CF Martin E-18 Solid-Body Electric Guitar - 1979
By Larry Meiners
CF Martin had already produced electric flat top guitars during the late 1950s and electric archtop guitars during the 1960s. Neither of these products proved successful, but Martin had high hopes for their new solid-body instruments during the late 1970s. By 1979, Martin introduced the E-18 and EM-18 guitars, and the EB-18 bass into a hot solid-body instrument market.
These new CF Martin E-Series models were made with multiple laminate bodies of hard maple and strips of walnut. This laminate body style was popular at the time with players of semi-custom guitars and basses. Alembic and Moonstone are two examples of California manufacturers who had carved out a profitable niche in the high priced segment of the market. They offered premium workmanship, multiple wood combinations and active electronics. Their instruments electronics offered a multitude of toggle-switch variations for a wide variety of sounds.
Martin's new solid-body guitars incorporated a solid mahogany neck, a rosewood fingerboard, an "old-world" Stauffer-style headstock and a Martin stamp on the back of the body near the neck-joint heel.
Even with good intentions and quality workmanship, Martin's first generation of solid-body electric guitars failed to ignite the flames of passion in the guitar buying public. Martin was determined to understand the reasons these guitars and basses were not successful. As a result, they totally revamped the design of their solid-body electric models. A little more than a year after the E-18 was unveiled, Martin introduced their new E-28 guitar and EB-28 bass.
Martin's E-28 was now built with a solid mahogany neck-through-the-body construction with mahogany sides, and active electronics. Other popular guitars were built with neck-through designs at the time and many offered active pickups as well.
Just as these guitars were introduced, the fad-driven guitar market was moving toward reissue and replica guitars of late-1950s Gibson and Fender models. The markets fascination with remakes of vintage instruments meant that what was once old was now new, and what was new was suddenly old. Even Martin's offer to finish these guitars and basses in custom colors couldn't save them from the discontinued ledger. By 1983 Martin abandoned the solid-body guitar market and vowed to do what they did best, build the world's finest acoustic guitars.
Today, used E-18 guitars sell for about what they sold for in 1979, around $500.
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