Today's featured F-55, currently residing at 31st Street Vintage Guitars in New Braunfels, Texas, was made in 1961, which would make it one of the very first examples to roll off of the Martin line. The neck is mahogany with a rosewood fretboard. This model came equipped with a pair of single-coil DeArmond Dynasonic pickups in a plywood body. Average prices were closer to $1,500 earlier this decade. Interest and prices do seem to be inching upward lately, though, with several examples cresting the $2,000 mark over the past year on Reverb. Historically, these guitars have never ranked especially high on the overall collectability scale-especially when compared to both contemporary Martin flattops and hollowbody electrics from Gibson and other makers. Today, interested buyers can usually find at least a few intact specimens floating around, with the F-55 coming to market most commonly. Most recounting substantiates that between 500 and 700 of each F-series model were built from 1961 to 1965, though some sources place the total much higher than that. The F-50 and F-55 had single-cutaways, with one or two pickups, respectively, while the F-65 sported two pickups and two cutaways in its shape. These guitars were not the first f-holed archtops built by Martin. Their bodies came in at a little under 2" in depth, making them more similar to Gibson thinlines than to Martin's early archtop efforts. All three featured triple-bound arched tops and flat maple backs, with elegant DeArmond pickups similar to what you'd find on Gretsch and Guild electrics of the same era. These arched antecedents aside, the F-series of the '60s was an entirely new initiative for Martin. These models didn't compete especially well with their Gibson counterparts, and their production ended in the early '40s along with the changes in American manufacturing brought about by World War II.
1965 martin guitar serial numbers series#
In the 1930s-the same decade that saw the unveiling of Martin's classic dreadnought models-the company launched the C series and the R series, as well as a very limited crop of F-series archtop acoustics. This side view displays the guitar's dimensions-a 2" depth that made the F-55 comparable to thinline Guild and Gibson electric semi-hollow models. For Martin, this ambition manifested in a new series of archtop electric guitars: the F-50, F-55, and F-65.
Demand was on the rise, and so was Martin's business.ĭespite this success in the acoustic market, the leadership of Martin decided in 1961 that it was the right time to get into the electric market and compete with the likes of Fender and Gibson for the attention of rock, country, and, eventually, folk-rock players.
1965 martin guitar serial numbers serial number#
A simple glance at the Martin serial number chart shows that 4,642 guitars were built in 1960, with the total reaching 12,880 in 1967. Folk music was hitting a peak in the popular consciousness and Martin guitars-like the stalwart D-18 and D-28 dreadnoughts-claimed a reputation as the essential tools of the genre. Money back, no questions asked.The early 1960s must've been an exciting time to work for C.F. If you are not fully satisfied with your musical instrument purchased at Musik Produktiv, you can return it within these 30 days. Our Money Back guaranty extends the statutory cancellation period of 14 days to a comfortable period of 30 days. When you purchase musical instruments at Musik Produktiv you won't take any risks. Benefit from our experience and rest assured that we make this happen because we know that our customer is always number one! Purchasing instruments without risk. Payment, delivery and returns will be processed professionally and quickly.
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