source of reference.  One website with good close up photos of vintage instruments... that I particularly like is vintagemartin.com. 
It is possible to extrapolate measurements from some of these photos if you already know the dimensions of other details in the photo.  That type of thing can be very useful..."

Guild of American Luthiers, 2011 Convention Keynote Lecture by Joe Konkoly, Head of repair at Elderly Instruments.

Please let me know how the site may be more useful in the future.

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Start here if you're looking for help

Identifying C. F. Martin Guitars




A Martin Timeline


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FREEBIES!!!


~ Download the above headstock image as a 1680 pixel Screensaver, free for your personal use as my gift to you! ~


~ Click on the headstock image below and download a hi-res file you can use to create a high quality 11" x 14" photographic print, suitable for framing, free for your personal use as my gift to you! ~



~ Download any of nineteen full size 1:1 diagrams, with precise measurements of fifteen important early Martin, Panormo, Recio of Cadiz, and Schmidt & Maul guitars,
a 1917 Martin/Ditson Standard "baby Dreadnaught", a 1929 12 fret 000-28, an early 1930 OM-28, and a 1944 000-18, all free for your personal use. ~


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Obtaining Proper Permits for Shipping Vintage Instruments Overseas from the USA

Complying with

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

and the Endangered Species Act (ESA)


'  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '

~ CLEANING HOUSE ~

I absolutely love these, but I really do need to make just a bit of room for new ones.

Instruments for Sale


'  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '



~ THE EVOLUTION OF THE MARTIN GUITAR ~



'  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '
 
to learn about

~ DEVELOPING THE CONTEMPORARY STEEL STRING GUITAR ~

~ Defining the Acoustic Guitar in the 20th Century ~

visit my companion web site

www.vintagemartin.com


'  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '  '


~ The Nineteenth Century ~

~ PART 1 ~

~ EARLY C. F. MARTIN INSTRUMENTS ~

Before the Styles Were Defined



Preface.

 
Stauffer "Renaissance" Style Legnani Model Guitar

Long before C.F. Martin came to New York from Markneukirchen, Saxony and established his music store on the lower East Side of New York City,
Martin is said to have apprenticed in the acclaimed workshop of Johann Georg Stauffer of Vienna, builder of the Stauffer "Legnani" Model,
perhaps the most modern of European guitars.  

Ironically, early Martin guitars are known for their "Stauffer headstock",  a distinctive headstock with six tuning machines in line on a single side of the
headstock, as emulated today on Fender guitars, and which were referred to by Martin as "Vienna Gears".  In actual fact, more Stauffer guitars have a paddle
shaped headstock with ebony friction pegs than what has come to be known as the "Stauffer" head.

Stauffer guitars typically have a thin, wide "figure 8" shaped body with an upper bout more equal in size to the lower bout, also seen on the earliest
Martin guitars, as opposed to the guitars of Spain, with a smaller upper bout on a narrow body, as later adopted by Martin and still prominent today.

The unique one of a kind "Renaissance" Style Stauffer guitar seen here, with a body that flows seamlessly into the neck, is clearly the model for the
unique one of a kind "Renaissance" Style Martin guitar seen below, so we're lucky that both have survived.


 






Chapter 1.

 
Martin Stauffer Style Guitar


The history of the Martin begins with this guitar.  Several books show this guitar, labeled as a Stauffer, along with what has been considered to be the
earliest existent Martin guitar, to show the influence of the Viennese Stauffer workshop, where Martin once apprenticed, on the first guitars built by
Martin in the new world.  A large photo of this instrument is displayed in the Martin Museum
next to the early Martin to illustrate this connection.

When I compared the two guitars side by side and photographed their interiors, the DNA emerged of two near identical siblings, obviously conceived
by the same hands at the same time with minor cosmetic variation,
a fact now accepted by other Martin experts.  As you'll see as you read further, it was
typical in the early days of Martin, when they had an order for one guitar, to build a second with minor variation in trim. 
The two instruments feature
small, shallow, figure-eight shaped bodies
with large upper bouts and identical dimensions, and spruce tops and maple veneer backs over spruce with
maple sides.  Both have
Stauffer style headstocks with Vienna gears, necks with inlaid stripes of ebony and ivory, raised angled fretboard extensions,
abalone soundhole designs set in mastic,
and intricate ivory and ebony ice cream cone heels with clock key adjustments and hand shaped neck blocks with
identical hardware.
 
Each guitar is ladder braced with
a similar "buttress" under the fretboard extension of each.


This guitar has no stamps or label
, adding to the belief that it came from the workshop of Stauffer, not Martin.  Once I recognized that it came from
the same hands as the Martin, the question was raised of whether this guitar and the Martin stamped example might both have been built by others in Europe,
and one was
imported by Martin, with the Martin stamp added, along with a label proclaiming Martin as an "importer of musical instruments".  Perhaps both
were made by a fellow immigrant living in New York City.  Mr. Martin, after all, was a busy owner of a Manhattan music store.  Martin's records, however,
show that Martin imported only more affordable guitars, and
Martin moved to this country with his friend Heinrich Schatz, a well trained luthier who worked in
Martin's New York shop, and who's later work was similar to and every bit as skilled as the finest early Martins. 
S
o it's likely that these two guitars were
both built in Martin's shop after all.

It's traditionally been assumed that all early C.F. Martin guitars were built by C. F. Martin.  We now know that Mr Schatz, at a minimum, had a hand in building
the guitars.  Schatz was a fine builder, and Martin a busy shopkeeper.  Did Schatz do all the building of the early fine Martin guitars?  Perhaps we will never know.


These two guitars, if not typical, are the pinnacle of guitars offered by C. F. Martin when he first came to America.



                               




Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"The similarities between these two guitars are startling...  Note the almost identical bridge, soundhole rosette, and angled cut at the end of the fretboard,
as well as the adjustable neck with fretboard floating above the soundboard.   Both guitars also have maple backs and sides, though Martin would soon
shift almost exclusively to rosewood."


Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873"


Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar"



 




Chapter 2.

 Early C.F. Martin "Ferrani" Hudson Street Viennese Style Guitar


 
While the earliest Viennese influenced Martins had rather small figure-eight shaped bodies with large upper bouts, the "Hudson Street label" Martins built later in the
1880's
could be surprisingly large and deep guitars reminiscent of the later Gibson Nick Lucas.  These guitars, like their Viennese predecessors, had simple ladder bracing.

