1960 Martin 5-18 Vintage Terz Parlor Acoustic Guitar w/ Case
$4,399.99
$4,399.99
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Up for sale, a 1960 Martin 5-18 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. The smallest Martin guitar, with a lower bout width of just 11 1/4“, Martin’s size 5 was initially conceived as a Germanic-style “terz” guitar, which were shorter scale instruments traditionally pitched a minor third (“terz” is German for “third”) higher than standard E to E tuning. C.F. Martin Sr. was heavily influenced by Germanic luthiers like Johan Stauffer, who was known for his terz guitars, and some of the earliest surviving Martins are terz instruments. Martin’s size 5 body shape lasted into the rise of the parlor acoustic’s popularity in America, and towards the turn of the 20th century, the Nazareth luthiers began marketing their size 5 instruments as Junior, or 3/4 size. The 5-18 model was initially introduced in 1898, but truly came into its own in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when it was popularized by Marty Robbins, who used one extensively onstage. This particular guitar has received all the maintenance due its vintage, befitting from a neck reset, reseated tortoise pickguard, fret level/crown, and replacement bone nut.
Tonewoods include an X-braced Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, and a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge. This guitar offers impressive projection that belies its size, with a lively, expressive character and a clear, balanced quality across all strings. Lively and potent with an almost mandolin-like pluck with picked or strummed, the smooth sweetness of the trebles and upper midrange lends itself to sonorous fingerpicked passages and melodic lines. Featherweight at just 2lbs 8oz, this 5-18 has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 12-53 strings and easy-playing action, tuned G to G.
Neck Specs:
-Wood: Mahogany
-Shape: Medium depth soft V, measuring .850” 1st fret, 1.045” 7th fret, 1.090” 9th fret
-Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood, dot inlay
-Frets: Slender, leveled/crowned, faint wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-3
-Scale Length: 21.4”
-Nut: 1.650”, bone (replacement)
-Tuners: Grover open-gear, butterbean buttons
-Serialization: Stamp on neck block dates to ‘60
Body Specs:
-Wood: Sitka spruce, mahogany
-Bracing: X
-Bridge: Brazilian rosewood, bone through saddle
-Plastics: Tortoise pickguard (reseated)
-Marquetry: Simple rosette, multi-ply purfling (top)
There are three small splits on the rims at the waist (one on the bass side, two on the treble), one beneath the pickguard, and one on top at the treble-side lower bout edge; all have been professionally repaired and stabilized/braced. There is some modest pick wear beyond the edges of the guard, a bit of buckle worming on the back along the centerline, and some minor dings, largely relegated to the lower bout. The neck profile is clean and smooth.
A padded Martin-branded gigbag is included.
Tonewoods include an X-braced Sitka spruce top, mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, and a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge. This guitar offers impressive projection that belies its size, with a lively, expressive character and a clear, balanced quality across all strings. Lively and potent with an almost mandolin-like pluck with picked or strummed, the smooth sweetness of the trebles and upper midrange lends itself to sonorous fingerpicked passages and melodic lines. Featherweight at just 2lbs 8oz, this 5-18 has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 12-53 strings and easy-playing action, tuned G to G.
Neck Specs:
-Wood: Mahogany
-Shape: Medium depth soft V, measuring .850” 1st fret, 1.045” 7th fret, 1.090” 9th fret
-Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood, dot inlay
-Frets: Slender, leveled/crowned, faint wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-3
-Scale Length: 21.4”
-Nut: 1.650”, bone (replacement)
-Tuners: Grover open-gear, butterbean buttons
-Serialization: Stamp on neck block dates to ‘60
Body Specs:
-Wood: Sitka spruce, mahogany
-Bracing: X
-Bridge: Brazilian rosewood, bone through saddle
-Plastics: Tortoise pickguard (reseated)
-Marquetry: Simple rosette, multi-ply purfling (top)
There are three small splits on the rims at the waist (one on the bass side, two on the treble), one beneath the pickguard, and one on top at the treble-side lower bout edge; all have been professionally repaired and stabilized/braced. There is some modest pick wear beyond the edges of the guard, a bit of buckle worming on the back along the centerline, and some minor dings, largely relegated to the lower bout. The neck profile is clean and smooth.
A padded Martin-branded gigbag is included.
