The original OM was introduced at the end of 1929 and entered regular production in 1930, combining a 14-fret neck with the long scale and body dimensions of Martin’s 000. Among the pearl-trimmed Orchestra Models of this brief period, the OM-42 is exceptionally rare: only two examples were built in 1930. Unlike later interpretations of the model, the surviving original carries a plain headstock and restrained Style 42 fingerboard inlays rather than an elaborate torch and Style 45 pattern. This B&C project was developed as a direct replica of one of those original instruments, with the owner’s permission. The build used an old-growth Brazilian rosewood set dating from the 1940s, while details such as the rosette were reproduced to the dimensions and layout of the reference guitar rather than adapted from a modern OM-42. Moon-logged, air-dried European red spruce, traditional hide-glue construction, period-correct neck reinforcement and an exceptionally thin pure nitrocellulose finish complete the build. The result preserves both sides of the original OM-42: the projection and balance of the early long-scale OM, and the elegant but surprisingly restrained ornamentation of one of the rarest pre-war Martins ever produced.