This guitar appears to be in the Style Mr. Martin referred to as a "Ferranti".

"In October, for example (Coupa) ordered two "small DeGoni” at $20 each, two large ones with pegs, and one "Ferranti"...The "Ferranti" was named for another well known
player, Marc Aurelio Ferranti, guitarist to the king of Belgium.  His instrument was also described as large, of a more "circular” form - that is, with both bouts about the same width.”

Gura, p 76.  Coupa to Martin, New York, October 15, 1849.

While a typical Martin of the period might be 11 5/8" wide and 3 1/4" deep, the Ferranti Martin is 12 5/8" wide and 4 1/4" deep, close to the depth of the famously deep Nick Lucas.

This guitar is typical of what Martin was building in the late 1830's before leaving New York for Pennsylvania.  While most people associate the Viennese influenced Martins with
Stauffer style headstocks with Vienna gears, many of these originally had slotted headstocks with machines, some of which have been improperly replaced due to misunderstanding.

While the back and sides appear to be Brazilian rosewood, the back is in fact a rosewood veneer over spruce.  Most early Martins were built in this fashion, with
the customer's choice of a variety of quality hardwood veneers over either spruce or mahogany.
 
Most of the Hudson Street Martins have a top border of "thumbprint" inlays as well as the "herringbone" trim that has distinguished Martins for many years.  The inlays may
have been crafted from halves of button blanks from neighboring lower East Side garment dealers.



                    


Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"Martin ledgers from the 1830's suggest that most of C.F. Sr.'s guitars were small and plain.  The eye catching inlays on this fancy model probably
ensured it's survival, while most of the simple guitars from this period were discarded long ago."





Chapter 3.

 Martin & Schatz Guitar


 
One of the most significant early Martins, this Martin & Schatz labeled guitar resided in a glass case at the new Martin factory in the years
preceding the addition of a formal Martin Museum. 

During his first decade of operations in New York City, C. F. Martin's discovery of the fan braced guitars of Cadiz, Spain greatly influenced the
direction of the design of his guitars. 

Built in the old world tradition with
Viennese gears, and one of a handful of Martins with an ivory fingerboard and a small few with an ivory
shield shaped bridge
, this was also
one of the first one or two Martins built with a variation of fan bracing and the narrow early Spanish
"plantilla" or body shape.


This instrument was built with a rosewood veneer over mahogany and rosewood sides.


     






Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873"


 
Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker".


Illustrated in "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries", where a diagram erroneously shows a
significantly different bracing pattern than the photo above shows to be true, and the narrative implies an evolution from ladder to fan bracing, while fan bracing
was not "evolved" by Martin, but copied from the Spanish guitars he observed.


Illustrated in "The Martin Story: A Brief History of the Martin Guitar Company", .C.F Martin & Co.


Illustrated in Carter  "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments".


Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar"
 





Chapter 4.

Jose Recio, Cadiz Guitar

The developing shape of the Martin guitar, with a smaller upper bout, was influenced by the guitars of Cadiz, Spain.  The "Spanish" style Martin guitars of
the 1840's copied many of the features of guitars of Cadiz, including fan bracing, the cedar neck with thin curved heel, square headstock with "volute"
,
tuning pegs
, "Spanish foot", two piece sides, rosette with thinner outer rings, and tied bridge with ivory or bone inset.










Chapter 5.

 Martin & Coupa Brazilian "Tigerwood" Guitar


 
Once the Martin family moved from New York City to rural Pennsylvania in 1838, distribution of the guitars remained in New York, handled by guitar teacher John Coupa,
and the guitars
were either affixed with a "Martin & Coupa" label, or continued to be stamped "C.F. Martin, New York".

This is a typical early Martin parlor guitar, showing a mix of Viennese and Spanish influenced features:  Still with the Stauffer Style headstock and Vienna gears, ebonized neck
and "ice cream cone" heel, combined with Spanish fan bracing, an early precursor of Martin's faux Spanish foot, extending the width of the upper bout, and an early version of
Martin's typical Spanish influenced body shape, with a smaller upper bout than the Viennese influenced guitars, and a flatter base of the lower bout than is found on later Martins.

This instrument has been noted in several books as an early illustration of Martin's use of Hawaiian koa wood, long before koa was first thought to have been used during
the Hawaiian craze of the teens.  Recent testing has shown this wood to in fact be Goncalo Alves from Eastern Brazil, commonly referred to as "Tigerwood".

The back
is a Goncalo Alves veneer over mahogany.


                       



Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"You don't often find Hawaiian koa on mid-nineteenth-century guitars; in fact, you don't find much koa on anything at that early date.  Around 1915,
when the Hawaiian music craze swept the nation, Martin began to make lots of instruments from this beautiful wood, but one can only speculate
why C.F. Sr. chose to try it on this Martin & Coupa from the 1840's."



Illustrated in Carter  "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments":

"Stuck over the Martin & Coupa label is one indicating that the guitar was "Sold by John F. Nunns".  Martin & Coupa claimed the largest assortment of
guitars that can be found in the United States."





Chapter 6.

Martin Bird's Eye Terz

This guitar was likely built at close to the same time as the Tigerwood Martin and Coupa above but with three differences.  It is a smaller "Terz" guitar. 
It was built with a bird's eye maple veneer over mahogany rather than Goncoa Alves.  And it has a single Martin, New York stamp in place of the Martin & Coupa label.
The Terz is a small guitar, still made by Martin today, and made popular more recently by Marty Robbins.


    


The dimensions are:

22 1/8" scale

18 1/4" body length

11 3/8" body width

32" total length

3 3/8" depth at upper bout

3 3/4" depth at lower bout

1 3/4" nut width

2 5/16" string spacing

4 29/32" wide bridge

6" x 1 7/8" x 3" headstock

3 1/4" soundhole

Ebony pegs

Ice Cream Cone heel

Black binding

Broad foot under wide rounded neck block

Three rounded back braces at 4", 3 3/4", 3 3/4"

Three strut fan braces

Bridge plate

While this guitar was build at approximately the same time as the Martin & Coupa, the Martin & Coupa label was used only on guitars distributed from New York by John Coupa while Martin was also selling
a smaller number of guitars directly from the workshop at their new home in Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania.




Chapter 7.

