SN: 79752 With its beautifully aged top offset by the color of the guard and the dark ebony bridge; this one takes my breath away whenever I open the case. In 1940, the 000-18 still boasted prewar tone woods – Adirondack spruce top, African ebony bridge and fingerboard, Honduran mahogany back and sides, T-bar reinforcement in the neck and full metal tuners. But 1940 is the first full year for the modified neck profile – with the nut at 1 11/16ths that would reign for the next 50 years. The bracing is scalloped. The guitar has had a recent neck set and refret and had an exact repro bridge installed as the original was cracked. The bridge plate was capped and the original could not be saved so our luthier provided an exact replacement from an old piece of Martin bridge plate maple. He was able to tuck it back under the x-brace. Mark Tossman performed all the work and Mark’s work is immaculate. The intonation is perfect, the tone is woody and balances, and it plays beautifully. The top has a few dings and scratches and a light gouge across the lower bout and there’s a little buckle or button wear on the back. Overall, the condition is excellent. No cracks. It’s not easy to see with the naked eye and now that the tape is gone, the color is evening out.  Remarkably, the original chipboard case stayed with the guitar all these years. The case is in pretty good shape with the ribbon intact and the little clip on the string box still functional.  Hinges and hasps are rusty but functional.  Overall, a wonderful guitar set up for the next 60 years.