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The guitar I play on the February Video of the Month 2014 video is a 2010 C.F. Martin Custom Hide Glue 000-45 12 fret Madagascar Rosewood/Italian Alpine Spruce.
As you may know the history of Martin Guitars goes way back to 1833 when Christian Frederick Martin started the production of Martin Guitars in New York City after having emigrated from Europe where he had been trained as a guitarmaker by Johann Stauffer in Vienna.
The first 000, often pronounced as "triple 0", 12 fret Martin model appears on the Martin production lists in 1902. The sizes of the Martin guitars are described by the numerals - on this guitar by the three zeroes.
Before the mid 1850s, where the size 0 model had its entry on the sales ledgers, the Martin guitar had numerals starting with size 5 and - somewhat odd or the opposite of what you would expect: The larger the size the lower the numeral. Meaning that size 4 was larger than size 5, size 3 larger than size 4, and so on up to size 0 which was the largest size until the even larger size 00 was introduced in 1873 due to the claiming of more volume. When an even more powerful model was claimed in the beginning of the 20th century it was then numbered a triple 0 (000).
The type designation for a Martin guitar consists of the numerals for the size and the two-digit numerals for the style. The "style" is the degree of ornamentation and the degree of the tonewoods. Or, as they call it at the Martin factory: The "number of quality". The numerals 45 tell that it is a very high degree of quality, in fact the highest quality produced until the beginning of the 21th century where style 50 and the three-digit style 100 were introduced.
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May I recommend the Companion Books to Martin Guitars "A Technical Reference" and "A History" by Richard Johnston & Dick Boak. In these books you'll find lots of very interesting info about Martin Guitars. It's a great help for the understanding of the Martin "system" of sizes and styles, the history etc.
The very first 000-45 12 fret in the luxurious 45 style was listed in 1906. I think it's very interesting - and exiting - that the model 000-45 which I'm playing on "For Maria" originally was built by the Martin craftsmen 104 years before mine was built in 2010. It's quite unbelievable that such an innovation can survive for so many years.
This specific 000-45 has back and sides made of premium Madagascar Rosewood and an Italian Alpine Spruce top. With "short scale" (635mm/24,9") like most Martin 12-fret models. It has a modified V-shape Mahogany neck and is decorated on the body with abalone in the 45's style with extras such a floral inlay on the pickguard, six point snowflakes on the belly bridge, the "Alternate torch" - a.k.a. the "Fern" - on the headplate, and snowflake and diamond pearl inlays on the fingerboard.
The sound? Well, it's always difficult to describe sound in words and I hope it speaks for itself when you hear it in the video - but as I experience the sound myself it has a very deep, warm and powerful sound which I really like.
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