OM Davy Graham Martin Signature Guitar

The Martin OM Davy Graham constitutes part of the new Artist Series of acoustics to come out of Martin's US Custom Shop sold exclusively through Westside distribution.

Many guitarists believe that the OM – a combination of Martin's modified 14-fret 000 body shape, long 645mm scale neck, solid headstock, 46mm nut width, 385mm maximum depth at the end wedge, and 60mm string spread at the bridge – offers the most versatile combination of features available in a steel-string acoustic guitar.

Today many guitar makers, including many small shops and hand-builders, create instruments modelled on the OM pattern.

In 1958 Davy and Alexis Korner scored a lucrative engagement backing Shirley Abicair for a national tour buying identical 000-18's for the job. At this time these guitars were beyond the wildest imagination of guitarists at that time.

It was the guitar that allowed Davy to create the Folk Baroque style, the all important synthesis of classical approach to folk material. Alexis and Davy used them to record 3/4 AD, and it was the guitar used on the seminal records Folk, Blues and Beyond and The Guitar Player.

It is unclear exactly what happened to these two guitars, Davy believes Alexis and he got them mixed up; and Davy ended up with the one with a raised action (Alexis had set it up for slide). A couple of weeks later Davy swapped that guitar with a folk singer called Josh Macrae for a Gibson J-50; he was stuck with that until he bought another Martin 000-18 in the seventies(with which he recorded The Complete Guitarist and Dance For Two People.

Martin Carthy subsequently bought Alexis' Martin 000-18 and used it ever since; that is most likely the guitar that Anji was composed and played upon.

50 years later on from that first purchase in 1958; Westside Distribution, UK representatives for Martin Guitars, have released a special commemorative model - specified by Graham to be his ultimate guitar- to celebrate his career.