Sam Jones with WillcuttGuitars.com demonstrates an authentic 1870's Martin Size 1, Style 21 from Bob Willcutt's Private collection.
Song "The Wind and the Wheat" by Phil Keaggy ©1987

From Martin Guitars:
This guitar, an 1870's size 1 style 21, came to us from Bob Wilcutt's private collection.
The inspiration came from a similar 21 style conversion that we had done at the factory, with the idea of being able to get into a time machine, go back to the 1870s, grab the guitar when it was first built, and bring it back to present day. While on the ride, the wood would gain the benefits of aging; but, the freshness of it being a new build would be preserved to make this fine guitar become the best version of itself.
To start, we hand-selected a red spruce top trying to closely match the existing one and then utilizing our torrefaction process, the top was then aged to approximately 100 years. We recreated the original style rosette with fine herringbone. One of Mr. Willcutt's requests was for us to "age or dirty" the inside of the top and braces to preserve the weathered/ old look. We were able to reuse the original neck, tuning machines, and fingerboard, but replaced the original style solid frets. To further promote authenticity, we chose to apply the lacquer using the French polish technique. The new ebony pyramid bridge and "T style" bone saddle were also hand-shaped. To further bring out the authentic voice, we added our Martin Silk &Steel strings.
This painstaking process encompassed nearly 2 years and has generated a one of a kind, truly spectacular instrument that will only stand to further improve with age.

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