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Mandolin

Martin Style A

Name: Martin Style A
Brand: Martin

Martin · A Style Mandolin

Price: 18 EUR – 2.175 EUR

Price history

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Availability: 6/10 (Common)

An 80-year production run (1914-1995) from the guitar maker: a flat-back mandolin with an oval sound hole, shorter scale and lighter strings than a Gibson-style carved mandolin, built for delicate, ringing old-time and Celtic tone rather than bluegrass volume.

Where available? Go to the best price – 19 EUR About this instrument

About the Martin Style A

Martin, primarily a guitar builder, approached the mandolin from guitar-construction logic rather than the carved-top Italian tradition Gibson drew on: the Style A has a flat back with a gently bent (rather than carved-arch) top, an oval sound hole, and a spruce top over mahogany back and sides - materials shared with Martin's own Style 18 guitars. Ebony forms both the fretboard and bridge, with rosewood binding around the body.

The shorter scale and lighter string tension than a typical Gibson-derived F-hole mandolin make the Style A noticeably easier under the fingers, but too lightly built and quiet to compete in a hard-driving bluegrass jam - which is exactly why it's often overlooked by modern bluegrass players while remaining prized among old-time, Celtic and even classical mandolinists for its delicate, ringing tone. An engraved tailpiece and four-per-side tuners complete the hardware.

Where to buy

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eBay 1 Reverb 8

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eBay 2.088 EUR View details
Reverb 2.175 EUR View details

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/91970297-martin-style-a-k-koa-mandolin-1921

Sound character of the Martin Style A

A bent (not carved-arch) top, oval sound hole, shorter scale and lighter string tension add up to a genuinely delicate, ringing voice rather than a loud, cutting one - too quiet for a hard-driving bluegrass jam, which is exactly why old-time, Celtic and classical mandolinists still seek it out for its intimate, sweet tone.

Delicate Mellow Warm

Technical data for the Martin Style A

Top	Spruce, bent (flat-back construction)
Back/Sides	Mahogany
Sound hole	Oval
Fretboard/Bridge	Ebony
Binding	Rosewood
Produced	1914-1995

Price history for the Martin Style A

Cheapest seen: 18 EUR · Most expensive seen: 2.175 EUR

Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Martin Style A

Martin built the Style A from 1914 to 1995, one of the company's longest-running instrument models, during an era when mandolins rivaled guitars in American popularity; it bridged European carved-mandolin tradition with Martin's own flat-top guitar-building methods rather than copying Gibson's approach directly.