1948 Martin D-18 Dreadnought Guitar

Well, it's not every day a '40s D-18 is in the house, so I figured I might as well get a couple video clips out of it. This one is a single-family guitar and has been loved and played its entire life. Check out the pickwear at the soundhole.

The back, sides, and neck were refinished at one point and I'm sure it's had a neck reset and refret in the past. The bridge might be original as it's Brazilian rosewood but I'm not certain and its top was reprofiled before it got here.

My task was to repair a nasty side crack and go-through and give it some glorified setup-side work to make it a good player again. Now that it's done... hoo boy, it's loud. It's loud, loud, loud. It sounds like... a D-18... but one with about twice the carrying power. The bass is not "fat" in the way an old D-28 is, but it has that huge, warm, airy, dry wind in fall sound to it. The mids are present and this thing can punch. It's a winner. I love a guitar that you barely have to play to get a big sound out there.

While I was doing the work I also swapped-out some heavy, Grover-style Schaller tuners in favor of some StewMac open-backed repros. They work... and they're less than half the weight and look right at a glance.

Repairs included: fret level/dress, side crack repair (with long maple cleats), mild bridge re-reprofiling, saddle-slot mod from through to faux-through drop-in, new bone saddle, new ebony pins and endpin, new tuners, setup.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: x

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12 custom set... bracing's light!

Neck shape: slim-medium C

Board radius: flatter ~14-16"

Truss rod: non-adjustable

Neck relief: tough of relief (~1/64") at pitch

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 15 5/8"

Body depth: 4 7/8"

Weight: 3 lbs 13 oz (light!)

Condition notes: big crack repair in side, refinished back, sides, and neck, original finish on top. There's plenty of wear and tear present. Bridge is reglued/modified and possibly unoriginal. Tuners unoriginal. Neck previously reset. Replacement (bone) saddle. Replacement (ebony) pins. Replacement nut.