 Martin & Coupa Spanish Style Guitar


This example epitomizes the Martin guitar at a critical point in it's evolution.  The "Spanish" Martin is a distinct style with specific features clearly
showing Martin's awareness of the pre-Torres guitar of Spain.  This guitar retains features of Martin's earliest Viennese influenced guitars,
including the "Stauffer Style" headstock with "Vienna Gears", while adding features of the Spanish guitar.

This fine example of perhaps the earliest of Martin's versions of a Spanish guitar has many prototypical Spanish features:  cedar neck with
elegantly curved Spanish heel, Spanish style interior false foot, tie style bridge with ivory inset, fan braces, two piece rosewood sides with simple
lengthwise center strip dividing the two pieces, and both bindings and simple back strip with straight lines
made of holly extending into the heel.

This guitar is also an early example of features which would become hallmarks of Martin design for years to come, such as the ebony pyramid style
bridge, and Martin's version of the Spanish body shape with a smaller upper bout than the Viennese influenced guitars.

This could be the earliest Martin we've seen to have solid Brazilian rosewood backs and sides in place of a back of rosewood veneer.



            


Illustrated in Evans, "Guitars: Music, History, Construction and the Players, from Renaissance to Rock"

While interviews related to a
recent museum exhibit of early Martin guitars infers that the "Spanish Connection" is a recent discovery, the
importance of this instrument in illustrating the significance of the influence to C.F. Martin of the "Pre-Torres' guitars of Cadiz, Spain was
clearly
recognized here by Evans, in these words published 46 years ago, in 1977, and reprised in the 1997 writing of Washburn and Johnston: 


"This instrument has a combination of features that is, to our knowledge, unique on a Martin guitar.  The head design is similar to that used by
Martin in the 1830's, with the tuning machines concealed under a metal plate and buttons on one side, after the manner of Stauffer.  The body,
however, does not have the Stauffer-inspired, wasp-waisted shape of the 1830's, but is closer to the mature Martin style of twenty years later. 
The shape suggests strongly that Martin had had the opportunity to examine a Spanish-made guitar of about 1840, and was
experimenting with Spanish-style construction."

"This supposition is reinforced by the presence of Spanish features such as we have seen on no other Martin guitar, including simple fan
bracing with three radiating struts, and a Spanish head and slipper foot into which the sides are slotted.  The division of the rosewood sides by a
narrow decorative hardwood strip is another feature borrowed from the nineteenth-century Spanish guitars.  The presence of this strip weakens
the sides; to give them strength, Martin fitted several vertical braces into which the cross struts of the top and back are notched, framing up the body."

"The design of the bridge is very modern for it's date.  In shape it conforms to the "pyramid" bridge pattern used by Martin throughout the latter
half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth.  But this is one of the very few nineteenth-century Martin guitars to be made with a
tied rather than a pin bridge.  The strings pass over a broad, backward sloping ivory saddle-piece before being secured at the rear of the bridge."

"This guitar proves that C.F. Martin was one of the few makers outside Spain in the early nineteenth century to be aware of the possibility of fan strutting
on the guitar, and that he experimented with it before developing his own famous X-bracing system.  It shows the American gut-stringed guitar, the
ancestor of the steel-sting guitar, at a critical point of it's evolution, about to break away from the diverse European influences to which it owed it's beginnings."


Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"The most interesting parts of this Martin & Coupa are what you can't see.  The neck has a Spanish-shaped heel, with the sides slotted into a
neck block with an interior "foot".  The top is also fan braced, a feature this guitar shares with several other Martin & Coupa instruments.  Other small
details from this experimental period at Cherry Hill strongly suggest that C.F. Sr. was turning away from Northern European guitar design and
incorporating ideas found on Spanish instruments predating guitarmaker Antonio Torres's guitars.



Illustrated in "The Steve Howe Guitar Collection"






Chapter 8.

Schmidt & Maul Spanish Style Guitar


The Martin & Coupa above has been touted as containing a singularly unique combination of features not found on any other known Martin guitar,
including elements showing Martin's Viennese and Spanish influences, as well as the beginnings of his own style.   When I purchased this 1844 Schmidt
and Maul guitar at auction from Christie's, I was shocked to discover that it contained every single one of the unique elements recognized by Evans in the
Martin & Coupa above, including Viennese gears and Spanish fan bracing, split sides with marquetry, simple holly borders and back strip following through
the Viennese Style headstock with gears, and Spanish Style cedar neck with a distinctive raised volute that has been flattened to fit under the gear plate. 
This
guitar shows us that Schmidt & Maul were also influenced by Spanish guitars at an early date.  


                     



 

 It is inconceivable in the small community of German immigrants
that one builder would have so blatantly "ripped off" the work of another, especially considering
that Schmidt and Maul were formerly both employees of Martin, and
retained a friendly relationship into the 1850's. It was likely John Coupa, Martin's partner,
distributor, and
a classical guitarist who introduced Martin to Spanish guitars, also introduced the Spanish guitars to
Schmidt & Maul, who
worked upstairs at the same address as Coupa.







Chapter 9.

Early Transitional Viennese/Spanish
Style Martin & Coupa Guitar


Some folks studying early Martin guitars make a point of presenting the guitars in chronological order to establish a sequence of events.  This can be a difficult
endeavor with somewhat unsatisfying results.  Once Martin introduced a new feature, it was added to his menu of available options for customers to choose from, so
not only do features show up far after one would have thought them to be obsolete, but guitars keep popping up with features that we thought to have come far later.

This guitar has some features associated with the Martin & Coupas, including the ebony pyramid tie style bridge with inset ivory saddle, the "shelf" style of
"Spanish foot", and five strut fan braces.   The wide, open rosette is more reminiscent of Panormo or the guitars of Cadiz, Spain.  This guitar has a Viennese
influenced ebonized neck with "Stauffer Style" head with Vienna Gears and ice cream cone heel.  We see the herringbone border on the sides that are usually
found on Martin's earliest guitars from the Hudson Street days.  And we are surprised by a wide marquetry top border of the style generally found on a Style 34,
after Martin's styles were established in the 1850's.


Not surprisingly this guitar shares features with some of Martin's simplest guitars, while the herringbone side trim is seen on Martin's most decorative guitars,
and the delicate back border is only seen on a handful of early Martins.  The back is rosewood veneer over mahogany.

