The Martin 00 - 17 Guitar.

The Martin 00 17

The Martin 00 17 guitar is a wonderful, solid wood construction, all mahogany guitar from the legendary American Guitar Company, C.F. Martin & Co. It's a smaller than full sized guitar, and it's of heirloom quality, just like all solid wood construction Martin guitars are, and it is light weight, and easily managed by both children and adults of either gender. While it's big enough to be loud enough for playing alone or with other guitarists, or to accompany a vocalist; it's small enough that most anyone, male or female, young or old, could play it, and enjoy it for the rest of their lives.

Now, don't ask me how I got a 1940 Martin catalogue but I have one, and it's in my lap right now. I'm about to type the description of my wooden friend, the 00 17 verbatim from the catalogue. Are you ready? Mark, Set, Go!

Selected mahogany body, top, and neck, with rosewood fingerboard and bridge; steel T -bar makes the slim neck very rigid under the oval fingerboard with wide frets and white dots. Hand rubbed and polished lacquer finish, dark mahogany color. Nickel - plated tuning machines, single unit style.

Price: $35.00

The Mahogany used in Martin instruments comes from tropical America. In three inch lumber for necks and in quarter sawn veneer for bodies it is air dried and carefully matched in colour and grain; that means fine tone and appearance.

The Martin 00 17 Acoustic Steel String Guitar.

Playing the Martin 00 17 that belongs to My Mother.

Prices Then and Now.

Did you guys catch that? In 1940, the 00 17 cost a whopping $35 bucks! Yeah, I know, that much money travelled far back then, ain't inflation a bitch though? For a comparison, the top of the line D 45 Martin cost $200.00 in 1940; and now it starts off at $7,500.00.

Guess what? The Martin 00 17 is a discontinued or extinct species of acoustic guitar. I happen to have some very good DNA for one, and for a small fee, I could let you clone mine!

No seriously, they don't make them anymore, but they are on the market, and available. I'd checked a minute or two ago, and found a 1950's model 00 17 for around $ 3,500. Here's the thing though, not having laid hands on that one, I've no way of knowing how well kept it is. Sometimes though, when you're buying, or thinking of buying a used guitar, the more beat up ones, the ones that have been played thousands and thousands of hours, THOSE guitars are the guitars that will really sound great. If you spend a few grand on a beat up, and ancient Martin, then have to spend the $250.00 that it usually costs to have some frets replaced, and maybe a new nut and saddle; you'll then have a guitar that you could flip for some extra cash, if you ran in the right circles.

Brief Note Concerning Martin Prefixes.

If you are confused by "D's" and "00's" etc; suffice it to say that the "0" is small, the "00" one step larger, and then you are on to "000" size, and then "OM" size, then to "full size," which is what the "D" is typically considered to be. The C.F.Martin guitar company does make a "J" or "Jumbo" sized guitar. More on that later.

~WTS~

The Following Videos Are All Great Videos Featuring the Martin 0017 Acoustic Guitar!

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Collings Guitars of Austin, Texas

Collings Guitars Of Austin, Texas.

C.F. Martin & Company is famous the world over for it's timeless and perfect acoustic guitars, but Martin is not without it's competitors. Among the manufacturers that some people think of as possibly being superior to Martin is Collings Guitars, and they are made in Austin, the capital city of Texas.

As the story goes Bill Collings had set out for Southern California from Houston and made it only as far as Austin, Texas. We Texans are proud of this, as the meticulous craftsmanship of Bill Collings' guitars go a long way and around the world to show the kind of pride that Texans take in building things.

Here's a short list of persons that have fallen in love with the Collings Guitars that they own:

Keith Richards, Lyle Lovett, Pete Townshend, Emmylou Harris, Andy Summers, David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Joni Mitchell, Don Felder, John Sebastian, Lou Reed, John Fogerty, Tim O'Brien, Pete Huttlinger, Kenny Smith, Brian May, Joan Baez, John Prine, Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap, and Steven Spielberg

It would be impossible to have a complete list of well known persons playing Collings Guitars, as the list is forever growing.

Me At 16 Years Of Age With My Santa Cruz Model D

The Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional Guitar.

Source:http://www.vintagemandolin.com/images/04sctonyrice...

The Clarence White D 28 By C.F. Martin & Co.

The Collings Clarence White Guitars.

