Wow, definitely worth waiting for! I spy an Oliver Ditson... uhhh... is this an 11? I came a gnat's nose of buying one a couple years back, and passed in favor of a 00-21. And an early 30's Martin 00-18? Gibson U-body harp guitar in the back for bonus points. No guesses on the L-body archtop.

Welcome!

The first is a '34ish L-5, then a Ditson 11, then a 1936 000-18S with a U-style harp guitar looming in the back. The 000-18S was a special order that originally had seven strings that was converted to six by Berkeley luthier John Lundberg in the late '60s.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on May 15, 2026, 08:25:02 AMThe first is a '34ish L-5, then a Ditson 11, then a 1936 000-18S with a U-style harp guitar looming in the back. The 000-18S was a special order that originally had seven strings that was converted to six by Berkeley luthier John Lundberg in the late '60s.

Double Wow. I have only ever seen one original 7-string in-person. I assume it had the banjo key in the center-top of the headstock? That would explain the S designation. Special order for sure. Love the Ditson too. The one I was looking at was a bit rougher, had a few repairs but generally pretty good ones. I've been fascinated with those for years. 

Let me see if I can find one of my older Martins. I only have a couple truly vintage examples now. 

It had a banjo tuner there, but the hole was filled at some point. Here's another odd banjo-adjacent Martin that you might get a kick out of:

Crazy cool, a Paramount! Very rare.

1930 Martin 0-18.

I don't have this guitar anymore... it belongs to the guitar/mandolin player in another group I play in. It was a special little guitar though.

*in the background stand here. (the guitar being tuned-up is a 1933 OM-18...)

I love the pickguard, and that OM18 is no slouch.

Found another OM:

Nice! Early gold foil decal noted. I will guess late 1932, early 1933? The '33 OM-18 in the previous post was part of the last batch of 24 stamped in December that year. It has some interesting transitional deets... the outer body binding is black celluloid, but the endstrip is rosewood and purfling is alternating rosewood/maple. It does not have that early decal. The ebony nut on Style 18 hung around into 1934 at least. This guitar's bar frets were replaced with T type ones years ago, 🫣 which (predictably) resulted in the neck bowing like a ski. It was straightened out and refretted with bar frets a few years ago. 

It's a late 1931 that — incredibly — only had two prior owners before I got it around ten years ago.

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on May 16, 2026, 07:34:42 AMIt's a late 1931 that — incredibly — only had two prior owners before I got it around ten years ago.

Amazing. This must be among the very first Martin guitars to ever receive a logo.

For those following, Orchestra Model was developed in 1929 for Perry Bechtel, a banjoist, and officially introduced in 1930, the advent of the 14-fret clear-of-body guitar with a solid-faced headstock. Up until this point, most (not all) Martin guitars had slotted headstocks with 12-frets clear, and elongated bodies. That was the norm. This new headstock presented a couple issues. The side-mounted tuning machines for one. The earliest OM's had banjo pegs, (like my Golden Era 1930 reissue here) and the same heat stamped brand into the back of the headstock. For a few years, Martin guitars would receive both a brand into the back and a logo on the front, but I believe the Orchestra Model was the genesis for that. 

David's OM-28 here has one of the very first of the familiar looking gold foil script decals ever used. They have a distinctive, unique look. 

How about something wackier?

The description says that the flowers are all inlaid?  In the pictures the inlays look really nice!  Is the back inlaid as well?

I'm in love!

Peter

Quote from: David Houck on May 18, 2026, 08:07:25 PMThe description says that the flowers are all inlaid?  In the pictures the inlays look really nice!  Is the back inlaid as well?

Everything on the sides and back is top notch marquetry work — I'm not sure why the back was missing.

Great googly moogly!
I'll trade you one of my sons for that.  No grandkids, mind you, but sons?  Take your pick!

Peter