The C. F. Martin Harp Guitar
I look for important transitional guitars for my web site to illustrate the development of the steel string guitar, and this is an especially important one. As a harp guitar, or more accurately, a "10 string 000-21" (Martin only called the ones with 2 complete necks "Harp guitars") this is a curiosity, although a fabulous one.
Equally important, this guitar helps illustrate the history of the 000 size Martin. Martin did not design the 000 simply to build a bigger guitar. In 1902, Martin built one 9 string 00-21. Shortly after, Martin built a 10 string 000-28 followed by two 10 string 000-21, evidently feeling that the 000 size body was necessary to accommodate the wider bridge needed for a 10 string guitar.
This guitar was the first 10 string 000-21, making it the second Martin 000 ever built.
The 000 was slow to catch on as a standard size. In 1903, Martin built a single "standard" 000-21, their first six string 000, and three more were built in 1904.
From 1902 to 1910, Martin built only 23 000 size guitars. Ten were "harp guitars". In 1907 and 1908, the only 000 built was a 000-45 Harp guitar. Only 13 standard six string 000 were built in these first nine years.
earlymartin.com
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