In 1930, a man purchased this guitar in a small town in rural Virginia as a present to his son. Unfortunately, his son never saw it as he and his mother drowned the same day when their boat tipped over in the fast and wide river.
For over 50 years the guitar was put away in the boy’s closet until 1983, when it was then sold to a local country musician. This man adored and played it for over 40 years of life experience before it landed with us.
It’s a humble guitar, small and plain, and all-mahogany. There is no binding and no adornments. It has simple tuning machines and buttons. There is no decoration on the headstock or the fingerboard, with only small dot markers. There is a C. F. Martin & Co logo pressed into the back of the headstock of the guitar, as well as stamped on the inside bracing in the body.
This guitar is a 1930 Martin 2-17. The brand first released this in 1922 as their first steel-string guitar. Construction on the guitar began on March 24th, 1930 and lasted for one month and a day, according to Martin’s old ledgers. It was this one small group of 2-17s made in response to the Great Depression that are commonly referred to as the #25s. The name originated from the guitar being stripped of any excessiveness so the price could be $25. These guitars were the common folk and the common folk only.
Famously, Jimmie Rodgers, the first country music star, made them renowned and introduced the world to a new form of music.
Check out this guitar in the Guitarchive.
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