1973 Martin D-18S 12-Fret Dreadnought Guitar

Norman Blake, I'm coming for you! Well, your tone that is. I mean your vintage tone, that is! Raise your hand if you know about this 12-fret variant of the venerable D-18 by becoming a hair obsessed with Blake's playing on one. Anyone? Yeah, I know there's tons of you out there. I'm a fan...

That said -- this is a nice guitar. It's got a full, round, rich, robust tone. Each note pumps out just like that due to all the airspace in the body. Even if it didn't, there's a Fishman pickup installed so you can pump your volume up over speakers at a show all day long with very little fuss.

I think this style of D-18 is particularly useful for old-time players who need a big-sounding instrument to set their picking apart from the pack... or singers wanting that curated, buttery-warm, sweet Martin sound but with a bit more depth and fatness than the usual D-18.

Its owner is only selling because he realizes it's a bit big for his frame and he's locked-on to finding some pretty specific smaller instruments. His loss! This guitar plays spot-on, sounds the biz, and it's nice and easy on the left hand, too. A nice advantage of 12-fretters is that they "pull" the left arm closer to the body.

I only had to do very minor work to get it to play perfectly as the setup (when it arrived) was almost on-the-dot the first time I picked a few notes on it.

Repairs included: fret level/dress, saddle adjustments and compensation, cleaning, and setup.

Top wood: spruce

Back & sides wood: 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: 56w-13 mediums

Neck shape: medium C/V

Board radius: ~14"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-bigger

Scale length: 25 3/8"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

Body width: 15 1/2"

Body depth: 4 7/8"

Weight: 4 lbs 6 oz

Condition notes: it has a repaired hairline crack on the back-upper-bout as well as a smaller (but longer) one on the back-lower-bout. There's a bit of yick to the finish around the lower-bout crack repair and it was touched-up at some point, too. There's the usual amount of weather-check to the finish and mild bumps and bruises here and there throughout the body. Check the photos -- I've taken shots of anything I thought might need describing.

It comes with: a presumably-original old hard case.