Clarence White was one of the most famous flatpick style guitarist to have ever lived, and besides all of that - he's all and around one of the most creative guitarist to have ever lived. The end result of all this is that most everyone that plays a dreadnought style guitar with a pick has at one point or another been inspired by not just Clarence White, but the entire Clarence White legend and legacy, and various Clarence White industries.

To be somewhat clear - the single most famous Martin Guitar in the world is the highly modified 1935 D 28 that Clarence White used to own and that Tony Rice now owns. Every good guitar manufacturer in the USA with only a few exceptions makes a rosewood and spruce copy of the 1935 very modified D 28 that is it's own legend, as the two most preeminent and copied flatpicking guitarist not named Doc Watson have both owned that one guitar.

The story gets a little bit strange when one takes a moment to realize that Clarence White hardly ever really even played his more famous guitar - and so Collings Guitars went all out and made a Clarence White guitar that copied the Mahogany instrument that he did most of his acoustic playing with.

The Collings Clarence White 28 guitar is probably the most famous and sought after Collings Guitar - and strangely enough, I'm somewhat a part of that story. I bought my Santa Cruz guitar from John Holman, who basically used my guitar as a semi template on how he would design for Bill Collings the Collings Clarence White 28 guitar. John Holman owned it, sold it to me after hearing me play the fire out of it at about 16 years of age, and I also got to play the prototypes and first production model Collings Clarence White 28 guitars all in the process. At some point or another in the middle of all of that I also got a brief introduction to Bill Collings. I'm truly not worthy.

Now my Santa Cruz Guitar isn't a copy of the famous Tony Rice and Clarence White 1935 and heavily modified D 28, but it is an interesting variation of the Martinpre war D-28 design, but basically, Collings Clarence White 28 guitar and Santa Cruz's Tony Rice Professional Guitar are both nearly identical models - and they are BOTH copies of the exact same guitar, which as I hopefully explained above, are copies of one specific 1935 Martin D 28 that had been very modified from it's original form - most notable of the modifications is that the sound hole had been enlarged, and the fingerboard had been replaced with an ebony fingerboard with no fret markings to be seen on it.

C.F. Martin and Co. has NEVER been anyone's fool, and so of course they got in on this game as well, and make their own Clarence White Model D 28 too.

Have A Peek Into Bill Collings Guitars!!!

Collings Guitars

The Collings Guitar Company makes many more flat top and dreadnought guitars than "just" the Clarence White guitars - they also make many other kinds of guitars, and mandolins as well. All Collings Guitars are built to specifications that are best described as perfect in every way imaginable.

As much craftsmanship, love, dedication, and precision as is involved in the making of some of the world's most loved and desired dreadnought guitars; there is probably even more of all of those things involved in building more difficult instruments such as arch top guitars. If you've never spent any time thinking about it, then let me help you out - it's just harder to make a guitar arched on the top than it is flat, and that should be pretty close to common sense - the guitar pictured below sold used at over twelve thousand dollars - these are not just musical instruments - these are works of fine art.

Arch top guitars have always been traditional instruments for jazz guitarist, and Collings Guitars makes them in sixteen inch, seventeen inch, and eighteen inch models.

A 1990 Collings 18" Arch Top Guitar.

Source: http://www.gruhn.com/features/collingsarch/AR3746a...

Collings Mandolins

Collings also makes mandolins - both in the famous Gibson F-5 mandolinstyle, and in the more traditional "rounded" and more easily constructed style. Collings does NOT make any instrument that is not a professional style, quality, and priced instrument. All Collings instruments are hand crafted in Austin Texas by some of the highest skilled master luthiers in the entire world. You pay for quality, my friends, and you should never have to pay for it twice. If any Collings instrument is properly cared for - it never need be replaced, and will easily provided generations of persons a musical instrument of the very highest quality imaginable.

Collings Mandolins

Source:http://www.mandolindy.com/silverangels.jpg

Collings Guitars and Mandolins

I hope that I've given a bit of a glimpse into the appreciation and awe that I feel each and every time I get my hands on an instrument of as high a quality as are those made by Collings Guitars. But more than any of that - I like to hear the music.

I've never owned a Collings, I own a Santa Cruz - which is every bit the equal of the Collings or Martin guitars, but I'm very proud of the wonderful state of Texas and the people here that are not politicians, except, of course, for Ron Paul. There's something to be said for men and women of integrity, and Bill Collings is one of them - his products are true labors of love, and the love is felt by every single owner of a Collings instrument. Though I've never owned a Collings instrument - I can't help but imagine that I will some day, I'm just that type of person. I have had my hands on dozens of them - so when I tell you what wonderful works of art that they all are - I'm speaking from a point of reference, and a lot of experience.

