1984 Martin D-28V Brazilian/German
Martin's first Vintage Series instruments were built in 1983 in commemoration of the company’s 150’s birthday. Martin was looking for a special way to use their collection of old Brazilian rosewood and recreating their already-then-famous 1930’s models was a great fit. (Brazilian rosewood wasn't CITES listed until 1992, almost 10 years after this guitar was built). With Mike Longworth's involvement in the project, these first Vintage Series instruments were the closest Martin had yet come to recreating their flat-tops of the mid-30s. They are extraordinarily fine sounding instruments, and shockingly different than what the company was building on their 'standard' line.
The Martin D-28 Vintage offered here features an exquisite set of Brazilian rosewood. The wood is quarter-sawn and straight, with deep hues of reds and browns, and shows a stunning bit of spider-web figure along both of the sides and along the back’s center seam. It’s just incredible wood; and sadly, the kind of stuff that's just not available any longer.
We’ve sold a small handful of these first D-28Vs over the years and all of them were built with Sitka spruce tops. Unlike those, this example has a non-Sitka top which is more than likely German spruce. The braces are scalloped and the maple bridge plate is small, which all add up to make a guitar that’s more like a WW2 era D-28 than anything that had been built since 1944. Herringbone trim, ivoroid binding and heel cap, zigzag back strip, and finished-over tortoiseshell celluloid pickguard all add to the vintage specs of this model. The modified V-shaped neck features an ebony fingerboard fitted with slotted diamond inlays, a slightly more squared-off headstock shape than was the norm in 1984, and non-adjustable neck reinforcement. The Vintage Series paper label that’s visible through the soundhole is signed by both C.F. Martin III and C.F. Martin IV, and denotes the guitar as a D-28V (others of this series are labeled D-28, no V).
The D-28V was a special guitar and made in very limited numbers. Martin records suggest that production was limited to only 25 instruments.
The guitar is in beautiful condition and has had a reset and refret in recent years. The bone nut and saddle are nicely made replacements, and the bridge features Antique Acoustic unslotted Style 28 pins that we installed during set-up. There is a well repaired and nearly undetectable back crack near the waist on the treble side that you won’t see in our photos, and a tiny crack at the inside margin of the pickguard. The lacquer shows a few craze lines and 40 years of shrinkage, but very little playwear. Perfect set up and playability, 5-6 64ths action at the 12th fret . 1-11/16" nut, 2-1/8” string spread at the bridge. 1st fret neck thickness measures .854”.
A loud, dark, responsive, and balanced Brazilian/German Martin D-28, with 40 years to open up into an exceptionally fine guitar. Its tone borrows from the early 1940s and offers the openness, volume, headroom, and bass string response imparted by scalloped bracing and German spruce top. An exceptional flatpicker, and a perfectly amazing guitar.
With original black thermoplastic hardshell case.
The Martin D-28 Vintage offered here features an exquisite set of Brazilian rosewood. The wood is quarter-sawn and straight, with deep hues of reds and browns, and shows a stunning bit of spider-web figure along both of the sides and along the back’s center seam. It’s just incredible wood; and sadly, the kind of stuff that's just not available any longer.
We’ve sold a small handful of these first D-28Vs over the years and all of them were built with Sitka spruce tops. Unlike those, this example has a non-Sitka top which is more than likely German spruce. The braces are scalloped and the maple bridge plate is small, which all add up to make a guitar that’s more like a WW2 era D-28 than anything that had been built since 1944. Herringbone trim, ivoroid binding and heel cap, zigzag back strip, and finished-over tortoiseshell celluloid pickguard all add to the vintage specs of this model. The modified V-shaped neck features an ebony fingerboard fitted with slotted diamond inlays, a slightly more squared-off headstock shape than was the norm in 1984, and non-adjustable neck reinforcement. The Vintage Series paper label that’s visible through the soundhole is signed by both C.F. Martin III and C.F. Martin IV, and denotes the guitar as a D-28V (others of this series are labeled D-28, no V).
The D-28V was a special guitar and made in very limited numbers. Martin records suggest that production was limited to only 25 instruments.
The guitar is in beautiful condition and has had a reset and refret in recent years. The bone nut and saddle are nicely made replacements, and the bridge features Antique Acoustic unslotted Style 28 pins that we installed during set-up. There is a well repaired and nearly undetectable back crack near the waist on the treble side that you won’t see in our photos, and a tiny crack at the inside margin of the pickguard. The lacquer shows a few craze lines and 40 years of shrinkage, but very little playwear. Perfect set up and playability, 5-6 64ths action at the 12th fret . 1-11/16" nut, 2-1/8” string spread at the bridge. 1st fret neck thickness measures .854”.
A loud, dark, responsive, and balanced Brazilian/German Martin D-28, with 40 years to open up into an exceptionally fine guitar. Its tone borrows from the early 1940s and offers the openness, volume, headroom, and bass string response imparted by scalloped bracing and German spruce top. An exceptional flatpicker, and a perfectly amazing guitar.
With original black thermoplastic hardshell case.