1973 Martin D12-35 12-String Dreadnought Guitar

To me, these 12-fret slope-dreadnought 12-strings are the Martin 12-string design. They're iconic and they sound gorgeous, too. This one's a local customer's guitar and she's owned it for a long time. I've had it here in the shop for a long time, too, and it's nice to see it finally leaving the roost and heading home.

While the more-often-seen mahogany back-and-sides D12-20 has more chime and a more "forward" sound, the D12-35s like this one roll that chime into a silky-smooth bass sound that can easily compete for the "lap piano" trophy.

I've set this one up to play as fast as these can, with quite-light strings intended to be tuned E-to-E standard for chord-strumming. I think you can tell from the video that it's a breeze to move around the neck. It received a neck reset, replacement pickguard, fret level/dress, and a new fully-compensated saddle.

Condition-wise it's as good as you could hope -- no cracks, weather-check that looks nice in the finish and not ragged, and it arrived here all-original, but with a peeled-up black pickguard. As a side-note, this guy has the tuners I prefer to see on these. They work nicely and are lighter-weight than some of the other types seen on Martin 12s from the '60s and '70s.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, new compensated saddle, new pickguard, cleaning, setup.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid rosewood

Bracing type: x

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: hair-under 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 22w/46w, 14/36w, 11/26w, 8/18w, 13/13, 10/10 custom set

Neck shape: medium C

Board radius: ~14-16"

Truss rod: non-djustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 24 7/8"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

Body width: 15 5/8"

Body depth: 5"

Weight: 4 lbs 15 oz

Condition notes: it's all-original save the pickguard and saddle. There's finish weather-checking and light scratching here and there throughout but it's pretty clean and has no in-the-wood cracks.