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Johnny Cash And His Prized Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar

Johnny Cash and the Martin D-28

Little doubt anywhere that Johnny Cash was one of the most loved singers and songwriters to have ever graced the United States of America by birth. Johnny has lived and died now, and left behind a ton of well loved songs, memories, and well, some guitars too.

Of course a man like Johnny Cash, despite never actually being known as a guitarist, would have owned a lot of very fine guitars, and that is exactly how it should be. I personally own an old Acoustic Guitar Magazine issue with Johnny on the cover, and when the man interviewing Mr. Cash referred to him as a guitarist; ever humble, Johnny replied something like,

"Sir, it's mighty kind of you to call me a guitarist. I can't pick at all. I just strum and sing."

Strum and sing he surely did, and he did so exceedingly well and to the benefit of us all, and he did so particularly on one Martin D-28 guitar that you never saw, it was his personal guitar he kept at his ranch, and he did not perform with it, he kept it secluded and tucked away. The Bon Aqua, he called it, and it was the guitar that he strummed while writing many a timeless song.

"The Bon Aqua," Johnny Cash's Martin D-28

Source: http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Mar...

The Book Matched East Indian Rosewood Two Piece Back Of Johnny Cash's Bon Aqua D-28

Source:http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Mar...

Johnny Cash's 1971 Martin D-28

Now The Bon Aqua was not just John's guitar, it was also the name of his ranch in Tennessee South of Nashville, and he kept the guitar there, and so he gave it the same name, and the name was very fond for him. Said Johnny Cash about the place, and why he'd retreat there after touring:

“to cook my own food, read my own books, tend my own garden, water my own land, and think, write, compose, rest, and reflect in peace.”

Johnny Cash was a superstar, and I personally can't comprehend the rigors of touring, and the mental strain of having thousands and thousands of adoring fans yelling and screaming affection at you night after night - one must surely realize that such things affect a person, and not in an entirely positive way either. Johnny Cash used The Bon Aquaranch and guitar to get himself back into the proper state of mind following tours, and without that ranch and guitar, who knows? Perhaps he'd had burned out like so many others have. This exact guitar was the one he used to keep him sane, and it is the guitar most intimately connected to the late superstar, despite the hundreds or thousands of guitars that surely passed through his hands.

Now the Johnny Cash Bon Aqua Martin D-28 is very similar to the D-28 guitars owned by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. These Martin D-28 guitars were not theHigh X herringbone style D-28 guitars played by persons such as Clarence White or Tony Rice, these guitars were constructed very differently.

Traditional Martin D-28 guitars were herringbone guitars, and this one is not such an instrument, rather, it is constructed much more heavily for durability whereas the herringbone instruments were constructed very lightly for tonality. C.F.Martin & Co. did it right by simply always having the herringbone trim on one style and not having it on the other, and this makes it something more easily identifiable and less confusing.

So far as these 1970's era Martin D-28's go, there are tons of them out there, and you can get them for less than you can a good one from the days when Martin reverted back to their classic designs. These guitars will still have that fine Martin sound, and if you find one that doesn't need any work done to it, you can get a real deal. This one, however, can only be seen at the National Music Museum.

Johnny Cash, Live At San Quentin - With a Martin Acoustic Guitar.

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The Martin D 15 Guitar. A Great Value, The Affordable Martin Guitar.

The Most Affordable Solid Wood Construction Full Sized Martin Guitar.

The Martin D 15 guitar is a wonderful, affordable, and heirloom quality instrument. If you've been following any of my other acoustic guitar reviews here on hubpages, or even if you are a random web shopper, reading about guitars - and you've come to the right place, then maybe you've realized that Martin guitars, especially Martin guitars that have a "D" in their title, are often very expensive instruments. Not so with the Martin D 15 guitar. This may be the best deal in acoustic guitars anywhere in this world. This is a great guitar, an amazing guitar for the price in both playability, resale value, long term value, and tonality. What makes this guitar what it is is the fact that it is a guitar featuring all solid wood construction, and in this case, the wood is mahogany; and it's also a guitar manufactured by the legendary American Guitar Company, C.F. Martin & Co.

The All Mahogany D 15 Flat Top by C.F. Martin & Co.

The D 15 with Case.

Source: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRnza0LBFy...

All Mahogany.

