# What is Marty playing? It's tiny!!



## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)




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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

Well not sure who Marty is but I saw a lapsteel most likely a fender , what looks like some kind of fender headstock on a regular guitar and Martin acoustic


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## silvertonebetty (Jan 4, 2015)

From a quick search it’s probably a 5-18 ,5-28,5-15 also known as a martin trez guitar.















I like Martins and probably would trade my Taylor 810 for a d35 in a heart beat .I


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## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

you can get your Marty on for about 3K









❌SOLD❌ Martin 518 Terz Guitar Natural, 1955


The Martin 518 Terz appeared in the Martin catalog from 1898 until 1989 and despite its long run had one notable player, Marty Robbins.




www.12fret.com


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## Eric Reesor (Jan 26, 2020)

The Terz guitar has a long history. There is music written for it. To create the effect all you do is capo at the third fret. It was tuned G6, C5, F4, Bflat3, D2, G1. It is a transposing instrument that creates a unique sound and is wonderful in combination with other guitars in standard tuning.
Martin built them in the US and they evolved into a steel string version that has a sound which sings out and is completely overlooked today. 
The reason why they faded into obscurity is because they require a player to transpose if the music is not written out transposed for them. Being an instrument that is capable of polyphony this makes them hard to learn unless you study seriously. You have to be able to read fluently and transpose by ear to achieve anything musically substantial on them unlike instruments like the clarinet or b flat trumpet which are only capable of single note play.
One of the best known pieces for the instrument was written by Mauro Giuliani but there is a fair amount of music written for Terz by other composers which remains out in the wilderness waiting for enough guitarists to learn how to read again!


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