Martin Classical Guitars: G, C And N Changes

Model Changes By Year

1936: The G Series Restores A Dedicated Gut-String Line

After Martin’s standard Spanish-playing guitars moved toward steel strings in the 1920s, the G series supplied a separate gut-string design from 1936. Early experiments varied, so the familiar later G configuration should not be assigned unchanged to every first-year instrument.

The 00-18G used mahogany back and sides, while the 00-28G supplied rosewood. Both belonged to the lighter-string classical branch, with their own construction rather than the contemporary steel-string dreadnought timetable.

The Established G Body And Bracing

The later G design combined a 12-fret neck joint with the outline associated with the 14-fret 00 body. That combination placed the bridge differently from a traditional elongated 12-fret 00. A tie bridge secured the strings without the usual steel-string bridge pins.

The 00-28G bracing system used three fan struts and a mahogany bridge plate. These internal features distinguish the G design from the later N-20, whose seven-fan system omitted the bridge plate. The 1955 00-18G photographs here illustrate the established G-era string attachment.

1962: The C Series Changes The Body Outline

The C series succeeded the G line in 1962. The mahogany 00-18C used the longer, traditional 12-fret 00 outline with fan bracing. The C designation accompanied this change to the body outline.

The rosewood 000-28C offered a larger body. Its production ran from 1962 through 1969. Size and style still mattered within the classical range: 00 and 000 identified different body families, while Style 18 and Style 28 separated the mahogany and rosewood versions.

1966: The Rosewood 00-28C Joins The Range

The 00-28C added a smaller rosewood classical in 1966, with ebony fittings. It joined the 000-28C rather than immediately replacing it.

Both rosewood C body sizes therefore appear in the later 1960s. Their coexistence prevents a simple rule that every C-series rosewood Martin must be a 000 before 1966 and a 00 afterward.

1968 And 1969: The N Series

The N-10 and N-20 arrived in 1968 with a more Spanish-influenced classical body. The N-10 used mahogany back and sides; the N-20 used rosewood. The early N-20 retained a 25.4-inch scale and Martin’s familiar slotted-headstock form.

Inside, the N-20 used seven fan braces and no bridge plate. That was a structural difference from the 00-28G’s three-strut and plate arrangement. Later N-series redesigns fall outside this guide’s 1969 endpoint.

Rosewood classical models also reached the late-1969 change toward East Indian rosewood. The G, C and N suffixes describe their design families; the wood species still depends on the production period and the actual instrument.

Did The C Series Begin In 1962 Or 1966?

The C series began in 1962. The 1966 date belongs to the smaller rosewood 00-28C’s addition to the range. The larger 000-28C was already in production and continued through 1969.

Are The New Yorker Models Part Of The Classical Series?

The 0-16NY and 00-21NY used 12-fret necks and slotted headstocks, but retained X-bracing. They belong to the small-body and New Yorker history, separate from the fan-braced G, C and N families.