8151 - Bob Dylan-Played 1956 Martin Acoustic Guitar from His 1959 Folk Guitar Lessons with Marvin Karlins

Bob Dylan-Played 1956 Martin Acoustic Guitar from His 1959 Folk Guitar Lessons with Marvin Karlins Vintage 1956 Martin acoustic guitar reportedly played by a young Bob Dylan, then Bob Zimmerman, during the free folk guitar lessons its owner, Marvin Karlins, gave at the University of Minnesota in 1959 and 1960. The neck block is stamped “00-28G” and “151505.” The guitar has a spruce top, rosewood back and sides with a checkered back strip, white binding, an ebony fingerboard and tie-block bridge, and a slotted headstock with open-gear tuners and white buttons. The headstock bears the decal “C. F. Martin & Co. Est. 1833,” and the interior is stamped “C. F. Martin & Co., Nazareth, PA” and “Made for Gut or Nylon Strings.” Housed in a vintage black hardshell case with a crimson plush lining. In very good condition, with honest playwear throughout, including finish wear to the top around the soundhole and lower bout, scattered scratches and dings to the neck, back, and sides, and adhesive remnants to the headstock decal and edges. Bought new by Karlins in 1956 and owned by him for 70 years. As a University of Minnesota undergraduate in 1959-1960, Marvin ‘Marv’ Karlins gave free folk singing and guitar lessons at the campus Hillel Foundation every Wednesday at 2 p.m. In his Psychology Today essay, ‘The Lesson I Learned Teaching Bob Dylan Folk Singing,’ Karlins recalled a young man appearing in the doorway while he was playing. Karlins handed him his guitar, and the visitor played a few chords and sang part of a popular song. Introducing himself as ‘Bob,’ the young musician accepted Karlins’s invitation to attend lessons and became a regular pupil. When Karlins stopped teaching to concentrate on his studies, he directed Bob to the nearby Ten O’Clock Scholar coffeehouse, where folk singers gathered. It was the last time he saw the future Bob Dylan in person. Karlins recounted the experience again in a December 2024 WTSP interview marking his 50th year teaching at the University of South Florida.