While my favorite guitar body size is a dreadnought, my second favorite is a 14 fret 00. I love the small body size and its sweet, well-balanced sound. About
12 years ago, I purchased a 1961 00-28G, with incredibly beautiful quartersawn Brazilian Rosewood, from Gryphon Music with the idea of converting it to a steel
stringed 00-45. The luthier I chose for the conversion was Tim Teel, who also works for Martin.
I obtained some red spruce, from John Arnold, for the top and braces. This spruce is very tight-grained and may have come from the Smokey Mountains. The guitar has forward 5/16" braces with ¼" tonebars and a long scale. I chose this configuration over the ¼" braces and short scale, used on standard 14 fret 00-14 guitars because I believe it results in greater volume, clarity and sustain.
The neck has a square headstock with a 1930s taper. The headstock veneer is Brazilian Rosewood with a torch inlay in paua. The tuners are gold Waverly W-16s. The neck is a modified 'V' shape. The fingerboard is 1 ¾" at the nut. The body has paua abalone inlays around the top, fingerboard extension, back and sides, with wood purlfings. The pickguard which is beveled and over the fininsh is made from swirly brown material similar to that used by Martin around the late 1930s.
The conversion took almost 9 years (Tim is very busy). However, it was well worth the wait. Tim's workmanship is impeccable. The finish is some of the finest lacquer work I have ever seen. It is extremely thin. As for the sound, it is simply exquisite. It is extremely detailed, sweet and articulate, with good volume. While I primarily use it for fingerpicking, it also sounds wonderful, when flatpicked, without the usual boxiness of most small bodied guitars. All in all I couldn't be happier with the result.
Here are some photos:
I obtained some red spruce, from John Arnold, for the top and braces. This spruce is very tight-grained and may have come from the Smokey Mountains. The guitar has forward 5/16" braces with ¼" tonebars and a long scale. I chose this configuration over the ¼" braces and short scale, used on standard 14 fret 00-14 guitars because I believe it results in greater volume, clarity and sustain.
The neck has a square headstock with a 1930s taper. The headstock veneer is Brazilian Rosewood with a torch inlay in paua. The tuners are gold Waverly W-16s. The neck is a modified 'V' shape. The fingerboard is 1 ¾" at the nut. The body has paua abalone inlays around the top, fingerboard extension, back and sides, with wood purlfings. The pickguard which is beveled and over the fininsh is made from swirly brown material similar to that used by Martin around the late 1930s.
The conversion took almost 9 years (Tim is very busy). However, it was well worth the wait. Tim's workmanship is impeccable. The finish is some of the finest lacquer work I have ever seen. It is extremely thin. As for the sound, it is simply exquisite. It is extremely detailed, sweet and articulate, with good volume. While I primarily use it for fingerpicking, it also sounds wonderful, when flatpicked, without the usual boxiness of most small bodied guitars. All in all I couldn't be happier with the result.
Here are some photos:
