1948 Martin D-28
$32,500.00 CAD
(USD $24,050.00)
For more details contact us at info@folkwaymusic.com or 855-772-0424.
For those who follow our website updates religiously, this is the third 1948 Martin D-28 we’ve listed in two years! Martin D-28 production increased two-fold with the end of WWII as the world normalized and guitar-driven western country music took hold of North America’s imagination. 1948 saw the production of about 500 D-28s like this one. It was a good year for guitar making, as just about every 1948 Martin we’ve encountered has survived well and sounds terrific these 80-or-so years on.
This 1948 Martin D-28 has been in the care of one musician since purchasing it in 1991. We’ve been told that he is the guitar’s 3rd owner. It remains in beautiful condition and has been properly maintained along with its original hardshell case. This is a particularly clean guitar.
A strong, fundamentally powerful, clean, and well-balanced guitar, this D-28 is right at home picking bluegrass. It offers a deep and rich bass response, defined mids and bold trebles, and has a huge amount of headroom at the ready. It’s set up with 13s and plays perfectly with a neck that’s still got the post-war 1940s chunky soft V carve that so many of us find just right.
A crack-free guitar, this D-28’s repair history is fairly succinct. It had a neck reset, new bridge installed and its top’s centerseam reglued in 1991 by David Musselwhite. More recently, a second new bridge, a refret and set-up by us. We’ve set the action at a stiff 5-7 64ths for flatpicking with 13-56 strings. The saddle is full height should you prefer a lower, easier action. We’re happy to adjust the set-up accordingly.
The guitar’s finish is in gorgeous condition and is completely original. There’s the tiniest drop-fill touchup that’s just barely visible behind the bridge’s bass-side wing as the bridge we removed had a slight asymmetry to its footprint. Playwear is minimal as is shown in the provided photos. Original first-year patent-applied-for Kluson tuners, original nut. Modern Antique Acoustic ‘Red-eye’ pins replaced the shrunken originals.
The neck has a very soft V, almost round carve in the first position and transitions to a more noticeable soft V up past the 5th fret. Neck thickness at the 1st fret is .881” and measures .988” at the 9th. 1-11/16” nut width, 25.4” scale, 2-1/8” string spread at the saddle.
The back and sides feature stunning straight-grained Brazilian with deeply hued reds and browns. The Sitka top has even grain and X bracing that is slightly tapered.
With original hardshell case.
This 1948 Martin D-28 has been in the care of one musician since purchasing it in 1991. We’ve been told that he is the guitar’s 3rd owner. It remains in beautiful condition and has been properly maintained along with its original hardshell case. This is a particularly clean guitar.
A strong, fundamentally powerful, clean, and well-balanced guitar, this D-28 is right at home picking bluegrass. It offers a deep and rich bass response, defined mids and bold trebles, and has a huge amount of headroom at the ready. It’s set up with 13s and plays perfectly with a neck that’s still got the post-war 1940s chunky soft V carve that so many of us find just right.
A crack-free guitar, this D-28’s repair history is fairly succinct. It had a neck reset, new bridge installed and its top’s centerseam reglued in 1991 by David Musselwhite. More recently, a second new bridge, a refret and set-up by us. We’ve set the action at a stiff 5-7 64ths for flatpicking with 13-56 strings. The saddle is full height should you prefer a lower, easier action. We’re happy to adjust the set-up accordingly.
The guitar’s finish is in gorgeous condition and is completely original. There’s the tiniest drop-fill touchup that’s just barely visible behind the bridge’s bass-side wing as the bridge we removed had a slight asymmetry to its footprint. Playwear is minimal as is shown in the provided photos. Original first-year patent-applied-for Kluson tuners, original nut. Modern Antique Acoustic ‘Red-eye’ pins replaced the shrunken originals.
The neck has a very soft V, almost round carve in the first position and transitions to a more noticeable soft V up past the 5th fret. Neck thickness at the 1st fret is .881” and measures .988” at the 9th. 1-11/16” nut width, 25.4” scale, 2-1/8” string spread at the saddle.
The back and sides feature stunning straight-grained Brazilian with deeply hued reds and browns. The Sitka top has even grain and X bracing that is slightly tapered.
With original hardshell case.