Say hello to Lyle
The Lyle C-600 is an excellent 1970’s reproduction of the Martin 000-18 guitar. The C-600 was made in Japan at the Matsumoku factory and sold in the United States by L.D. Heater Music Company of Portland Oregon.
This particular guitar came to me as a gift from my family last Christmas. My son found this Lyle online at a Goodwill Store in Seattle. When the guitar finally arrived, it looked a bit rough: with a few scuffs, marks, dings, and plenty of scratches. Not to mention a few decades of dust!
The passing of time had not been kind to this Lyle, which resulted in a bowed neck. Poor Lyle. Here’s a picture of Lyle the day he arrived in his original chipboard case.
A New Life
Lyle spent quite a bit of time earlier this year at Barrett Coughlin’s repair shop. Barrett straightened Lyle’s bowed neck, lowered the bridge saddle, treated the fingerboard, filed and polished the frets, and generally brought this old instrument back to life.
A Good Build
- Crafted in Japan, in the Matsumoku factory.
- Imported and sold by the L.D. Heater Co. of Portland, Oregon.
- 000 size.
- Solid Spruce top.
- Martin X-bracing.
- Laminated Mahogany sides and back.
- Mahogany neck.
- Rosewood fingerboard and fixed bridge.
- Simple Dot inlay markers.
- Inlay headstock.
- Black (vinyl?) pickguard.
- Cheap tuners.
- Unknown (plastic?) nut.
- Chipboard case.
