Oh ye of little faith.....
If you only knew what I can do with some filler and my airbrushes.
The binding is probably lost, and too expensive to replace, but it looks like a cool project candidate to me.
What did you spend on it?

But the neck is beyond shot. Missing frets. Missing inlays. Head starting to separate from the neck. The bridge and tremelo are oxidized. But I love it. It's soooo beautiful as is....

Could be replaced. Lots of cool new materials for repairing broken wood.
A relative of mine is close to patenting his bridge repair technique for acoustics long considered "unrepairable".

A cool find for the price. I think I'd like to see the rest of your ceiling decor!

I didn't include the pic of the giant 50's console record player I'm getting ready to restore....

is on velvet.
Cool!

Looks like a great place to chill and reminisce.

Like I said, it's a work in progress. I've got a big old 60's console record player in there I'm going to restore. Then it becomes my vinyl listening room.

Some jackhole refinished the whole thing (which removed the martin logo from the headstock), and coated it with a terrible top coat (including the ebony fretboard). The neck joint broke at some point, so instead of a proper fix, they drove a couple bolts into it. I have it pretty playable right now, but next string change I'm gonna bring the action up JUST a hair to fix the couple spots it frets out in. It could easily be a $8,000+ guitar if I ever get a chance to restore it. I traded an old unplayable Airline and a broken classical for it.

And it's playable? Huge score!

participate in some kickass bluegrass jams, the guitars, mandolins, dobros... some from the 30's and such... beautiful tone and the flat pickers are so talented. I had a fine time, even at 102F one weekend. Sang myself hoarse like I do every year.

But I use it for songwriting.

And the cheap fix gives her sooooi much character!

Thanks for posting pics.

It too required some work, but I loved it and played it for years.
It's retired now.

We have a ‘46 D18 at the shop I work at. Needs a neck reset and a bunch of other work. It’s a consignment, and the owner wants too much for it with regards to it’s condition. If he’d take $1,000, I’d pick it up tomorrow no problem... But he wants $4K (which is mint value).

3 in the last month. Most are for decor. Bought and sold over 300 and haven’t found one I can play.

Great looking.

Love looking at her...

A local luthier restored a friends beat up pre-war (I think) Koa 000-28 that had an ugly, stupid lag-bolted neck. You would never know by playing and looking at it now.

His partner patched up my own '47 00-18. It's got plenty of blemishes and the original bridge couldn't be saved but with a reset neck and some repaired cracks this mahogany wonder plays and sounds just fine. I keep it in an oddball DADGAE tuning for playing Irish tunes.

So go ahead, hang that 40 dollar Harmony up for now, but keep eyeing it while thinking: Could be a fun project....

If I played that'd be one thing. But alas, I's just a frontman....

He runs Bayfret Instrument Repair in Marstons Mills, MA. I had an old Guild 212XL that I can now not only play, but even record with because of him.

But yeah, there's something really appealing about an old battered workhorse like that.

Nice find!

sorry for the caps but that is a beautiful instrument.

It looks like it doesn't sit in the stand much. Good fer ya.!!!!

I've got kids and an energetic puppy, so it stays in its case when I'm not playing it.

I know next to nothing about guitars, but according to our DU experts, ya done good!

Even if you just use it for "day-cor" ... what a great find. Aren't musical instruments an art all to themselves? Especially when music means so much to you. And this one must have been well used and loved.

I've been staring at it like I stare at a sunset, a sunrise, or the beautiful Mrs. Glamrock. The only difference? The guitar doesn't tell me "quit it!" If she only knew her own beauty.....

Please keep it!
I have owned 3 Martins in my life.
I had to sell two of them due to poverty.
I FOUND enough money to buy a new one and that is exactly what I did with the money I found, bought a new one.

Great investment btw!
It has nearly doubled in value and no, I'm not planning on selling it unless poverty comes knocking on my door once again.

It's a '61. Body is solid. Bindings good. Neck and electronics are what are shot....

It was playable but ...

Cost to fix would have been abt. $500 at the time I had to sell it. I got more than was paid for it. $300.

It was a 1966 Martin 000-28. Lovely instrument!

If you can afford to fix it, it may be well worth it. If not, keep it and enjoy it!

It is a beauty

I have a 1962 D18 that I've had since 1967. It's been across the Atlantic twice and is now about to make its third and final voyage to Europe. Just bought a Gator Dreadnought case complete with TSA lock to protect it.

Being it was FOUND money I did not care so I bought me a new one, a brand new one! Martin 000-28!

I hope I won't have to sell it!

I've had it for 12 years now (was made in the year 2001). The sound is spectacular!

I've never been tempted to sell my D18. Even when I needed the money.

Maybe you already know this but ...

Keep your eye on it ...

Thieves would love to grab it at an airport, etc.

And although I'd hate to lose the guitar, I have got it insured for replacement cost.

Mine came with a Martin case. It is kept locked up in an undisclosed location.

I hope I will never have to sell it. I really do!

said that he had to replace the case after a utility cart ran over it. The guitar was fine though.

Wow, good thing it didn't get wrecked!

That first Martin 000-28 I had had a case w/it that must have weighed 30 lbs. It was built to last alright! I could barely carry to/from school so I had a lighter weight classical guitar that I hauled around instead!

I think you got lucky!

Now that I know what it is, I'm seriously thinking about taking it in to have it restored. I don't play. I'm just a front man. But I've been around bands and musicians long enough to appreciate what I've found, dig?

Could barely make out the date stamp.....

But there's a beauty there that's been retained. Perhaps just the shape. I don't know. It just knocked me down when I saw it.

I had a big old, and I do mean old, dark brown round top with f-holes, similarly beat up, that I kept around 'cause it looked badass. The side had separated from the top so that it had this big frog-mouth at the bottom and the finish was the same as a crate kept outside for twenty years. One too many changes of residence and that guy was gone. Wasn't worth any more than a smile on my face and a few oohs and ahs when my guitar buddies came over. But I liked it sitting in the corner of my room.

Body is solid. As are the bindings. The neck however is fucked. I'm seriously thinking of taking it to a luthier. I mean, it is a 61 harmony after all. The tremelo bridge is gorgeous. Almost no finish left and oxidized. This Harmony may be what gets my lazy ass to learn to play.

1966 Ambassador 12 string. I keep it tuned to an open C.

The uncle of a guy i know had it, and never liked playing 12 string because he got too much string buzz. (He's not a serious player, just a noodler.)

He offered it free to his nephew, but his nephew told him that i might be interested in a second 12. I got if for a hundred.

Now, the other coincidence re: Harmony

I went to high school (nearly every class too) with a guy with several dozen Harmonies in his basement. His dad was a design engineer for them when they were still up on the north side of Chicago. So, he had acoustics, electrics, arch tops, banjos, mandolins, dulcimer, you name it.

Had them hanging on all the walls of the basement. Had to be well over 60. It was like a music store down there, with a pool table.

What a great place to hang out in!

Sunburst?

I didn't learn to play guitar until i was 19, so all those guitars and i was still strictly a piano player!

I remember his dad being a jazz dude and recall him being pretty darned good.

This is really really cool, thanks for sharing.

Any music that has a guitar in it is the most live music in the world. Guitars are my passion. I can't forget the feeling when you take an acoustic guitar in your hands for the first time