By comparison, the Spanish Martin & Coupa above looks similar from the front with it's Spanish shape, "Stauffer" head, and ebony tie bridge with inset,
but has an "earlier" three strut fan, which generally defines the era, and a
later Spanish heel, while this guitar has the earlier ebonized neck with ice cream
cone heel and herringbone side trim, and
a later style of marquetry.


     






Chapter 10.


Martin Spanish Style Guitar



This guitar is a uniquely fine example of Martin's version of the Spanish guitar, with many of the typical features:  cedar neck with elegantly curved Spanish
heel, large, square headstock flared to a wide end, with pegs, nickel silver nut, Spanish style interior false foot, tie bridge, fan braces, two piece rosewood sides
with decorative side filets and a decorative lengthwise center strip with marquetry dividing the two sections, and back with rosewood veneer over mahogany.


With the fancy appearance of perhaps the most jewel-like Martin "presentation" guitar existent, with a top border of pearl diamonds set in mastic, and a
version of one of the
three basic pearl diamond-adorned soundhole designs with two rows of
glittering tiny pearl diamonds surrounding a solid band of colorful
abalone, this example was clearly built to be played, with a large, long scale, modern feeling neck, which gives this guitar the feel in-hand of a much larger guitar.


                       


Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873":

"This instrument has rosewood sides and back (laminated); marquetry on back and side edges and through the center of it's sides; pearl trim around the
center of it's sides; pearl trim around the top, and an abalone rosette.  Note in particular the beautiful abalone soundhole and top trim, found on Martin's
highest-style guitars, and the ivory tie bridge."


Matt Umanov, Umanov Guitars, New York:

"Most interestingly, it also has a longer scale; at 24.5" it is nearly that of a grand concert size Martin.  This suggests possible construction for concert use,
as it gives the guitar an amazingly sonorous tone, far out of proportion to it's size."





Chapter 11.

Martin Renaissance Style Guitar


This guitar shares many features with the 1840's Spanish Style guitar above, including the ivory bound headstock with pegs
and thin ebony lines
delineating all edges of the headstock, volute and neck
, cedar neck, elegant heel, nickel silver nut, fan bracing, identical ivory tie block bridge, 2 piece sides
divided by a longitudinal strip of marquetry, details of internal construction, and a long modern feeling neck.  This unique "Renaissance" shape,
however, can be seen on only a handful of early Martin guitars.


But the unique details go further than that.  This is the only known example of a Martin with sides tapered to fit the contour of the neck heel in a
most elegant fashion.  The neck is a full 2" wide, with a 24.75" scale, and this is one of only two Martins known to have a unique peak at the
tip of the ivory bound headstock.  Besides being one of the most unusual Martin examples known to exist, the condition is breathtaking, all original
and looking like an almost new guitar.

This is another early example with solid Brazilian rosewood backs and sides in place of a rosewood veneer back.


                                       


Richard Johnston, co-author "Martin Guitars, a Technical Reference":

"This is the earliest Martin guitar I have seen in many years, and without doubt the most unusual. Words like “unique” and “extremely rare” get tossed
around frequently when describing vintage guitars, but in this case we’re not exaggerating. Only seven of these unusual “Renaissance” shape Martins
have surfaced to date, and only this one has the sides tapered to fit the contour of the neck heel."


Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"This elegant peghead has been seen on only a handful of early Martins...  The ivory sides... later evolved into a thin border on only the uppermost
edge of the peghead."

"The compound curve of the guitar where the sides meet the neck is sure to inspire admiration from any serious woodworker...no other Martin
guitar has surfaced in which the sides form a continuous, smooth transition into the neck.  The low-profile shoulders would make playing in
upper positions on this guitar almost as easy as on a cutaway guitar.


Please note:  I'm proud to say that the "Renaissance Martin" shown above, as well as it's "likeness" or image, are the sole property of the Corwin Collection. 

Sadly, numerous images of this important guitar were knowingly reproduced in the book "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of
C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries" by Szego and Shaw without proper attribution, and without obtaining the necessary permission requested and required
to legally reproduce it's image for commercial use.


The image and "likeness" of this guitar are the sole property of the Corwin Collection, and may not be legally reproduced without permission.



 


Chapter 12.

Martin & Coupa "Small DeGoni" Hybrid X Braced Guitar


It is believed by many that Martin developed X_bracing.  X braced guitars, in fact, were ordered by Madame De Ghoni from both Martin and Schmidt
& Maul.  The similarity of the treatments show more than similar interpretations of the same request.  An investigation into the development of X bracing
on Martin and Schmidt & Maul guitars leaves us wondering again about the relationship between the two firms.

Besides Henirich Schatz, we now know that Louis Schmidt was also an employee as early as 1834 or 1835.  The longer we study this guitar, the more we
must wonder if Mr. Maul also played a large part in building early Martin guitars, and perhaps continued to consult with Martin after Martin left New York
and moved to Pennsylvania, playing much of the role in the development of X braces and the modern guitar, that Mr. Deichmann played in the development
of the 14 fret guitar and the Martin Dreadnaught.  Schmidt & Maul were certainly familiar with Martin guitars, and if a customer of John Coupa returned a guitar
for repair, it certainly would have been more convenient to deliver the guitar upstairs for repair rather than return it to Nazareth!


This Martin was built with what I believe was the first experimental variation of X-bracing, appearing at about the same time on a handful of Martin and Schmidt
& Maul guitars.  One Schmidt & Maul, not necessarily the earliest, is dated 1845, while the example produced by Martin for Madame DeGhoni is dated 1843. 


"Coupa could be much more specific in his requests.  In October, for example he ordered two "small DeGoni” at $20 each, two large ones with pegs, and one "Ferranti".  The “DeGoni"
was a model named after Delores Nevares DeGoni, a well-known performer who occasionally appeared on the stage with Coupa.   When she came to the United States in 1843 she
brought a large patterned Spanish guitar, copied by both Martin and Schmidt and Maul, which thus may have provided Martin with the incentive for producing some guitars
in what was termed the"Spanish style”.

Gura, p 76.  Coupa to Martin, New York, October 15, 1849.

This guitar appears to be what Martin called the "Small DeGoni"  While most DeGoni Style Martins were Size 1, this example is quite close in size to a standard
Size 2 Martin.  This guitar also foreshadows a standard Martin Style 21, with simple, tasteful appointments including a herringbone rosette and back strip and
a top border consisting of simple light and dark lines.  The back is a rosewood veneer over mahogany.


