The Kingston Trio 50th Anniversary - Commemorating The Life Of Dave Guard With A Special 12-Fret 00-21

Jul 28, 2007

Has it really been 50 years since The Kingston Trio changed everything about popular music - and the entire acoustic guitar industry along with it?

C. F. Martin was nearly 125 years old when The Kingston Trio was formed in Palo Alto, California in 1957. It was the rise of The Kingston Trio that really established Martin as "America's Guitar," the premier steel-string acoustic guitar. You see, The Kingston Trio wasn't just a musical group. It was a phenomenon, as influential in its time as The Beatles would become in theirs.

Because the Trio was fiercely loyal to Martin and played virtually no other brand of guitar, every Kingston Trio album cover was a de facto advertisement for Martin guitars. Soon the Company found itself overwhelmed by demand. At one point, Martin was three years behind in backorders.

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Kingston Trio and in collaboration with Kingston Trio leader Bob Shane, Martin is proud to present a very special limited edition Kingston Trio 00-21 in memory of Dave Guard.

In creating the 00-21 Kingston Trio model, Martin has gone back to the early 00-21 patterns to closely replicate Dave Guard's guitar, but with a few important variations for improved tone and playability.

The back and sides are crafted of premium East Indian rosewood. The back is joined with the traditional checker-board backstrip. Highly-prized Italian Alpine spruce is used for the top, a small maple bridgeplate is used per the original specifications.

As a very special "anniversary" touch, the 00-21 Kingston Trio Edition model features an ebony belly bridge with long bone saddle and black bridge pins with white inlay. 12-fret adjustable modified V-shaped neck of genuine mahogany, a square tapered slotted headstock with old styledecal logo and Premium Waverly/Sloane side-mounted tuning machines. The fingerboard is fashioned from black ebony (another special "anniversary" feature) and vintage-style abalone slotted square markers.

The instrument is finished in our highest grade polished nitrocellulose lacquer, with aging toner added to the top for an elegant vintage look.

Only 100 of these exquisite 00-21 Kingston Trio instruments will be offered. Each will bear an interior label personally signed by original Kingston Trio member and co-founder Bob Shane and C. F. Martin IV. A second label bears a photo of the Trio during the Guard years, showing Dave with his 00-21 and commemorating his musical life.

Each instrument will be delivered in a Geib "Cabernet" vintage-style hardshell case.

For more information, visit their web site at www.martinguitar.com.