1974 Martin D-28 Dreadnought Guitar
The more Martin dreads I play, the more I settle on D-28s as my favorites. I like a great D-18 for their punch and clarity, but a good D-28 is an excellent rhythm guitar -- full of lower-mids sweetness and top-end cream. Compared to the '72 D-35 I just worked on, this D-28 isn't as full-forward powerful, but it has a bit more clarity in the mids and a tighter bass. It's also owned by the same fellow, and I can see why he loves it for recording -- it doesn't overwhelm a mic but still sounds full and balanced.
Work on it was pretty average -- a fret level/dress, saddle compensation, fill/redrill to the pinholes to shore up the bridge plate, string ramps, and setup. It already had some old repairs to hairline cracks and a replacement pickguard, but they were done well so I didn't need to fuss with them. It's now playing on-the-dot, has a straight neck, and feels really slinky on the left hand despite a set of 54w-12 lights on it.
The top is spruce and the back and sides are rosewood. This has a mahogany neck and ebony fretboard and bridge.
The radius on the neck is quite shallow -- it feels like 16" to me, but I forgot to put a radius gauge on it to check.
Who doesn't love a volute at the back of the headstock?
Comments
I recently purchased my dream guitar a couple of weeks ago in Maryland. A 1974 Martin D-28. That was the year I got my first guitar for Christmas. It is in very good condition. I did a random search on google for 1974 Martin D-28 and hit images. I scrolled down a little ways and saw one of the pictures you had posted. It was the first one I clicked on. I wanted to compare the tuners because they look almost new. I have the feeling this guitar spent a lot of time in its case. It doesn’t even have a strap button installed. As I scrolled down and saw the serial # of the guitar in your pictures, I thought it looked familiar, 339627. Sure enough, I have her twin, 339628. I presume they came out of the factory side by side. The two are identical with the exception of the Pick guard.
I took the coincidence as a sign that I had made the right decision in my purchase. Thanks for posting the pictures. I enjoyed seeing some of your YouTube videos. I had hoped there was one of you playing this one but did not see it there . I did however enjoy hearing the audio that you did post in the blog.
Thanks and Keep up the great work!!
Jim