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Hi All:

I am wondering if anyone has built from this 1918 Martin 1-18 plan. The notes on the plan by Ted Davis describe it as lightly built for gut strings. LMI lists it with their steel string plans. As near as I can tell the plan has elements of both. I have looked inside two Martins (1895, and 1925) apparently built for gut strings. They both were X braced and had pin bridges but if I recall correctly, the braces were lighter than the braces on the Davis plan (1/4x 1/2 before scalloping). Top and back thicknesses seem a little thicker than one might use for gut or nylon. The top in the guitar copied for this plan was Adi.
Any suggestions? Thanks.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

Hi George.
With considerations to the thickness of the top, it's stiffness, and the stiffness of the bracing, 1/4" x 1/2" would be fine for a steel string guitar.

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

I've built two with that plan, and loved them both. The first was sitka/mahogany, and had slight issues of some notes playing louder than the others up and down the neck. The customer has restrung it with silk&steels, and she very much loves it. The second, adi/blackwood is one of the best, if not the best guitar I've made. I left the bracing dimensions exactly as on the prints, and only varied the plate thicknesses to suit the actual pieces. Also, I would personally recommend making the fingerboard just a bit thicker. I put purfling on the bottom edge of the FB binding, and when I radiused the FB it was pretty dicey, I would definitely have liked some more wiggle room, but it worked out all right in the end. Anyway, I think it's a great design, certainly a great place to start from and adjust to taste. I can't hardly wait to make another!
Cheers

This was interesting. 200 views and 2 responses. I guess the Martin 1 plan is not all that popular. But then Martin no longer makes the 1 because no one was buying.

Fortunately the 2 responses were quite helpful so I got the help I needed. Thanks very much.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

George.
It's pretty goofy. Players usually want big guitars. Builders love little guitars. So... you end up building little guitars and have to almost give them away. I can't stay away from them, I want to make a 2 size guitar that's good for bluegrass!

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https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008907949110

David:

I would love to hear the 2 when you finish it.

Meddlingfool:

Here is a pic with my small body hybrid or crossover in comparison to my standard classical and a Taylor GA4.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

I built my first 1-18 in 1997 from Ted's plans and from spruce I got from him... adirondack/mahogany.. it was also my first small guitar build. I overbuilt the top somewhat and as a consequence it is not as loud as I would have hoped for;
I have built three or four others of the same size and with lighter bracing and thinner top and have been very pleased with them. I love small bodied 12 fret slot head guitars!

Someone posted the same question over on the MIMF a while back, so you will find a bit more information in that thread. I've made two guitars based on the Martin 1-18 1918 plans. I didn't try to copy it exactly--basically used the body shape and general bracing pattern but making the string scale longer (I believe the plan is a short scale). I love the resulting sound. I find it full, balanced, great resonance, really responds well to finger style playing (especially blues/jazz), and also light folky kind of flat picking. I think the size 1 is a really successful instrument. People just seem to think that bigger is better. Their loss.

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Thanks for the responses. Now I am excited about getting this guitar done. I play fingerstyle so a little light on the bracing seems to be the way to go.

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GEO
perpetual beginner