What makes the Martin D 15 guitar have so much value for the price is that it's one of the rare guitars made with a mahogany top. You can find a lot of manufacturers making such guitars, but very few of those others will have a manufacturer name that carries the value of Martin, nor will they have the quality construction, lifetime warranty for the original owner, playability, and sense of pride that comes with owning a Martin Guitar.

The Beauty of solid mahogany.

Bang For The Buck

Solid spruce soundboards are the norm for Martin "D" guitars, and most anyone who makes a guitar in the style of the Martin "D" guitars. Solid spruce soundboards, however, are a pricey thing. Should you go all out and purchase a guitar with a "red" Adirondack spruce soundboard, then you may well spend enough money for that specification to have bought you SIX Martin D 15 guitars.

I found two prices, and three online vendors for this outstanding guitar by the legendary C.F. Martin & Co.

Martin D -15 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar ¹
$749.99 - Musicians FriendMartin D -15 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
$949.99 - Guitar CenterMartin D -15 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
$949.00 - Amazon.com

Conclusion.

The Martin D 15 guitar is a very valuable instrument for the price. It's practically a steal. The thing with the all mahogany guitar is that it will not produce the same sort of tone that a guitar with a spruce soundboard, or even a guitar with a cedar soundboard. The mahogany soundboard of the D 15, however, can be amplified to the desired level with a little bit of adjustment. If someone bought one of these guitars and then had a bone nut, saddle, and bridge pins installed instead of the factory pieces - this guitar would become louder simply from using bone over the high grade plastic that Martin is using. Add a nice pickup to the guitar - and if you play live in front of an audience - then it never much mattered that the mahogany soundboard has less volume than spruce soundboards unplugged.

The D 15 Demonstration.

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Jimmy Page and the Gibson J-200 Acoustic Guitar

James Patrick, or "Jimmy" Page - A Guitarist Of Many Styles.

I make no bones about it, Jimmy Page is one of the most influential guitarists to have played in the past one hundred years. No Jimmy Page isn't one of the most technically stunning or prolific guitarists of that time, but one of the most influential, and the reason for this, in my opinion, is because he could meld together so many diverse styles of music into the things he's recorded.

Of course Jimmy Page is primarily known as the guitarist for Led Zeppelin, and that will always be true, and it was with Led Zeppelin that he primarily fused so many styles together. Now Page plays lots of guitars, but what is very noteworthy is that he was very much a proponent of the big three American guitar manufacturers, Gibson Guitars, Fender Guitars, and C.F. Martin & Co. guitars. He played no brand more than he did Gibson, however, and among his Gibson guitars is their acoustic flagship instrument, the J-200, which is perhaps, the world's most easily recognizable acoustic guitar.

Jimmy Page And His Gibson J-200 Acoustic Guitar

Jimmy Page's 1963 Gibson J-200.

The Gibson J-200 is a huge instrument, in fact, it is the largest production acoustic guitar in the entire world, but that isn't all there is about it that makes the thing so easily identifiable, there is the strange signature mustache bridge as well, and of course Gibson's large block abalone inlay fret board markers always help. The very large pick guard with it's floral inlay arrangement is another beautiful identifier of these instruments, and well, they are pretty pricey too, you could easily trade one in for a car or truck with a lot of life left in it - but you can't play Joan Baez'sBabe I'm Gonna Leave You on a car or truck, unless it happens to be playing on the radio.

The Baez tune wasn't the only song James Patrick Page recorded on the Led Zeppelin debut album with a big old Gibson J-200 though, he also used the guitar to record Your Time Is Gonna Come, and Black Mountain Side.

Jimmy Page's particular J-200 was a 1963 model with figured maple back and sides, a solid spruce top, a five piece laminated maple neck, a rosewood "closed" mustache designed bridge body with pear block inlays, black pear bridge pins, and an ABR "tune o' matic" adjustable metal inset like the Gibson Dove guitars of those years had.

The fingerboard or fretboard of the guitar was ebony with pointed end crest abalone inlay for fret markers. The headstock was bound with pear plant inlay of abaolone, and the celluloid pick guard was had the requisite abalone flower motif inlay.

This big and beautiful Gibson J-200 only appeared on the first Led Zeppelin album and in 1970 was stolen.but on April 26, 1970, Jimmy Page used it to perform Black Mountain Side/White Summer on the Julie Felix show on the BBC.

Jimmy Page With His Gibson J-200 Performing Live On BBC Television!

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