Parlors

Its not too often that you have the chance to have your just finished guitar next to the 95(!) year old equivalent. I couldn't resist to take a few shots of these two pals. This is my freshly strung up 00 Parlor model next to a 0-18 build by the C.F.Martin Co. for the Oliver Ditson Company in 1923.
Both are made with a spruce top and it's fantastic to see how dramatic the colour of the spruce changes with age. The 0-18 of course features some beautiful quality mahogany which was standart by then on all the 18 series models whereas my Parlor has back and sides made of figured Bubinga.
Soundwise they are very diffenrent to each other. For me if I could choose to own one of them it would be a tough choice. And I am very happy I can honestly say that. Some of these prewar guitars still set the bar for todays acoustic steelstring guitars. The craftsmanship is perfect and the sound is amazing and it makes me happy and proud that I can say I created my own version that feels for me is very different and probably made for a different musical taste but it is equally good. As I mentioned there are 3 generations between them.