Martin Custom Shop 00-12 Fret Mahogany

This Martin Custom Shop 00-12 Fret, featuring mahogany and bearclaw spruce, is a model we selected directly from the Martin factory. With a compact, traditional 00 body and beautiful African mahogany, it bridges the past and the present!

1898, back to the past

This Martin Custom Shop model is based on the 00-18. This model is still made today and dates all the way back to 1898. Since our store also traces its roots to 1898, we chose to adorn this guitar with an original Martin logo from that era on the headstock. The specifications are also from that era, featuring a high-quality Sitka spruce top and mahogany sides and back. The 12-fret neck makes this an extra-compact model that sounds and plays like a parlor! Despite its small body, it has a remarkably loud volume, yet the sound remains controlled and warm.

Materials

As mentioned, this guitar is based on an original Martin 00-18. This means the materials correspond to that model. Yet this guitar also has a twist: namely, a beautiful bearclaw spruce top! A bearclaw forms when a branch grows out of the tree’s trunk. Bearclaw has no impact on the sound, but it does give the guitar a beautiful, distinctive top! The mahogany sides and back are also of the highest quality, which traditionally produces a neutral, balanced tone: ideal for fingerstyle and blues!