Martin pays tribute to the golden era of guitar making with an epic $20k recreation of Joe Bonamassa’s pre-war 1941 000-45 acoustic
More than a year after it was first teased, Joe Bonamassa’s first-ever Martin signature model is finally here. Named the 000-45 Joe Bonamassa, this stunning guitar is a faithful recreation of the 1941 000 acoustic from JoBo’s personal collection, and is limited to just 45 units.
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“It’s really important to me that the new guitar stayed true to the old one, because there’s no other reason to do it,” says Bonamassa. “It gives people an opportunity to feel what it’s like to hold a Golden Era 000-45… I’m not redesigning a Martin guitar. I’m just sharing 45 times over a glimpse into a guitar that I own, that most people will never get to play, or see.”
This means that for a whopping price of $19,999, you will get an instrument that looks and feels “just as it came off the workbench” in Martin’s Nazareth, Pennsylvania factory some 80 years ago.
Featuring a premium Adirondack spruce top, Guatemalan rosewood back and sides, and scalloped X bracing pattern, the new 000-45 is an amalgamation of some of the most top-shelf specs you can find in an acoustic. The instrument has also been treated with Martin’s Vintage Tone System (VTS), which gives it that sought-after warmth and resonance that you’d expect from a well-aged vintage guitar.
Credit: Martin
Other key features include a 24.9” scale, period-correct gold enclosed gear butterbean tuners, abalone “Style 45” snowflake inlays on the ebony fingerboard, a faux tortoise pickguard as well as a mahogany neck that matches the unique profile of Bonamassa’s original pre-war 000-45.
A certificate of authenticity, vintage hang tag, and period-correct hardshell case will also be shipped with each purchase.
A beloved instrument passed down through three generations, the original 000-45 had never left Southern California since it was first purchased in 1941. Many years later, it ultimately found its way to Bonamassa at a moment when its sale helped save a woman’s home.
“I don’t collect guitars, I collect stories,” says JoBo. “I don’t collect instruments because I want a deal on them. I want to collect instruments because I want to help a family out of financial trouble, and they have this one item that could be sold for lots of money… It was the last thing of value that she had, so it saved her house, and I got a wonderful guitar and a hell of a story.”
Learn more about the 000-45 Joe Bonamassa at Martin.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
