The Landfill Martin

1954 Martin O-18 Saved From Landfill

This guitar came to our Byrdstown, Tenn., music store on trade. The older gentleman who brought it in found it in a landfill just as it was about to be pushed over with a load of dirt. He stopped the bulldozer driver and took the old guitar home.

I traded him a new foreign-made guitar for the old Martin and when we looked inside we found that it was a 1954 O-18. The guitar was in terrible shape from years of playing and abuse. Being left out in the rain and sunshine had taken a toll. Yet I am always amazed at how much abuse these old Martins can withstand and still come back to life!

As I take it apart and restore the individual components, I am struck with an admiration for the craftsmen who built these instruments. After removing the back I was able to repair all the top cracks and re-glue the bracing. The back had many cracks and needed to be re-braced to get it back to its original shape.