Any Martin players here?

[gplayer]

I have always wanted a really good sounding, quality acoustic guitar. But, never allowed myself to spend the money. I finally gave in, after all these years and bought a Martin HD-28. WOW...what a guitar. It sounds like a choir when you strum it. Now, I've got to get down to learning some good flatpickin' bluegrass.

[Desert Surfer]

I have always wanted a really good sounding, quality acoustic guitar. But, never allowed myself to spend the money. I finally gave in, after all these years and bought a Martin HD-28. WOW...what a guitar. It sounds like a choir when you strum it. Now, I've got to get down to learning some good flatpickin' bluegrass.

HD-28 is one of the greatest Martin flat pickers.

I used to have a D-28 & a D-41 and sold them at different time. I still miss that D-41.

[dubtrub]

I just finished putting a 1966 Martin D-18 back together yesterday after resurrecting it from the dead. This guitar belongs to one of my buddies and a member of the band I'm playing with. He recently acquired it from the brother of his life long friend that passed away last year. This guitar and he go back to the early 70's when he was a fledgling guitar player. He and his friend both learned to play on this guitar. When he received the guitar the headstock was completely broken off lying separately in the case, obviously it has seen some hard use, sorta like Willie Nelson's Martin D-18.

After fitting all the slivers of wood back into place and resetting and gluing the headstock, I replaced the first three frets, then dressed, recrowned and polished the rest of the frets. One of the cross braces is completely missing from the inside but there was sufficient material remaining to rejoin the back and sides where they had separated. It is now back together and completely playable. It sounds absolutely amazing.

If you look at the fretboard you can see that the original owner inletted Oak into the Rosewood fretboard. This was done for two reasons. The original owner was a master wood worker and the fret board had cratered so badly it could not be leveled out and he didn't want to replace the fretboard. Each one of those are idividual Oak blocks inletted into the neck with about 1/4" of the original Rosewood left hold the fret. It was extremely time consuming refretting those three frets. As I pulled the old frets, slivers of Rosewood would pull away with the fret and I had to use a magnifying headset, surgical tweezers and CA glued to fit it all back together.

This was a most enjoyable project as when my buddy received it, he choked up with tears, saying he was sure it would never be played again. He's going to play it tomorrow on Thanksgiving.

The holes worn through the top are caused by years of a certain style of rhythm played where he tapped the the guitar with his hand creating a drumming effect. He was mainly a solo artist playing clubs and bars.

[JimPage]

Hey, Danny--

What a great story and photos, and your work is beautiful. I can't imagine a more emotional guitar repair project than that.

I love Martins, and have several friends at the factory in Nazareth, which I visit whenever I can. I have owned 10 Martins over the years, and don't plan to let go of the two I have now: a 1954 0-18 and a late-1990s D-41. They are truly special guitars.

I have owned a nice HD-28 and they are just uncanny instruments. They will bring out more music from you than you realize you had in you, and that is the sign of a wonderful guitar.

--Jim

[Veenture]

+ 1 on Jim Page. It was groups like Crosby Stills Nash & Young that got me interested but somehow I never got round to buying a Martin (or similar shape copy) An acoustic has that special full sound all of it's own. Love it. Congrats GPlayer.

[gplayer]

Danny, thanks for sharing that story. What a thrill your friend will have
tomorrow, playing that guitar. Nice job of reparing it.

I hope my new Martin will age with grace and only get
better. I really enjoy playing it. I'm afraid my Hallmark has
been neglected this week. But, I won't be able to go too long
without playing it.

[thunderhead]

Is that what SRV's Acoustic would have looked like if he had been a Bluegrasser????? What a workhorse!!!

[JimPage]

Hey, gplayer--

You wrote:
>>I hope my new Martin will age with grace and only get better.

Well, that is pretty much a given! With the bracing and woods in that guitar, it will become sweeter and more responsive the more you play it and the older it gets.

Whether some of the newer Martins will have those same qualities, only time will tell. I will say that at the factory the CFM folks are using every tool and measuring device known to man-- and some that they've invented-- to try to get those qualities into every guitar they build, and some are of very exotic materials in the acoustic guitar world.

The HD-28, though, is the gold standard for a fine player's modern dreadnought acoustic guitar.

The only thing you really need to worry about is the humidity where you live. If you have cold winters, the dryness of your home's heating will do some damage if you don't take measures to counteract it. That is true of any fine solid-wood acoustic guitar, though, not just Martins.

--Jim

[MWaldorf]

Wow Danny, incredible work, and a story fitting of the effort!

[Veenture]

Wow Danny, incredible work, and a story fitting of the effort!

Mel, may I join you in your statement?! I neglected to mention Danny's great contribution to the thread in my response earlier on