1934 Martin 0-18 at The Music Emporium

When you hear the cognoscenti waxing on about pre-war Martin 0-18 flattop guitars, you'll hear them saying things like, "Incredible power for its size!" or, "The most rewarding playability of any guitar ever!" And on, and on, and on. And ... as it relates to the pre-war 0-18, we're going to respectfully disagree with Chuck D and advise you to believe the hype. When set up well, and firing on all cylinders, these are simply incredible guitars, with a mightiness of tone fit to topple Goliath.

The 14-fret 0-sized guitars hold special places in our collective hearts here at TME: it was a 1932 0-18 that hung on the office wall of founder, Stu Cohen, for many years, eventually inspiring Bill Collings to adapt the model to his own product lineup. This 1934 0-18 is a truly exceptional example of the model. It is stunningly clean and crack free; and it's had a neck reset, and re-fret with proper bar stock, by luthier David Eichelbaum (who also installed a new, period correct bridge). It boasts a responsiveness rivaled by few other guitars in the world: its combination of bar frets, ebony neck reinforcement, and full-feeling, V-shaped neck profile will show the uninitiated why those of us bitten by the vintage bug can't seem to go back to modern instruments.

Thanks to Alex Rubin for the wonderful playing. Check him out online here: https://www.alexrubinguitar.com

Audio recorded with a Samar MG20 condenser microphone and Universal Audio "Volt" Interface. No additional EQ or processing has been added.