For this guitar, we have to go back all the way to 1890, when Franz Sulzner ordered a custom 1-26 from the Martin guitar factory. Documented on page 85 of Philip F. Gura’s “C.F. Martin and His Guitars,” this 1-26 appears with a note explaining Sulzner’s connection with the Martin business. This was to be a size 1 guitar, the largest that Martin built in the nineteenth century (“ladies guitars” and smaller came as 2s, 3s, and so on).
While a standard 26 style in many ways, this guitar was customized in the factory per Sulzner’s requests to include an Ivory-bound fretboard and fret markers. The Ivory bindings and “half herringbone” top trim are standard to the 26 style, but to our knowledge no others 26-style guitars from this period feature Ivory bindings across both the body and fretboard. Of course the friction tuning pegs are also Ivory, and the back and sides are Brazilian Rosewood. Adirondack Spruce on top.
Suffice it to say, this 1890 Martin 1-26 has no twin anywhere across the planet: a piece of history in a category to itself.