1971 Martin D-35 (Modded) Dreadnought Guitar

Update 2019: My buddy Jim brought his "baby" into the shop back in 2012 for some minor adjustments, but recently he brought it back in for more work. I've updated the pictures, video clip, and blog entry for this one.

This has been owned since-new by my local friend Jim and he's put tons of miles on it. He used to work in a music shop out in Colorado (I think I'm remembering that correctly) and at some point it was modified to include an undersaddle pickup and additional fancy inlay. As it aged, the original bridge had been shaved more and more to get the action down... and had finally split at the enlarged saddle slot.

Work included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, replacement ebony bridge, new compensated bone saddle, minor cleaning, and a good setup. It now plays perfectly with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, has a straight neck, and is strung with 54w-12 gauges. I removed the old pickup system and we'll probably drop something like a K&K in there at some point.

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/16"

Body length: 19 7/8"

Lower bout width: 15 3/4"

Waist width: 10 7/8"

Upper bout width: 11 1/2"

Side depth at endpin: 5"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid rosewood

Bracing type: x-braced

Fretboard: ebony

Bridge: ebony, new

Neck feel: medium soft C/V shape, ~14-16" radius board

Condition notes: extra inlay was added at the rosette and fretboard, the bridge is a replacement, the saddle is a replacement, the tuners are replacements (originals would've been chrome), and the pickguard is a replacement (I think it would've had black at the time).