If You Had A Spare $60K...

[edwardofhuncote]

...just layin' around, and wanted a really nice guitar; how about a 95 year-old Martin 00-42, with a full factory warranty, from C.F. Martin & Co. Custom Shop?

https://reverb.com/item/82547210-reverb-select-martin-0012-42-conversion

A handful of the cooler-than-you purists have lost their minds over this one, and admittedly I don't see that much wrong with the original top, but there's a lot that could be wrong on the inside that would have rendered it unplayably unstable. My guess is Martin bought it for the museum and later decided it was too poor of an example for display, but too nice to let it go to pasture, so they elected to do this restoration. I think they did a fantastic job. Originality aside, this is a super-rare guitar, virtually unobtainium. And at some point, GFAO applies.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Or, for a very slight premium, you could go with 98 years, and original: https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/instruments/guitars/steel-string-guitars/flattop/1926-martin-00-45-brazilian-rosewood-adirondack-spruce-27473/


Peter (who suggests enjoying the demo vid with headphones and weed)

[cozmik_cowboy]

I will add that the Reverb listing uses incorrect nomenclature.  In traditional Martin model designations, xx12-xx indicates a 12-string.  To denote the 12-fret body (which is incorrect as well, since at that point they only made 12-fret ones, so no need to say so.....) it would be 00-42S; the S is for "Standard" - which they kept using even after 14-fret bodies became the norm.


And I agree, Greg; the old top looks just fine - and the top's where most of the tone comes from.  If there were problems under the hood, fix them & put it back on!


For $60K, I want the Dream Guitars ones.  Retopped, I'd offer $5K and maybe negotiate up to $9K.


Peter (who will add that he was not, of course, lecturing Greg on this, as as our esteemed colleague knows this stuff better than he)

[edwardofhuncote]

I have no explanation for why it was applied to this ad, but Martin in recent years has begun to differentiate the 12- or 14-fret bodies along with the size designation. Correct though, in 1930, the 00's were all 12-fret guitars. S as a suffix denoted special order, different in some way from a standard. This guitar is special, but not in that sense, it's completely standard... a 00-42, always was, and I'd have listed it that way.

It's Martin's ad though. (did you catch that it's their Reverb store?) They listed this guitar basically like it's as-new... and putting the 0012 in front of the 42 is what a modern spec sheet would say. They'd list the number of strings on a different line. It kinda' makes sense if you offer both. It's probably just confusing to those of us who know better.


*the 00-45 at DG is sweet. One of my buddies up here recently sold a '29 000-45 that Martin had worked on in the early 70's.  https://umgf.com/viewtopic.php?p=2826613#p2826613 That was a sweet guitar. I played it a few times. The luthier mentioned here is my friend and mentor.

[peoplechipper]

I got to play my old boss's martin on it's 100th birthday in 2003, so old the binding was still ivory; no crossing borders with that guitar...

[cozmik_cowboy]

I got to play my old boss's martin on it's 100th birthday in 2003, so old the binding was still ivory; no crossing borders with that guitar...

Nice!
Back about '79-'80 my dear friend the late Chicago folk legend Mick Scott was (being a folk legend, not a rock legend) living on the back porch of equally legendary and equally late Old Town School Of Folk Music repair luthier John Calhoun. 
As I had heard tales of John's irascibility, I was a tad trepidatious the first time I dropped by to visit Mick - but not only did he have the first padded toilet seat I'd ever seen, and teach me about the advantages of warm water in the bong, at one point he (having, you will recall, just met me) reached under the couch, said "Here, play this!" and handed me a New York Martin.  Definitely among the 5 or 10 best acoustic guitars I've ever played.
I have brooked no trash-talking about John ever since.

Peter

[bigredbass]

I could have two new D45's (a natural, and a shaded/sunburst) and 40 grand left over.

No Thanks.

[peoplechipper]

not trying to derail here, but what is the advantage of warm water in the bong?

[pauldo]

Provides moisture (humidity), for a ‘smoother’ hit?

Haven’t smoked out of one for decades.   We used to fill the bong with ice back in the day.   

[cozmik_cowboy]

Paul is correct; takes most of the harsh out of the hit.

Peter

[edwardofhuncote]

I had forgotten Lowell 'Banana' Levinger also has a vintage 00-42 from 1903 that he once gave to Mimi Fariña. She returned it after many years of touring with it. He had it for sale for a while, then posted this video playing it yesterday.

It's had some repairs, but that's a fine instrument.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Paul is correct; takes most of the harsh out of the hit.

Peter

At the risk of derailing again:  A couple years ago, #3 Son told me a friend from work had finished a rough day and said "Yeah!  I'm going home, filling the bong with ice water, and hitting the recliner!"  The youngster told him "My dad always says to use warm water."  "What?  I never heard of that."

A couple hours later he got a text:  "Warm water in the bong!  Your dad's a f***ing genius!"

Peter (who is not about to listen to Mr. Levinger play that beauty on laptop speakers; I'll chime next time I'm at the desktop, where i have real speakers and cans)

[cozmik_cowboy]

OK, I've listened - and I officially lust after that guitar!  My word, it is the perfect tool for his playing style!

Peter

[David Houck]

 

[edwardofhuncote]

Yep, it just sings. He commented that he seldom plays 6-string guitar anymore, mostly plays the 5-string tenors so it was awkward. Sure couldn't tell. I've noticed Banana has been selling some of his collection lately. (posts occasionally on the UMGF) Hope he's okay, just downsizing. I find his ads delightfully written...they always end with a price, then "buyer pays insured shipping from Northern California or enjoys an espresso with an in-person pickup." Which I would definitely opt for if it were a viable option. I think that'd be a great time. I know he and Rick Turner both had a thing about those old Howe-Orme guitars too.


Anyway, the subject guitar of this thread has been bought and is now being resold (or attempting to be...) by a dealer for another $9k markup. I say good luck to them. I still have the same opinion about it.