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What are the general differences between an OM and a 000 size guitar? So far all I could really find is that the OM size typically has a wider nut at 1 3/4 vs. 1 11/16 for 000. What are some other differences, and what type of playing does each style lend itself to?

Thanks!

John

All OMs are 14 fret 25.4" scale, 1-3/4" at the nut. Any other Martin with that same body shape will be called a 000. Narrow necks (1-11/16" at the nut) 12 fret (which is a different body shape) and short scale will make the guitar a 000. You do not have to have all three of these features, however. Any one will do. If you see a player playing a Martin 14 fret small body, look at the pick guard. The OM's pickguard will be much smaller than the 000's.

This question comes up alot. I read the specs of dozens of Martins and made a chart and the 14fret, 25.4scale, and&1-3/4" nut seemed to be the requirement for Martin to call the guitar an OM. If anything changed, they called it a 000. Some people will tell you that 000s have a 24.9 scale but there are plenty of 25.4 scale 000s. Some think of the 12 fret model as the 000 but there are also plenty of 14 fret 000s. The same thing with the 1-3/4" nut. But if you put them all together, it becomes an OM. I could not find a single example of a Martin guitar with those specification that wasn't called an OM.
Mike Mahar38652.7035532407

originally the 000 was a 24.9", 12 fret. in the early 30's martin wanted to get more sound and a wider tonal range so using the same body they lengthened the scale to 25.4" and left 14 frets clear of the body and called it the orchestra model, i.e om.

since then there have been a some minor variations of body size with changes in the number of clear frets on 000's.

Thanks guys, that's exactly what I was looking for!

Cheers,

John

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Because of scale length differences, naturally there is a difference in the sound hole size and location on OMs vs. the various 000s. That may have been assumed, but because it was not stated, I thought I should mention it

Why would a difference in scale length call for a difference in sound hole size? I don't have any sound hole size information on OM/000s so I don't know if they are different or not. THe 12 fret 000s are a different body shape so the sound hole location is going to be different. The 14 fret bodies, may or may not be different.

Thanks for that link, John: very interesting, lots of questions answered!

Mike I may be off base here on every 000, but all the 000s that I have had in my shop has had a 3.63 dia sound hole and the OMs a 3 7/8 or 4". now this may be due to the change in body shape because every 000 I have delt with was a 12 fret. That is what I was refering to.

[QUOTE=jwsamuel] [QUOTE=Mike Mahar] But if you put them all together, it becomes an OM.
I could not find a single example of a Martin guitar with those
specification that wasn't called an OM.
[/QUOTE]

The Martin 000-18WG was a 14 fret, 24.9" scale, 1-3/4" nut. That's about
as far from the standard definition of 000 as they get.

Jim[/QUOTE]

I think that was my point. There isn't a standard definition for the 000. If it isn't an OM (14 fret, 25.4" scale, 1-3/4"), it is called a 000. At least that's what Martin calls them. Many (most?) of the luthiers I know tend the lump guitars with that body shape into the OM catagory and they reserve the name 000 for the 12 fret models.

As for the sound hole sizes. Martin does not publish the sound hole size with the rest of the specs. You'd have to measure a bunch and see. Which appears to be the what Michael has done.
Mike Mahar38653.7137847222

But I have never had a Martin 000-14 fret in my shop so I could be just spitting in the wind here. I have had many OMs and it appears that Marting varies the hole size with in 1/8 from 3 7/8 to 4" on OMs. I don't have enough data to confirm it is by specific model or not. I have alway assumed right or wrong that Oms 3 7/8-4" and 000s were 3 5/8"

   The sound hole changes because of the scale length in position only. there are no 12 fret OM's and 000's can be both. The sound hole diameter is the same on 000 and OM's 3 7/8" the positoning changes as the scale length dictates the postion so an OM top is the same shape but the sound hole is at a different location.
   These are Martin specs straight from the book. Oms also used to have scalloped braces.
john hall

The original Martin 000 was a 12-fret model, with long scale. In 1929, at
the suggestion of Perry Bechtel, a plectrum banjo player, Martin produced
their first 14 fret models, which they dubbed "orchestra model." So, at
first, "OM" meant simply that the guitar was a 14-fret. As the 14 fret
design became more obviously the way to go, Martin started producing
dreadnoughts that way, too. That was in 1934, and the 14-fret OOO size
guitars were returned to the "000" designation after having been labeled
OM for four years. The first of these also had long scale, and alll the 14
fret models were 1-3/4" at the nut in those days, too. Very soon the 000
scale was dropped to 24.9, and the standard lineup was 14-fret models
for most sizes and styles.

So, for years we all called the long scale 14-fret 000 guitars "OM"
because so few were actually labeled "000." Once Martin started flooding
us with reissues and special models in the last decade or two, everything
got scrambled.

Today, it's clear that Martin regards the neck width of 1-3/4 as the mark
of the OM rather than the scale length.

I could go on, but I'm starting to get tangled up here. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Glad to hear from you as always Frank come around more often to keep us in line a bit