                     


Illustrated in Carter  "Acoustic Guitars and Other Fretted Instruments":

"By 1839 Martin had moved his workshop from New York to Pennsylvania, and this relatively plain example of a Martin & Coupa guitar was
probably made at the new location.  Note also the squared off headstock with rear-facing tuning pegs rather than the old Stauffer-influenced design."


Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker" with Schmidt & Maul Guitar:

"The mystery of which is the first X-braced guitar will probably never be solved, but these two early candidates were clearly made by builders who were
aware of each other and may have even been acquaintances.  The fact that two very similar guitars - both sold in New York in the latter 1840's and
both made by German immigrants - have nearly identical X-patterns under the top suggests that there was a considerable pool of talent at work.  Whether
X bracing was a concept shared among compatriots or pirated by competitors is the only question left unanswered. (This) guitar bears a Martin & Coupa
label, and Martin historian Mike Longworth's research into insurance policies held by C.F. Martin Sr. on Coupa's 385 Broadway address suggests that
Martin had guitars there as late as 1851 and certainly for several years before that.  Regardless of which came first, Martin was the firm that went on to
make X bracing a standard feature of the American guitar."





Chapter 13.

Ornate Martin "DeGoni" Hybrid X Braced Guitar


The Martin produced for Madame DiGoni is one of several that were rather plain, while some were quite fancy.  This example has a number
of high end features, including the jewel like rosette, fancy marquetry side filets, and a few unique features.   This is a rare example with
marquetry on all borders.  A handful of other Martins have fancy wood marquetry on the top and side borders, but surprisingly, not on the
back border as on this one.  A handful of other Martins have the headstock edge sheathed in ivory.  This rare example has a handsome contrast
of ivory sheathing on a black faced headstock, finished off with pearl inlaid ivory pegs.  Like other Martins of the period, this example has
the faux Spanish foot and nickel silver nut.  This example also has an ivory pyramid style pyramid bridge with the vestigal scooped back.



           







Chapter 14.

Schmidt & Maul 1847 Alternate X Braced Guitar


This Schmidt & Maul, dated 1847, has another experimental form of bracing, consisting of fan braces, with three struts, and a tone bar that extends past the
treble end of the bridge and across the treble strut to form a small X under the treble side of the top.

The Schmidt & Maul contains many
elements similar to the Martin, including herringbone trim, a Spanish false foot, ebonized neck with ice cream cone
heel, ebony
tie style pyramid bridge with ivory inset, and a similar company stamp on the upper back near the heel, not surprising since Louis
Schmidt worked for Martin ten years earlier.


                     


I suspect that this variation was an early one, as it contains a complete three strutted fan, while the other variation, seen on Martins, Martin & Coupas, and
Schmidt & Mauls, contain only the outer struts of the fan in combination with a large X.





Chapter 15.


Size 3 "Small DiGoni" Hybrid X Braced Spanish Martin Guitar

While the instrument made for Madame Di Goni is thought by some to be Martin's first X  braced guitar, this size 3 Martin,
which fits the description of a "Small DiGoni" has the same hybrid of X and fan bracing with a number of Spanish influenced features
that precede those on the Di Goni guitar, which has no features indicating an earlier age.. 


   

While Martin often mixed older features with newer ones, this guitar, an early version of a Style 3-24, has an early tie style bridge rather
than a later pyramid pin bridge, an early elegantly curved Spanish heel, a back strip of straight holly lines, an early wide version of the slotted
headstock with large bone rollers, a rosette more reminiscent of a Martin & Coupa with tiny dentils, rather than the more standard Style 21
herringbone, and a broad full 2" wide neck width, along with a faux Spanish foot, and an earlier rounded popsicle brace.







Chapter 16.


 
Size 1 Hybrid X Braced Spanish Martin Guitar


This Martin, with the exact same experimental variation of X-bracing appearing on the Martin & Coupa in Chapter 11, also has several distinctive 1840's
features, including a Spanish foot, Spanish heel, nickel silver nut, and large abalone fretboard markers on the side of the neck, as well as the colored diamond
backstrip, outer rosette rings with a tiny rope pattern, and checkerboard binding sometimes seen on early Martins.


                     


This early Spanish Style Martin appears in a larger Size 1, with a variant of the classic three ring soundhole rosette with double ivory center
rings that later distinguished the Style 28.





Chapter 17.

 Early Hybrid X Braced Schmidt & Maul Guitar

This Schmidt & Maul also has the "Hybrid X" bracing identical to that in the Martin & Coupa in Chapter 11 and Martin in Chapter 13.

This instrument includes many of Martin's features of the period, including a Spanish cedar neck with slotted headstock, a pin style pyramid bridge, a Spanish
false foot, neck block and center strip stamps, a three ring rosette with green "tooth" inner ring and small "rope" outer rings, "half arrowhead" marquetry top and
side borders, and an "arrowhead" marquetry back strip.


      
          






Chapter 18.

 Martin Mid-1840's Alternate X Brace Spanish Style Guitar


This Size 1 Martin has another experimental variant of X bracing,
similar in concept the Schmidt & Maul in Chapter 12, with a large X, and a tone bar below
the bridge crossing the treble brace of the X
to form another, smaller X.  
Following a similar train of thought as the Schmidt & Maul, with a tone bar crossing on the treble
strut of the fan to form a smaller X, this appears to be the first of the variants to contain a large, complete X.


                   


The soundhole of this guitar has another variation of the diamond rosette, with a tasteful single center ring of alternating long and short abalone diamonds. 
This example also has
features typical of a mid-1840's Martin, including a Spanish foot, Spanish heel, nickel silver nut, large abalone fretboard markers
on the side of the neck, ebony pyramid bridge with a "scooped" or "lipped" back, and a large diamond end strip and outer rosette rings with a tiny rope pattern
of early Martins and arrowhead backstrip of later 19th century Martins.





Chapter 19.

 Martin Mid-1840's X Braced Spanish Guitar


This Spanish Style guitar has been called perhaps the earliest known Martin to feature a mature X brace, 
essentially the same as it has appeared for many years since. 
Still with the earliest typical Spanish features such as
cedar neck with Spanish heel, two piece rosewood sides with a simple lengthwise center strip dividing
the two pieces, distinctive holly binding, and simple back strip with straight lines extending into the heel.
  The heel on this guitar is thicker and not as elegantly
curved as on earlier examples, and the Spanish foot has been eliminated.


