Models beneath this were built with mahogany back and sides instead of the even-at-the-time costly rosewood. The Style 21 designation signifies a midline instrument, the 00-21 being the second smallest rosewood guitar in the company's line, over the 0-21. This early 1930 00-21 is a nice example from this early steel-string period, with some old repair but surprisingly little wear. The 00-21 was one of the few guitars that was not altered to the "Orchestra Model" template in the 1930's and was still built in this form for decades hence, albeit with some modernized features. These guitars were the final evolution of the original 19th century Martin patterns before the "modern" 14-fret design became standard a few years later. The other features remained pretty much as they had been since the last century, with a slotted headstock and wide fingerboard on the neck which joins the body at the 12th fret. For just a few years before altering nearly all their designs to the 14-fret neck "Orchestra Model" pattern in the early '30s, Martin crafted (in relatively small numbers) 12-fret Brazilian rosewood flat-tops braced for steel strings instead of the gut used previously. The 12-fret, steel string Martins of the late 1920s and early 1930s are some of our favorite guitars.
MARTIN MANDOLIN SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP SERIAL
Martin 00-21 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1930), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 46236, natural lacquer finish, Brazlilan rosewood back and sides, spruce top mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, tweed hard shell case. The orange labels inside hollow bodied instruments were discontinued in 1970 and replaced by white and orange rectangle labels on the acoustics and small black, purple and white rectangle labels were used on electric models.C. There are many exceptions and sometimes letter prefixes were used. This would also explain why the occasional pre-1932 Martin guitar appears with a decal.įrom 1970-1975 all numbers were stamped into wood and assigned a six digit number. This implies that a number of ukuleles built in 1930 remained in the factory until being sold in 1932. Interestingly, the original order for Martin decals was placed in June of 1932. The Martin logo decal on the front of the headstock. The Martin brand stamped on the back of the headstock.
MARTIN MANDOLIN SERIAL NUMBER LOOKUP SERIAL NUMBERS
Ukuleles did not carry serial numbers but can be roughly identified and dated by the headstock: 1895 to 1932
![martin mandolin serial number lookup martin mandolin serial number lookup](https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/30353/26987420_1.jpg)
Fortunately, they are often signed by the builder.
![martin mandolin serial number lookup martin mandolin serial number lookup](http://acousticbylines.com/Images/martin-numbers.jpg)
Many of these unique instruments pop-up today and don’t fit any clear category. Ukuleles, taropatches, tiples and Hawaiian guitars were introducedĪfter workers at the Nazareth factory had been employed for a period of years they were permitted to fashion an instrument for themselves at the plant.
![martin mandolin serial number lookup martin mandolin serial number lookup](http://www.mandolinarchive.com/images/85298_face.jpg)
Some pre-1898 guitars have the date penciled on the top just inside the sound hole.īefore 1929, the model size and style designation was generally written on a paper label and glued inside the top of the instrument case. Model numbers were marked on the neck block, inside the body. Zoebisch & Sons” (Zoebisch was the sole distributor of Martin at the time). The original instruments had a paper label that read: “Martin and Coupa” 1833 to 1867 Prior to serial numbers, the different instruments were identified by the Martin brand which was stamped into the back of the headstock, the upper portion of the back or on the back binding strut visible through the soundhole (the eased blocking reinforcing the center joint between the 2 back pieces). Martin began producing instruments in 1833.