When you listen carefully, a little piece of history can be heard crackling in the voice of vintage instruments such as this 1894 Parlor guitar from C.T. Beitel (1869-1916), one of the only examples existent today. Beitel, who worked with Martin at the end of the nineteenth century, has been identified by some as the first American-born apprentice at Martin. Clemence was the cousin of C.A. Zoebisch, Martin’s distributer in those days. This instrument was completed and signed by Beitel in June of 1894, and you can still see his signature on the underside of the top (“C.T. Beitel, 6/94, Easton”).

Understandably, this Parlor is similar to Martin’s instruments at the time in many ways, but it doesn’t fit neatly into any of Martin’s appointment packages. The top is X braced and features a Pearl rosette and Herringbone purflings. The body and neck is bound in actual Ivory (which was also used to make the oval-shaped tuner buttons). The Maple bridge plate is to all appearances original, as is bridge, the Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, and the Adirondack Spruce top. The tuners are original as well: German-built Jerome tuners engraved with flowers. These tuners were only found on Martin’s most decadent models from this period.

The voice is creamy smooth and tinged with warm overtones, and plays very easily. Weighing under three pounds, this Beitel is a true featherweight, but still manages to pack a lot of sound into a small package. We’d expect no less from an instrument that precedes us by over 117 years!