he C-Series guitars were created by Martin as the result of a growing demand for carved top guitars in the early 1930's. This Martin C-3 archtop was designed to compete with Gibson's L-5 and Epiphone's DeLuxe. The C-3 was mainly owned by professional musicians and used for country, blues and jazz. The C-3 has tremendous power and volume, while the round sound hole creates smooth tonal qualities, ideal for vocal accompaniments.

   It was made of some of the best materials: a carved red spruce top with a high gloss lacquer finish, multi-line celluloid buildings and gold plated engraved gears. The guitar was constructed in 1933 of beautiful straight-grain Brazilian Rosewood and built under tension. It came with Style-45 features. The bound headstock with the famous CF Martin vertical logo was originally designed for Martin's C-series archtops in 1931. That same vertical logo design is still in production today! The guitar has the same 25 ½ inch scale length as the OM series.

   It is mistakenly thought that Gibson is attributed for creating the first x-braced archtop guitar. Actually, Martin produced the first x-braced archtop guitar in 1931 with its C-series, while Gibson developed the x-brace in 1934 with its Advanced L-5 and Super-400. The x-brace is a favored method of bracing an archtop today. The modern x-brace is based on the early Martin design of 1931.

   The C-3 round-hole archtop was Martin's top-of-the-line instrument and most expensive, listing for $200. Martin went from a light violin sunburst finish in 1931, to a two-tone dark sunburst finish in 1934. Unfortunately, many of the Martin archtops have been converted to flattops, due to fashion, ignorance and greed.

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