1920 Martin 0-45 Acoustic Guitar, Natural w/ HSC – Used
Produced from 1904-1939 the Martin 0-45 features Brazilian rosewood back and sides, an Adirondack spruce top with scalloped bracing and mahogany neck with a 12-fret body construction. Martin “45” models are known for their ornate abalone and ivoried binding, fingerboard and headstock inlays from top to bottom helping accent Martin’s craftsmanship.
The Adirondack spruce top has aged to a warm golden brown with very tight grain while showing signs of aged strum wear at and below the sound hole. Both the top and the back and sides show signs of checking in the finish across the guitar. The Brazilian rosewood back has very straight and wide striping with a light to dark hue meeting at the center. Martin’s iconic “Torch” or “Fern” abalone inlay peghead shows no signs of lifting and is surrounded by a piece of light to dark Brazilian rosewood. Martin paired this guitar with a very dark ebony fingerboard with extremely tight grain helping accent the abalone snowflake inlays with no signs of lifting. The neck profile is a hard “V” neck shape with a fair amount of shoulder allowing the player to wrap their thumb over the fingerboard with ease. This guitar was designed with the intention of using gut strings and should not be strung up with anything heavier than silk and steel strings.
Based upon our research, this 0-45 has been kept in the family since its original purchase in 1920 and has been recently serviced from Martin’s repair team in Nazareth, PA. In 2017, the previous owner brought the guitar to Martin to have some repair work done. Martin has performed the following repairs: neck re-set, re-glue sound hole rosette, (2) body back crack repair, top center seam crack repair, installed a vintage replica pyramid-style bridge with new bridge pins with abalone inlays, new nut and saddle, level and dress frets, and a set up. The original C.F.MARTIN stamp on the back of the peghead has worn down throughout the years and isn’t 100% readable. An aftermarket “chipboard” style case is included with the purchase as well as a written appraisal of the instrument from Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee.
This 1920 Martin 0-45 is in very good condition. A full setup and inspection has been performed by our in-house technicians at Russo Music.