                         
  

Bill Capell, from the essay "Early C.F. Martin Guitars":

"This is the earliest known example of this style bracing that would go on to become the standard for all modern acoustic guitars."


Images of this important guitar were also included in the book "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries"
by Szego and Shaw, without the required permission, and were erroneously attributed to the Martin Collection, which has never owned this guitar.

The image and "likeness" of this guitar are the sole property of the Corwin Collection, and may not be legally reproduced without permission.






Chapter 20.

 Martin 1840's Spanish Style Guitar with Ebonized Spanish Neck

This highly unusual guitar is the only example of a Spanish Style Martin known to have a Spanish heel neck with an ebonized finish and no volute, with the exception of an early Martin
harp guitar who's ebonized neck could easily have been designed to match the ebony support.  This may be an extremely early example, and perhaps the first incarnation, of a Spanish
neck Martin.  Being identical in many aspects to the Martin in Chapter 11 with "Hybrid X" Bracing, this is likely to also be one of the earliest examples of a Martin with "mature X" bracing.

This is also an early example of a Martin with a solid ring of pearl in the rosette.  Many of the finer early Martins had elegant decorative rings of "white pearl" diamonds and/or squares. 
By the early 1850's, the jewel like rings of pearl are replaced by a thin central ring of solid abalone.  This example has an elegant, somewhat wider 7/64" solid ring of pure "White Japan
Pearl", most likely a transition from the white pearl diamonds and squares, to the 5/64" wide solid abalone ring found on the standard Style 27 and Style 30 and higher Martins.

           


George Gruhn:

"An incredibly rare and historically significant instrument.  I do not recall having seen any with a Spanish heel, lack of a volute on the back the peghead, and black neck finish like this one."





Chapter 21.

Martin 1840's Mahogany Size 3 Guitar

C.F. Martin Sr. did not generally use mahogany for backs and sides of his guitars, choosing instead Brazilian Rosewood, maple, and even "Tigerwood".  The first cataloged
model with mahogany was the Style 17 when it was reintroduced in 1906 by Frank Henry Martin.

In the 1840's
, however, before standardizing models, Martin did build a number of Size 3 guitars selling for $16 with mahogany backs and sides.

The typical $16 size 3 Martin had no binding on the back.

This highly unusual example has a rare combination of ebonized neck with a solid headstock and pegs, beautiful figured mahogany
, rosewood fingerboard, and fancy binding
on the back, as well as a Martin stamp on the upper back, an original scooped back pyramid bridge, and strap pin on the back.


      





Chapter 22.

 Martin 1850's Ivory Fingerboard Stauffer/Spanish Style X Braced Guitar


Martin sometimes held over features for many years, offering guitars with a mix of features from many periods on request.  One such set of features is
the Stauffer Style headstock with Vienna gears on an ebonized neck with ice cream cone heel.  This fancy, small size 3 presentation guitar with ivory
clad
fingerboard and Vienna gears
was most likely built in the 1850's.

This example has the third of the three basic pearl diamond soundhole designs, with twin bands of tiny alternating long and short pearl diamonds, as
well as fancy wood marquetry on the top border and
on the sides adjacent to the top and back binding, and rare, gold plated frets.  With beautiful Brazilian
rosewood veneer over spruce on the back, the earliest features such as the
ebonized neck and ice cream cone heel are combined with mature X braces. 
The back is a rosewood veneer over spruce.


                     


Illustrated in Bacon, "History of the American Guitar":

"Gradually, Christian Martin began to bring to the guitars he made more of his own ideas on construction and design.  The most obvious visual
change when comparing this example to the earlier Stauffer-style is the narrower upper body, giving an overall shape that is more like a modern guitar."





Chapter 23.

 Martin 1850's Pearl Rosette and Pendant Guitar


This final example combines decorative details typically found on earlier Martins with construction elements that would be standard for years to come.  With
a beautiful decorative pearl rosette that is possibly one of the earliest examples to contain a version of the continuous thin band of pearl seen on the rosettes and
borders of pearl Martins until WWII replacing the rows of tiny pearl diamonds found on the finer Martins of the mid-1800's, and an abalone pendant similar to
the ones adorning the bridges of early Hudson St. Martins.  The guitar is spruce lined.  The Jerome tuners, with uncommon, large bone rollers, have intricately
carved pearl buttons of the type appearing on only the smallest handful of Martin guitars, while more typically seen on ornate 19th Century presentation banjos.


                     


The body is a size 2 1/2, and the basic appointments follow the form of a Style 30, making this perhaps a $32 guitar.  This guitar is possibly one of
the last before Martin models would become standardized.





Chapter 24.

Henry Schatz, Boston

In the second half of the 1840's, after working with Martin in Pennsylvania, Henry (Heinrich) Schatz moved to Boston where he
produced guitars under his own name.





This is one of a number of Schatz guitars with pearl inlaid in a white mastic, as opposed to the black mastic used in the Martins he helped
produce in the previous decade, creating a distinctly different effect.








~ PART 2 ~

~ MARTIN STYLES ~


As they've Been Defined Since the 1850's



By the early1850's, C. F. Martin Sr. had established basic standard models, noted by a two number system, the first number designating the size of the guitar,
and a second number, following a hyphen, originally representing the wholesale price, and later designating the quality level of the guitar. 
Originally, larger numbers represented smaller guitars, but when the relatively large size 1 was no longer the largest available, a larger single 0, 00,
and eventually a 000 were added.

Few changes were made to the company's guitars from the time C.F. Martin Jr. took the helm in 1867, in a partnership with his cousin, C.F. Hartmann, that lasted until
1885, until after Mr. Martin Jr.'s death in 1888.

With the exception of a relatively small number of custom orders, most Martin guitars conformed to the standards introduced under Mr. Martin Sr., until his grandson,
Frank Henry Martin, ushered in a period of change
at the end of the Nineteenth Century.  Frank Henry had inherited the company in 1888 at age 22, upon his father's
death, but had plenty of time to make important changes that rivaled those of his grandfather, in a realm that lasted until his retirement in 1945.



Chapter 25.

