1942 Martin D-18
A simply incredible Martin dreadnought, this Wartime D-18 has a powerful, balanced and full-bodied voice, huge headroom, strong and nicely rounded trebles, and a bass response that’s bold, meaty and well defined. The guitar has that dry shudder that early Martin dreadnoughts are prized for among flatpickers, and the snap, articulation, warmth and openness of a well-developed scalloped braced, red spruce D-18 with 85 years under its top.
The guitar’s body was long ago refinished and looks beautiful. The lacquer is thin and has developed a pretty old-guitar patina and color, which might have you wondering if the finish was actually original. It presents very well and is otherwise in excellent condition. The neck finish is original.
Looking inside the guitars’ body with a mirror and light shows off this guitar’s structural perfection. There are no brace repairs and no sloppy regluing; the bridge plate is original and in great shape, and crack repairs are very few. We glued and cleated a small top crack along the treble edge of the fretboard extension, and glued two short, tight back cracks near the bottom of the body. No side cracks, although there is a filled output jack hole on the lower treble bout. We suspect the bridge to be original, however we’ve replaced the pins and saddle.
Neck reset and refret completed by our shop a few years back; the action currently measures 5-7 64ths with a full-height saddle. Relic Waverly tuners replace the original wartime Klusons, which is a real upgrade to tune-ability and tone. We have the guitar strung with 12-54 strings. It doesn’t need mediums to sounds huge.
Classic Martin Wartime specs: red spruce top with scalloped bracing, ebony fretboard and bridge, ebony neck reinforcement, tortoise celluloid bindings and pickguard. 1-11/16” nut (it’s actually 1/32” less, which is typical of Wartime guitars), 2-1/8” string spread at the saddle. 25.4” scale. Neck thickness at the 1st fret measures .806”.
Long and short: If you want a fabulous scallop-braced D-18 and don’t mind finish work, this guitar promises all of the tone, feel, and vibe and doesn’t have any of the low-quality repairs or modifications that often plague refins.
With hardshell case.
The guitar’s body was long ago refinished and looks beautiful. The lacquer is thin and has developed a pretty old-guitar patina and color, which might have you wondering if the finish was actually original. It presents very well and is otherwise in excellent condition. The neck finish is original.
Looking inside the guitars’ body with a mirror and light shows off this guitar’s structural perfection. There are no brace repairs and no sloppy regluing; the bridge plate is original and in great shape, and crack repairs are very few. We glued and cleated a small top crack along the treble edge of the fretboard extension, and glued two short, tight back cracks near the bottom of the body. No side cracks, although there is a filled output jack hole on the lower treble bout. We suspect the bridge to be original, however we’ve replaced the pins and saddle.
Neck reset and refret completed by our shop a few years back; the action currently measures 5-7 64ths with a full-height saddle. Relic Waverly tuners replace the original wartime Klusons, which is a real upgrade to tune-ability and tone. We have the guitar strung with 12-54 strings. It doesn’t need mediums to sounds huge.
Classic Martin Wartime specs: red spruce top with scalloped bracing, ebony fretboard and bridge, ebony neck reinforcement, tortoise celluloid bindings and pickguard. 1-11/16” nut (it’s actually 1/32” less, which is typical of Wartime guitars), 2-1/8” string spread at the saddle. 25.4” scale. Neck thickness at the 1st fret measures .806”.
Long and short: If you want a fabulous scallop-braced D-18 and don’t mind finish work, this guitar promises all of the tone, feel, and vibe and doesn’t have any of the low-quality repairs or modifications that often plague refins.
With hardshell case.