Now here is a special, rare and unique instrument, just in for consignment sale. This is a Martin F-1 Archtop guitar, in wonderful condition! Martin had a brief history of building archtop guitars from the early 1930's through 1942. They stopped building archtops during WWII, and never re-started after the war. Their F sized archtops were larger (16" lower bout), fancier and to most collectors, more desirable than their earlier and smaller "C" and "R" offerings. This guitar, built in 1940 (the serial number was stamped on June 3rd, 1940, per Martin), is the F-1 model with a mahogany body (F7 and F9 models had Brazilian Rosewood bodies). There were 36 F-1 Archtops built in 1940, and 91 total built between 1940, when the model was introduced, through 1942. Many of these are lost to time, and many were "converted" to flattop guitars. An intact F-1 is a rare find, especially one that looks and plays as good as this one!
This guitar has a very smooth tone, with good punch and bass. The playability and condition are remarkable for an 85 year old instrument! Everything appears to be original, including the frets, which have remarkably little wear. It is possible that the frets were replaced at some point. Please contact us with detailed questions regarding the guitar's condition.
This guitar comes with a non-original hard case in fair to good condition with the "Chicago" band logo stamped on the cover. One of the clasps on the case is broken, the others intact and functional.
