The OM-18 followed immediately after Martin’s first rosewood Orchestra Models. Archival production records show the first two six-string OM-18s were built in January 1930, making this one of the earliest mahogany 14-fret steel-string designs. Like the other first-generation OMs, it combined a 14-fret neck with the long 25.4-inch scale, bar frets and the light construction of the period. The earliest OM-18 also differed in subtle but important ways from later examples. Style 18 had already abandoned the pyramid bridge, so the first guitars used a simple straight rectangular bridge before the familiar belly bridge became standard. For this B&C recreation, Adirondack spruce and Honduran mahogany place the emphasis on the elemental character of the original design: light, direct and highly responsive, with virtually no unnecessary ornamentation. You can secure the slot today with a non-refundable deposit $4,500 for this special B&C Guitar.
