1954 Martin D-28 Dreadnought Guitar

Yeah, it's a good one. Strum a few chords, hit a few notes, do a G-run... you're back in the Grand Ole Opry in a flash. It's got the sound. This will be another one of those guitars I won't touch until I ship it or see it off in-store now that it's done-up. I don't want to play it lest I get attached. It was like that with that recent '42 L-0, a '53 00-18, and the '57 Southern Jumbo that was here, too. I just can't afford to get attached. She's a beaut in the tone and a beaut in the looks. What can I say?

This guitar's entirely original save a new bridge, saddle, nut, and pins all-around. It boasts brutally-pretty Brazilian rosewood on its back and sides, presumably-Adirondack spruce for the top, and ebony for the bridge and board. There are only a few minor hairline cracks on the top (all repaired), though the sides have a couple longer ones (repaired and cleated) and the back has a couple of shorter ones (also repaired). Most of the initial repairs to these cracks were done in the past, though I did reglue and cleat where necessary. The finish is all-original, though it's been touched-up in the past where there's pickwear around the soundhole and upper bout and a little bit around the edges of the bridge.

Work included a neck reset, fret reseating and a level/dress, new bridge install, a new bone nut and saddle, re-repair to side and back cracks, a general cleaning and fussing, and a good setup. It plays essentially perfectly (with spot-on 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret), though the neck does have a minor backbow starting at the 10th/11th fret that's only apparent as the fretboard drops-off a hair over the body. There was a very light backbow (perhaps added by someone in the past?) at frets 1-5 but I removed that via toying with seating of the frets and then the level/dress job to follow-up.

Specs are: 25 3/8" scale, 1 11/16" nut width, 1 7/16" string spacing at the nut, 2 3/16" string spacing at the bridge, 15 5/8" lower bout, 11 5/8" upper bout, and 5" depth at the endblock. The neck has a medium-thickness, soft C/V profile and a fretboard radius somewhere between 14-16" -- very traditional. Strings are gauged 54w, 42w, 32w, 24w, 16, 12.

I love how played this guitar is. It's right at home for band use as it's got its share of nicks and love-bites.

There's some minor chip-out right at the 14th fret (it's not obvious except with glare on the board) from doing some fret reseating. The board was very dried-out when this came in so that was a little tricky.

Apparently, someone had attempted a neck reset in the past but hadn't fit the joint nice and mechanically tight. The action as-is was going to be ok but I much-preferred just doing the work to make it 100% instead.

I love the pick-chew at the edges of the soundhole.

I know this bridge isn't "right" for the period in that it has a drop-in saddle rather than a through-cut. Frankly, I think they're a better design... though the slot can be converted to a through-cut easy-peasy if desired.

This is a nice-grade ebony bridge that I've held onto for about 5 or 6 years while waiting for a guitar to fit it. At some point this guitar had been strung-up with a tailpiece and floating bridge -- hence why it needed a replacement.

The pins are all older, parts-bin stuff that seem to fit with the vibe of the guitar.

There are two, very tight, repaired hairline cracks just aft of the bass "wing" of the bridge.

There's pickwear on the upper-bout just above the pickguard that's had just a little bit of finish touch-up. No -- it doesn't look bad.

The pickguard itself has a little "ghosting" or "greying" in areas. It's hard to take a picture because it's not very obvious, but you can see a little bit of it here -- it looks like refraction.

There's sweat/arm-wear to the grain on the lower-bout, bass-side top. It's nothing to worry about.

So, here's the thing -- if the sight of that jaw-dropping Brazilian rosewood on the back doesn't fill you with obscene guitar-lust, I'm not sure we have that much in common. That hurts!

I won't argue with a diamond volute!

The D-string tuner's knob/shaft is bent but still functional.

You can see a not-so-clean glue-up of broken binding at the back, treble-side waist area.

The back of the neck has its share of love, too.

The lower-bout back has buckle and use-wear, but not a ton of it. The finish still glows.

The back also has two 3-4" hairline cracks that were glued-up in the past with just one of them not-quite-flush. I cleated both. There are also two very tight, 1" hairline cracks that were fixed previously/not-an-issue as well and almost impossible to find.

Yeah, more obscene rosewood on the sides, too...!

Up here on the treble-side upper-bout side, there's a few small streaks of varnish or something that dripped over the side. It's mostly "color" and not texture.

The worst crack on the guitar is this 6" or so bit that was glued-up in the past but not great. I reglued it and cleated its entire length. It's good to go.

There are filled tailpiece holes near the endpin and the endpin itself is a 1920s/30s celluloid one that looked too cool not to use.

The last crack is a smaller, tight, 4-5" old-repair hairline to the side right next to the endblock area. It's good to go.

There's a mark to the bass side of the heel on the side that was previously-filled strap-button hole.

There's also a filled-in pickup jack at the 3/4 position on the treble-side side.

At the moment, this has only a cheap-but-old chip case with fluffy lining, though a good hard case can be arranged on-the-quick.