Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

These are just some quick photos, as the house is a total wreck, at the moment with no place to make photos.

More pics!

A double-cutaway acoustic...this has got to be the most interesting looking acoustic I've ever seen, Jeff.

It's a Martin, can't go wrong with one of those! Congrats!

What is it?

Looks like Martin's acoustic version of a Danelectro Convertible! <smile>

Very different and extremely Jeff! Congrats!

Nice!

I'm glad you got it, Jeff! Have you shaken it down yet?

Once I get it the action setup and some fret leveling done it should be a great little guitar. I may also have the string spacing at the nut widened a tad, there is some room for it, I think. I love the tone, unlike any other Martin I have played, previous to finding this guitar I was not really interested in one.

JB, this is a custom one-off guitar that I found, at GC of all places! Here is the rundown on it from doing some research and speaking with someone at Martin:

OM/000 body with a double cutaway
Premium Adirondack spruce top with Adirondack braces
Mahogany back and sides
Mahogany neck with low oval shape
Ebony heel cap
Old style 18 rosette
Style 28 purfling on the front, only
Tortoiseshell body and neck binding
Tortoiseshell end piece
Ebony Stauffer Pyramid bridge with compensated bone saddle and ebony bridge pins with pearl dots
Ebony fingerboard with dots at only the 5,7,9 positions
Old style headstock with Brazilian rosewood head plate and old style decal
Waverly oval tuning keys
Long diamond volute
Bone nut
Full gloss finish
Fishman Ellipse Matrix Blend pickup system

That's the basics of it. It was made in 2009, I have no idea why the original seller sold it; actually I think I do know why. I talked with the guy who will be doing the fret work for me, I have known Ken for about 40 years, now, and he has done stuff for me over the years. I told him about the guitar and he said he saw it about a year or two ago; he said the owner wanted Ken to put a Fender neck on it! Ken had done so for this guy many years ago on an Alvarez, but told the guy he was nuts to do so on this guitar and showed him the door. Maybe that is when the guy decided to sell it. I don't know how long GC has had the Martin but I first took notice of it this past Saturday afternoon. The neck block has the CF Martin & Co. logo, the serial number, and the word Custom on it where the model name would normally go. When I saw it, besides the obvious double cutaway, I saw the Waverly tuners and the very cool bridge and figured this was a pretty special instrument. After talking with Martin I knew it very much was, indeed.

A Fender neck? GAK!

I have a Martin Sounding Board publication with a photo of Merle Travis holding a D series guitar with a Paul Bigsby neck on it!

I've seen that pic. But I wouldn't try to make a comparison with what your former owner had in mind.

Yeah, he probably wanted a Jazz Bass neck on it!

sloop_john_b wrote:What is it?

Sorry for getting too wordy in my earlier post. It is a Martin.

If we really need a model name, probably something like OMDC-18 Golden Era, or some such.

sloop_john_b wrote:What is it?

It's a guitar!

A double cutaway martin...looks great. Wouldn't be any good for me though. Ruined my wifes acoustic when i played it as it didn't have a pickguard. The scratches and dents on the wood where the pickguard should have been..... needed to be seen to be believed and I'm not particulary heavy handed with the strum.