Martin Arch Top C-2

42c2

The size of the Martin Arch Top C-2 body is equal to the 000 size of the flat top type and it is 15” wide. The top is carved but the back is arched. The sides and the back are made of rosewood. The vintage Martin guitar has a trapeze styled tail piece and all its parts are made of nickel.

The scale of arch tops of the C-series was long just like the 000 model, till 1934. In some cases, the arch top was converted into 000 styled flat top in a C model. The conversion of the short scale C-2 will not be similar to the 000 style if it was made after 1934. The neck of Martin Arch Top C-2 creates the entire difference, since it has to be shortened in length to get the desired shallow angle to have a flat top. Thus, the fret of the neck must be 1/3, but the guitar, in the process, gets a 13 2/3 fret. This causes the bridge on these vintage instruments to be at a lower position just like the OM bridge. However, it is not precisely same. Even the back arch and also the back braces are not the same in the Martin C models as compared to Martin 000 models. The arch top contains more arches in their backs and has tall #3 and #4 back braces. The neck inlay is pearloid of the C-2 models that are made in the year 1939 or later. They also don’t have abalone.

Learn to play guitar