Martin 00-18 1941, Shadetop

It doesn't get much rarer than a pre-war Martin shade top, and in many opinions, it looks best on an understated 18-style small body. In 1941, when this guitar was built, the construction design was in peak form without compromise: a tight grained Adirondack spruce top, scalloped bracing, thin finish, and beautifully sourced Brazilian rosewood for the board and bridge. As a result, it sounds incredibly balanced. This example features the extremely desirable "shade top" sunburst finish found on perhaps 1/50 guitars. It is a survivor in terms of repair work and only had its first real work done here at Carters (the tuners were replaced in the 60s): neck reset, bridge reglue, and minor hairline cracks reglued. It's extremely clean and remarkably, the guitar retains its original bridge pins and brown gunny sack. The super comfortable size of this guitar could have meant that it would have lived a hard life outside a case or brought to the fight WWII, but this one survived many years in someone's closet unscathed.