Martin Guitars is honoring the legacy of a late music legend with the 00-21 Gram Parsons, producing just 80 guitars to coincide with the country-rock great’s 80th birthday.
The new acoustic guitar is inspired by Parsons’ beloved 1963 00-21, which he played throughout his career. It pairs a 00 12-fret body with East Indian rosewood back and sides, and a VTS old-growth Sitka spruce top. Aging toner has also been applied to give this a pre-worn look, in keeping with Parson’s six-string.
Built to a slightly stunted 24.9” scale, it features a V-shaped neck profile crafted from mahogany and a slotted headstock for a true vintage look. The guitar has also been assembled with X-Bracing and given a period-correct standard belly bridge, faux tortoise binding, and a bone saddle.
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Following his death, Parsons’ trusty guitar ended up with folk singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris. She subsequently loaned it to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and later the Rock Hall. Martin was granted an audience with the guitar in order to study its every detail.
This celebratory model is the end result of years of negotiation and work. It’s “a guitar connected directly to both his musical legacy and the Martin he made his own,” says Martin.
Notably, the guitar is releasing just nine days shy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony for 2026, which will honor Parsons.
This being a limited edition Martin, of course, means the $5,499.99 price of the 00-21 Gram Parsons shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. It’s not an instrument many can buy on a whim, but it is a touching tribute to a man whose flame still burns brightly decades after his passing.
See Martin for more.
In related news, an ex-Martin employee has turned heads by suggesting that the historic guitar destroyed in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight was no accident. He’s put a fresh perspective on the famous guitar-smashing scene.
