The long and varied career of the Martin Guitar Company has had many fascinating turns across the decades. Back in the 1930s, Martin tried their hand at building Archtop guitars, many of which were later retopped as flattop acoustics. The C-2 Conversion we have here is just such a guitar–and we steel-string players couldn’t be happier. The Brazilian Rosewood back and sides are chocolate-rich (as is the voice), and the Spruce top has been masterfully braced for maximum projection. This is an excellent example of Martin’s early OM designs: tight waist, compact curves, and a well-balanced voice with low-end rumble that’s perfectly attuned to sweet, present treble strings.
According to its owner–tthe Irish multi-instrumentalist virtuoso John Doyle–this one was built in 1937, and is excellently broken-in and opened up, and plays with a vigorous tonality matched only by its shocking clarity. Martin’s OM shape gives this guitar a dynamic range which excels at fingerstyle with a thumbpick to bring out the crisp bass notes, or with flatpicks to make tunes sound full and complex, and the rounded neck profile is exceedingly comfortable on the hands. A guitar of this uniqueness won’t be here long; you’ll need to come play it before it’s gone!
What a huge voice! Fingerpicking the Blues rarely feels so good as on a guitar like this one. You can't hardly find Martins that have opened up this well: there's a kind of richness and cleanness that doesn't happen for decades and decades, and the pores of the Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood here are saturated in it. I'm really glad John Doyle decided to bring it to our shop to sell: it's a great fit, and it was a pleasure to hear John play. 
This one was re-topped long enough ago to have some finish checking on the replacement top, although the pickguard is a more recent vintage that is used currently by Martin. The neck on this guitar is not standard for a Martin, but that's probably because it was originally designed as an archtop. The sound is punchy and clear and gives that vintage satisfaction. | Scale Length | 25.4 in |
|---|---|
| Nut Width | 1.69 in |
| String Spacing | 2.19 in |
| Woods | Spruce, Rosewood - Brazilian |
The long and varied career of the Martin Guitar Company has had many fascinating turns across the decades. Back in the 1930s, Martin tried their hand at building Archtop guitars, many of which were later retopped as flattop acoustics
What a huge voice. Fingerpicking the Blues rarely feels so good as on a guitar like this one
This one was re-topped long enough ago to have some finish checking on the replacement top, although the pickguard is a more recent vintage that is used currently by Martin. The neck on this guitar is not standard for a Martin, but that's probably because it was originally designed as an archtop 