1931 Martin OM-18 For Sale
Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:01 pm
A friend of mine is selling a 1931 OM-18. It's owned by a woman who is the world's leading authority on some obscure Gaelic dialect. Until she retired she taught linguistics. She bought the guitar years ago. It wasn't in great shape even then, and over the years it developed further ailments.
A few years ago she was going to donate it to our church's rummage sale and asked me to take a look at it, maybe put some new strings on it, etc. I looked it up, found out what it was, found a couple online sales listings north of $15,000, and suggested she might not want to donate it to the rummage sale.
At that point I called in my luthier friend Carter Ruff, since I didn't feel qualified to work on it. Carter agreed to take it on, and over the past few years, as his time has permitted, he's done numerous repairs. He fixed several cracks, did a neck reset, and made new bridge, among other things. He didn't restore the finish except on the top where it was nearly gone. He did a French polish on the top. The rest of the body looks like a well-used 1931 guitar.
The sound is everything one would hope for in a 1931 OM. It's quite amazing.
The price is $12,000, which is probably a bargain. If anybody is seriously interested, let me know and I'll get you connected with Carter.
A few years ago she was going to donate it to our church's rummage sale and asked me to take a look at it, maybe put some new strings on it, etc. I looked it up, found out what it was, found a couple online sales listings north of $15,000, and suggested she might not want to donate it to the rummage sale.
At that point I called in my luthier friend Carter Ruff, since I didn't feel qualified to work on it. Carter agreed to take it on, and over the past few years, as his time has permitted, he's done numerous repairs. He fixed several cracks, did a neck reset, and made new bridge, among other things. He didn't restore the finish except on the top where it was nearly gone. He did a French polish on the top. The rest of the body looks like a well-used 1931 guitar.
The sound is everything one would hope for in a 1931 OM. It's quite amazing.
The price is $12,000, which is probably a bargain. If anybody is seriously interested, let me know and I'll get you connected with Carter.