1923 Martin 2-17

pmichael · #1 01-21-2021, 09:12 PM

There's one available nearby.

Asking price is 1 USD shy of 120 times its price when new.

Thought it worthy of mention.

I hope to visit and play the little beast.

johnnydobbers · #2 01-21-2021, 09:19 PM

link would be helpful

pmichael · #3 01-21-2021, 09:52 PM

I don't see a website for the store but here is a link to the Facebook posting for this guitar.

https://m.facebook.com/7030000230859...49&__tn__=EH-R

Parlorman · #4 01-22-2021, 06:05 AM

They don’t appear to have a website, but that’s a sweet guitar. More details would be great.

Steve DeRosa · #5 01-22-2021, 08:34 AM

A century-old hog-top - you know that's going to be a little tone monster...

hubcapsc · #6 01-22-2021, 08:58 AM

I have a 52 cf-100... I think they were $35(?) new. I paid
a lot more than that for it

...

-Mike

pmichael · #7 01-23-2021, 07:31 PM

I visited the shop and got about 20 minutes with the 2-17 before they closed.

Only one person working and he didn't have any back history on the guitar, which was a bit disappointing. It definitely has one.

It's had a neck reset; action was good, plenty of saddle.

It looks like it's been refinished, not particularly well; there aren't scratches in the finish, but there are a few marks in the wood which seem more impressions than scratches. There must have been scratches in conjunction with some of them.

That said, the guitar is remarkably free of marks. Nothing looked cracked/repaired except for the neck reset and what looks like newly applied finish. But I'm not an expert and wouldn't trust myself. The dude said it was the original finish but I don't believe it.

I picked it up and it almost floated to the ceiling. Wow, that thing is light!

Very light strings on it (I play 12s always); the dude said 10s. For such light strings, I was surprised at the big voice, especially trebles and mids; the bass was lacking. I did forget my thumb pick which would have made a difference.

Took a while to get the feel, just started to about time to go. MJH's Candyman sounded great on it. I'd like a few hours with it - but I'm afraid those hours might want to turn into years and I'm not really in the market. It's about an hour away from me but I will try to get back again, and hopefully talk with someone who knows more about it.

Not much more to say. It is a guitar I would love to have. It wanted to be played. I wanted to play it.

pmichael · #8 01-28-2021, 01:15 PM

Can someone tell me what would be the heaviest gauge of string suitable for this guitar?

Fatfinger McGee · #9 01-28-2021, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmichael

Can someone tell me what would be the heaviest gauge of string suitable for this guitar?

I can't, but would recommend you ask about it on the unofficial martin guitar forum. There's a lot of cross-pollination here and there, but it's the best spot to find the deep collector expertise.

pagedr · #10 01-28-2021, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmichael

Can someone tell me what would be the heaviest gauge of string suitable for this guitar?

I know there are some that have used 12's on guitars like that with no issues...I probably wouldn't test that if I owned one, maybe 11's or some lower tension strings. Or if you're going to use 12's, tune it down a step.