"00-21DB"

Now that I’m home, I figured it was time to describe my new guitar in more details (i.e., give some specs). Warning, this info is probably only of interest to guitar weenies like me. At some point I'll do some detailed pictures.

The best model name for this guitar (using Martin nomenclature) is a "00-21DB" (“double-oh-21-DB”). It’s based on Martin’s 12-fret (i.e., the neck connects to the body at the 12th fret), “00” size (14 1/8” across the lower bout), has rosewood back/sides with dark (i.e., not white) bindings like a stye “21” instrument, and has a deeper body than a standard 00.

The 00-21 is one of the first “modern” Martin designs, having been introduced in 1898. It was in continuous production for nearly 100 years, officially ending in 1996, but there have been some subsequent reissues (e.g., the 00-21GE “Golden Era”). Early models had an ebony bridge and fretboard, but in 1947 those were switched to rosewood. Like all standard rosewood Martins, the 00-21 switched from Brazilian to Indian rosewood in 1969, and in 1990 it got a solid (rather than slotted) headstock. [note: some of this info comes from Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars (2nd ed.) by George Gruhn and Walter Carter.]

Differences between mine and some of the features found on various incarnations of Martin’s 00-21:

• I’ve done mine with a slightly shorter, Gibson-esque 24.75” scale (compared to the standard 24.9”)
• The neck joint is bolt-on (rather than a dovetailed joint on a Martin)
• Most 00-21's have “belly” bridge (i.e., the standard one you’d see on most guitars); mine has a modified pyramid bridge
• Mine has a single herringbone rosette; Martins would have had a multiple-ring rosette (sometimes with herringbone)
• Rosewood bindings rather than black or tortoise on a Martin
• An ebony headstock overlay (rosewood on a Martin)
• Mine doesn’t have a back strip (i.e., a colored piece of inlay running along the back)
• Mine is “deep-body” (nearly the same depth as a dreadnought 4 1/2” at the end/butt, 4” at the neck), which makes it 1/4-3/4” deeper than the standard 00 (compare to 4 1/4 to 3 1/4”), and actually is slightly larger in width than a typically 00 (at 14 3/8” rather than 14 1/8”)
• Mine has 18 frets (vs. 20) on the Martin, which means my soundhole is a slightly higher
• The standard nut width is 1 7/8” on most 00-21's; mine is a smidgen less at 1 13/16”