Martin OOO-16 RGT

[tokairic]

I've recently bought one of these. I was watching OOO-28's and OM-21's get more and more financially out of reach when this cropped up.
Not made for many years as far as I know. All solid rosewood and spruce.
Rumour was that it stole the -21 sales as it was so similar resulting in it being discontinued.
Can't find anything at all on the Martin website anywhere, even in discontinued model.
Not sure if I paid too much but it was a lot cheaper than any -21 I've seen lately. Sounds great - comparable to a friends OM-21
.
Can anyone add any information about these guitars please?

[Rogerblair]

Part of Martin’s 16 series lineup. They were great guitars IMO. Good materials, good sound, a solid performer. I had one or two of the mahogany versions and really loved the sound and playability. Wonderful for fingerstyle.
Rb

[Denny B]

I love the 16 series, one of the best values in the Martin lineup...here's my 000-16SGT.

100_2070 (2).jpg

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by tokairic

...Rumour was that it stole the -21 sales as it was so similar resulting in it being discontinued.
Can't find anything at all on the Martin website anywhere, even in discontinued model.
Not sure if I paid too much but it was a lot cheaper than any -21 I've seen lately. Sounds great - comparable to a friends OM-21.

Can anyone add any information about these guitars please?

Bought one for my wife in the early-2K's and, along with the cult-favorite (and rarer) 12-fret 000-16SRGT, one of the finest guitars CFM IV & Co. ever discontinued; quite frankly, I agree 100% with your assessment - I auditioned hers against the 18/21/28 000's and OM's (any one of which I could have easily afforded) and the -16 was a match for any of them, for substantially less money...

[NotALuth]

Hi tokairic,

The 000-16 RGT was introduced in 2001. GT standing for Gloss Top (started in 1999 but was not available in 000 size until the following year and rosewood the year after) an addition to the expanding modern 16 series featuring mortise and tenon neck joint and hybrid X bracing.

Production figures from 2001-2005 show 1183 made. 2005 is the last date that manufacturing totals are widely available, and does not necessarily indicate when production ceased.

The 16 series expanded and contracted rapidly in the early to mid 2000s. By mid-2000 there were 30 models in the series, including SP (Special) models which were greatly reduced by mid-2001 being replaced by similar instruments with no specific suffix or prefix. To quote from Martin Guitars: A Technical Reference “The fast changing nature of the 16 Series makes a definite description of these models difficult..” “Some models didn’t attract significant orders and were deleted barely a year after they were first announced.” “When models were deleted is not always mentioned here, partly because some models were still in production a year or more after disappearing from the price list”. So when the 000-16 RGT stopped being made I can’t say!

Slightly off-topic, but some of the models introduced during this time have very complicated model codes e.g : 000C-16FMBUAE and 000C-16SGTNE

I do have a contemporary review of the 000-16 GT (Guitarist; issue 220; Feb 2002) but unfortunately not of the rosewood version.

Hope that was helpful,
Clive.

[rlgph]

My first full-size steel string was a 000-16 RGT that i bought when i decided to learn to play guitar after i retired. It sounded good to me, though as a noobie, my opinion probably wasn't that useful. However, my instructor praised its tone every time i went for a lesson. Since i was interested in fingerstyle, on several occasions she urged me to have a new nut made with greater string spacing.

One of the guitars i regret selling.

[tokairic]

Hope that was helpful,
Clive.[/QUOTE]

Very helpful thanks Clive. I think mine is a 2004, its had a lot of playing but there's probably a few decades more left.
I'm glad there's some positive feeling for the solid 16's, I am enjoying mine, its a keeper.