Martin’s 000-45 would be considered a mid-sized model, with a body width of 15 inches. And it’s abalone pearl borders and delicate snowflake-pattern fingerboard inlays qualify it as only a moderately fancy instrument.

But from 1904 to the introduction of dreadnaught bodies in 1931, the 000-45 was the biggest and fanciest model available from the C.F. Martin company. Martin introduced Size 000 in 1902, the same year the first Style 45 guitars were made (although they were initially called special-order Style 42s).

The new size was almost a full inch wider than Size 00. It provided added power that guitar players needed, yet in an era dominated by mandolins, and later by tenor banjos, it was not an immediate success.

It wasn’t until the late 1920s that players discovered the Martin 000-size guitars. Although most makers today offer left-handed guitars, they were quite rare in the first part of the 20th century, and this 000-45 is one of, if not the only guitar from that period, that came from the factory as a lefty.