Martin 1896 2-40, 1894 0-42, 1895 Tinted 00-42, 1896 2-42, 1900 2-42


The highest level of trim was reserved for the Style 42, with solid bands of abalone pearl in the center ring of the rosette as well as bordering the top of the
guitar and the the fretboard extension.  The Style 42 was adorned with genuine ivory bindings on the body and fretboard, and an ivory pyramid bridge. 
Following the Spanish classical tradition, the ebony fretboard had no decoration until the mid-1890's.


Chapter 26.

More on Styles 40 & 42


 

      
 

 

 



Illustrated in "The Chinery Collection":

"Martin continued to make elegant flat-top guitars in the late 19th century; the pearl-inlaid Style 42 was introduced in 1870."


Illustrated in Washburn & Johnston, "Martin Guitars: An Illustrated Celebration of America's Premier Guitarmaker":

"The elegance of Martin's Style 42 may have been confined to the ladies size 2 on the price list, but that didn't keep people from ordering them in
larger sizes.  This example is from the 1890's, similar special orders of 1-42 and 0-42 models show up in Martin sales records in the early 1880's. 
With gleaming ivory bridge and ivory friction pegs but a blank fretboard, these abalone bordered guitars make quite a fashion statement."




Chapter 27.

 Martin 1902 00-42S / Style 45 Prototype, 1919 0-45, 1925 2-45


In 1902, three custom ordered Style 42 guitars were built with pearl inlay added to the border of the sides and back, as well as having an inlaid "fern"
design added to the peghead.  The first of these had a fancy inlaid pickguard of the style common on the higher end Martin mandolins of the time, and an
intricate vine pattern inlaid on the fretboard. 

This example was the first to have the more prototypical fingerboard inlays of the type seen in 1904 when this design appeared as a standard part of
the Martin line as a Style 45.



Chapter 28.

More on Style 45

               

       



                    





Illustrated in George Gruhn and Walter Carter, "Vintage Guitar Magazine":

"This 1902 guitar features the first version of the Style 45 peghead inlay, which is sometimes referred to as the “fern” pattern. Martin pictured a
Style 45 guitar with this inlay in the 1904 catalog and the same photo appeared as late as the 1909 catalog, but Martin had actually begun using
a simpler pattern, known today as the “torch,” by 1905, and that version lasted until about 1927."

"The initial designation – Style 42 special – understated just how special Style 45 Martins would become. In the pre-World War II years, it was
only surpassed briefly by the OM-45 Deluxe (produced only in 1930), which featured additional inlays in the pickguard and bridge. In today’s
vintage market, Style 45s follow the same pattern as they did in their original listings."

"Although Martin has offered models in recent years with higher model numbers than Style 45, along with many limited-edition, commemorative or artist
models with fancier appointments, Style 45 remains today as it was when this “pre-45” guitar helped to get the Style 45 ball rolling – simply Martin’s top style."





Chapter 29.

Martin 1850's Style 2-27, 1870's Style 2-27, 1893 Style 2-27, 1907 and 1917 Style 0-30, 1867 Style 0-34, 1889 Style 2-34


The Style 27 has roots as a size 2 guitar selling for $27.  A 1-27 was added later.  The Styles 30 and 34 both began as size 2 guitars, both expanding later to
 include several other sizes.

The Style names are derived from the price of the instrument, so it may seem odd that a Style 27 appears fancier than a Style 28, and it is!  At the time the style
names were set, the plainer Martin 0-28 was more expensive than the pearl adorned Martin 2-27 because of it's larger size.

The Style 27, 30, and 34 Martins can be identified by the combination of pearl in the rosette with fancy wood marquetry around the top border of the guitar.

The styles 27 and 30 differ little.  In fact, a Style 27 from some years is almost exactly the same as the style 30 of other years.  The only consistent distinguishing feature
is the use of brass tuner plates on the Style 27 and silver tuners on the Style 30. The Style 27 was typically made in size 2, while the Style 30 was typically made in size 0.


Styles 27 and 30 have an ebony wood pyramid bridge, while a style 34 differs mainly in having a solid ivory pyramid bridge.

The top and back, as well as the fingerboard, were bound with genuine Elephant ivory.  As noted in Longworth, all three Styles were described as "ivory to the nut",
having ivory binding which extended the length of the neck.




Chapter 30.

More on Styles 27, 30 & 34
          








Illustrated on p. 55 of Evans, "Guitars: Music, History, Construction and the Players, from Renaissance to Rock"

The "27" in the guitar's designation refers to it's decoration, Martin having introduced a system of numerical suffixes to indicate styles in the late 1850's. 
Like all nineteenth century Martins, this guitar has a spruce top with light X bracing, Brazilian Rosewood sides and back, cedar neck, and ebony pin bridge
with a small pyramid-shaped hump at each end. The special identifying features of a Style 27 included, at this date, ivory body bindings lined with a
multicolored wood inlay on the top edge, abalone soundhole inlay, and ivory fingerboard bindings. The bridge pins are also made of ivory, and are inlaid
with mother of pearl dots.  As on most nineteenth century Martin guitars, tuning is by German built machines mounted "upside down" - that is, so that the
string spindle is above rather than below the shaft which carries the button."




Chapter 31.

 Early Martin Style 28 and 1870's Style 26 and 28


The Style 28 has been a mainstay of the Martin line for most of Martin's existence.  The Style 28 is distinguished by a herringbone pattern
on the top border and a three ring rosette in a 5-9-5 configuration with twin center bands of ivory.  It is thought, however, that the Style 28 may
have originated from a version with a thin central band of abalone in the rosette.


Chapter 32.

More on Styles 26 & 28

    

     




The Style 26 is nearly identical to the Style 28, but for a "half-herringbone" or "rope" pattern replacing the herringbone on the top border. 




Chapter 33.

Martin pre-'67 Style 2 1/2 - 24


The Style 24 is one of the most interesting models in Martin's history. 

While most features of Martin guitars became relatively standardized with the advent of established models in the 1850's, when marquetry was
specified, the choice of individual marquetry design could vary from one guitar to the next.  As the model with more marquetry than any
other: on the rosette, top border, endstrip, and backstrip, the Style 24 had the opportunity for more variety than any other Martin model,
and the Style 24 usually delivered on it's potential.

The Style 24 is distinguished by marquetry on the top border
in combination with the side filets, the thin, wood lines on the sides, adjacent to the binding. 

