According to Walter Carter's book The Martin Book, A Complete History of Martin Guitars: Martin took a cautious approach, reviving Style 17 in Size 2 only in 1922, fitting it with a heavier-braced mahogany top and steel strings. The price of the 2-17 was right: $25. Martin sold 344 of them in 1922 -- more than the company's total annual production in many years of the previous decade. Sales more than doubled the next year, and the 2-17 peaked in 1926 with an astounding production of 1300 (28 per cent of all guitars made that year).
Steel strings spread quickly: to Style 18 guitars in 1923, Style 28 models in 1925 and across the line by the end of the decade.
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