Martin Backpacker with the Martin Logo on the headstock

TheCraftedCow

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2010
Messages
1,297
Reaction score
3
Location
Salem,Oregon
What is a fair market price for a Martin Backpacker which has the original cardboard box wrapped in a pillowcase and the uke in the case in the box.....?? The ukulele has never had tension on the strings. It is absolutely new and pristine.

Yes, I know it's not a 1k or a 5K, but for someone who needs to fill a hole in a Martin collection, or wants to buy a new one to play,
here is one for sale. My personal daily driver Martin backpacker has a set of Pegheds on it, and some other alterations.
 
I had a chance to buy a backpacker martin, but it was on another hawaii island but he wanted local sales..darn
been looking for one for some time ...I think that guy was selling his pristine one foe 175.00..like yours almost
unused..
 
Unless you're in a rush to sell it, Cow, I put things on eBay fixed price listing (not auction) with good til cancelled time frame and set the price high and you can slowly ratchet the price down until someone Buys It Now. Free revisions anytime you feel like it.

The listing with photos is about 80 cents, no kidding. Almost nothing to lose.
 
I would not buy a backpacker if I were interested in good sound. Martin was so ashamed of them that they moved the signature from the headstock to the space between the end of the fingerboard and the hole so it wouldn't be as conspicuous. It was actually covered by the struming hand.

It's collector value as an instrument lies only in its rarity and condition to a Martin collector.
 
Well... they made more than 4500 of them with the highest MSRP being $225 (street price of around $150) so they're not all that rare.

Martin was in no way "ashamed" of them. When they first introduced the Backpacker guitar, the headstock was too small to fit the full sized gold foil logo used on their guitar headstocks at the time so they moved the logo to a position below the fretboard where there was more room. They did the same with the Backpacker ukes and mandolins for consistency.


Scooter
 
Both my BP ukulele and mandolin have the name prominantly displayed across the headstock. My S-O also had it across the top.
 
At some point in the early 2000's Martin re-designed the Backpacker guitar with a larger body and headstock and had smaller logo decals made. That's when they moved the logos to the headstock. I think it was in 2010 that they sold the 25,000th Backpacker guitar.


Scooter
 
Top Bottom