The style 23 has the same side filets, but with a border of simple lines in place of the marquetry top border.

While this example has very early features like the scooped back pyramid bridge, the style 24 was the one model to continue having marquetry
end strips into the 1880's, several decades after they were discontinued on other models.

X braced examples of the Style 24 can be found with both cedar necks with Spanish heels and ebonized necks with ice cream cone heels.


Chapter 34.

More on Styles 23 & 24


          





Illustrated in Gura, "C. F. Martin and His Guitars, 1796-1873":

During the 1850's and 1860's, Martin guitars attained their quintessential sizes and styles.  This is a fine example of one of his midrange
instruments...  The tuners are stamped "Jerome" and presumably were imported from Europe.  Note the elegantly sculpted buttons."




Chapter 35.

 Early Martin Styles 20 & 21


The Styles 20 and 21 were among Martin's earliest models, with the Style 20 being a size 2 guitar selling for $20, and the Style 21 being a size 1 guitar selling for $21. 
The mid 1840's Martin & Coupa shown in Chapter 9, in fact, exhibits virtually all the features of a Style 21, including the identical herringbone rosette and backstrip. 
An apparent "Style 22" was likely the odd listing for a guitar selling for $22.  The Style 21 was later offered as a size 2, with a size 0 appearing by the 1890's.

Chapter 36.

More on Styles 20 & 21

  



There is little to distinguish between the Style 20 and Style 21 besides size.  

The Style 20 is generally distinguished by a multi-colored herringbone pattern on the rosette.




Chapter 37.

1893 Martin Style 2 1/2 - 17


The early Styles 17 and 18 were nearly identical, with the popular Style 17 offered in size 2 1/2 and the Style 18 offered in the slightly larger size 2. 
Early Styles 17 and 18, like almost all early Martins, were built with spruce tops and Brazilian rosewood backs and sides.  The early Style 17 typically
had solid linings while, for the added dollar, the Style 18 had kerfing with individual blocks.  Style 18 Martins built later in the Century had X bracing,
while the Style 17 was the one model to retain fan bracing into the 29th Century.



Chapter 38.

More on Styles 15, 17 & 18





The early Style 17 had rosewood binding on the top only.  The 2-17 was re-designed in 1929 as the style "25", which dropped all bindings to make it more affordable during the depression.



Chapter 39.

 1895 Style 5, 1916 Bitting Special, and 1940 2-20 Martin Mandolins


 
Martin made three basic style of mandolins, the early round backs, the flat backs, and the later carved top and back mandolin.

Chapter 40.

More on Mandolins

  













~ PART 3~

~ FIRST FEATURES ~



 


Chapter 41.

 
Border Patrol







Chapter 42.

 The Head of the Class







Chapter 43.

 Tuner Sandwich







Chapter 44.

 
A Stamp of Approval







Chapter 45.

 
Pearl Jam







Chapter 46.

 Arrowheads and Other Hidden Treasures





Chapter 47.

 The End Is Near







Chapter 48.

 
The Spanish Foot







Chapter 49.

 Speaking Volutes







Chapter 50.

 Feel Like a Heel







Chapter 51.

 A Bridge to Somewhere



 



Chapter 52.

 
All Tied Up



 


Chapter 53.

 
Back in the Saddle






Chapter 54.

 
Hear a Pin Drop





Chapter 55.

 Nuts!!!





Chapter 56.

 Something to Fret About






Chapter 57.

 Strung Out







Chapter 58.

 Photo Finish







Chapter 59.

 
Knock on Wood






Chapter 60.

 Does Size Matter?




 
 

Chapter 61.

 
X Marks the Spot






Chapter 62.

 Your Biggest Fan





 
 
Chapter 63.

Safe at Home Plate






Chapter 64.

 
A Final Nail in the Coffin














~ PART 4 ~

 
~ CHECKING OUT THE COMPETITION ~



Chapter 65.

 Orville Gibson







Chapter 66.

 James Ashborn for William Hall & Son







Chapter 67.

Joseph Bohmann Early Presentation and Harp Guitars, and Guitar and Mandolin with Interior Drone Strings


 

 


Chapter 68.

 
Johann Stauffer






Chapter 69.

Louis Panormo






Chapter 70.

 
Schmidt & Maul






Chapter 71.

Johann Stauffer






Chapter
72.

 Tilton Improvement








~ CLEANING HOUSE ~

I love these, but I really need to make room for new ones.


Acoustic Instruments for Sale

Electric Instruments for Sale



I am not in the business of buying and selling guitars, but am interested in purchasing specific unique instruments to round out my collection to present you with a
web sitewith as complete a picture as possible to help you learn.  I am interested in substantially original examples made from the 1800's to 1960's by Stauffer, Panormo,
Schmidt & Maul, C. F. Martin, Martin & Coupa, Martin & Schatz, Martin & Bruno, Martin & Zoebisch,
John Coupa, Oliver Ditson, Southern California Music,
John Wanamaker, Wm. J. Smith, Wurlitzer, S.S. Stewart, Orville Gibson, the Gibson Company, and the Larson brothers.  I am not hunting for bargains, but seeking quality
instruments at a price that is fair to the buyer and seller alike.



To see Robert's new web site illustrating the development of the Martin Guitar from 1833 to the 1960's, visit:

vintagemartin.com





To see Robert's new web site illustrating the development of the Early Gibson Guitar, visit:

earlygibson.com






To see Robert's new web site illustrating the development of the post-Orville Gibson Guitar, visit:

oldgibson.com






To See Robert Corwin's Classic Photography of Folk and Roots Musicians, visit:

robertcorwin.com
(Sorry, the chapter numbers need to be updated)

For Information on Photography for
Exhibition, Publication, CD's, Promotion, Web Pages, Tour Books,
to Purchase Photographic Prints, or


To Contact Robert With Questions About An Early Martin Guitar:
 
e-mail: Robert Corwin

I'm more than happy to answer questions to the best of my limited ability about features of the
instruments I've photographed and studied
from luthiers restoring vintage Martins or building new instruments.


The Early Martin and Vintage Martin web pages were first created in September, 2009.  

Updated 6/24/2021


Entire site copyright ©1998 through 2021 Robert Corwin/Photo-Arts. All rights reserved.

Photographs and written material on this site may not be reproduced without permission.