Quote:
Originally Posted by BluesKing777
Oh dilemma of dilemmas!....But really, for me, for fingerpicking blues, give me a 1937 Martin 00-17 with 1 3/4” nut please! (Would I sell my 44 0-17 if I bought a 37 00-17? Nope, they are too hard to find these days!)
BluesKing777.
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The 00-17A is a great guitar and I wouldn’t be put off by the 1 7/8” nut as someone else said, the shape is perfect and it’s like playing a 1 3/4” 14 fret guitar capo’d at the second fret. The least expensive I’ve seen a 00-17A is about $3,500. A good 1934-1939 00-17 will be $4,000-$5,500. The post 1939 guitars will be a lot more affordable but as a big guy too, I have a much easier time going from 1 3/4” to 1 7/8” than I do going from 1 3/4” to 1 11/16”. Also the 2 1/8” saddle on the post 1939 guitars is a bit more tricky to finger pick for me. So if you could afford the Authentic, you can afford the real deal.
I have a 1937 00-17 and have had many small factory copies as well as 7 or 8 0/00/000-15 Martins in 12 and 14 fret. The best all mahogany guitar for the money is a WL-12 Mahogany or a WL-14 Mahogany from Waterloo. I play my WL-12 maple Waterloo as much as my 1935 L-00, 1936 000-18, 1937 00-18H, 1937 000-18 or 1937 00-17. The Waterloo is just as good. They are also making an “aged” version so it’ll look more of the part too. I relic’ed my Waterloo myself.