1972 Martin D12-20 Dreadnought 12-String Guitar

I've known this guitar for a long time and originally sold it to my friend Joe "as-is" years ago. At that point it had a too-thin, giant replacement bridge fit to counter for its low neck angle and I remember having to extract a huge, moon-shaped pickguard from around the soundhole when it first came in. I'd gotten it playing nicely but it wasn't done-up nicely. This time around, I've given it the attention needed to get it to where it is -- a solid player, in good structural shape, but looking ugly in all the right ways.

If you're familiar with these guitars, you may know they can be hit or miss sound-wise. I've had to shave bracing on a few of them, now, to get them sounding decent. This one's a hit and sounds full and lush. It's been dialed-in, too, and plays spot-on and is fit to serve.

Perhaps the coolest "thing" about the guitar is that it uses a slotted headstock and the 12-fret, round-shoulders body shape familiar from the earliest Martin dreadnoughts. It's an excellent look and gives a round, velvety, big sound. The necks on these are quicker and more comfortable than your typical Guild or Gibson 12-string from the same era, too -- being thinner front to back and more of a "low oval" type. The tuners that are currently on this are superior to vintage tuners on any of the other makes, too.

Oh, and one last thing -- this has a Martin "short" scale of 24 7/8" (or 24.9" as per their literature) rather than the 25 3/8" of the 14-fret '70s-on-up 12-strings. If you like a little less tension and a quicker feel in the left hand, this has it.

Repairs included: a neck reset, replacement bridge, new saddle, new bridge pins, previously a replacement pickguard, fret level/dress, replacement tuners (previously), cleaning, and setup.

Weight: 4 lbs 5 oz

Scale length: 24 7/8"

Nut width: 1 7/8"

Neck shape: slim-medium C/oval

Board radius: 16"

Body width: 15 5/8"

Body depth: 4 7/8"

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: 48w-10 extra lights

Truss rod: non-adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Condition notes: oh boy -- it's clearly a bit on the beat-up side. Curiously enough, though, it's crack-free. The top has lots of pickwear, a replaced pickguard, and a clear area of finish disturbance where a giant, moon-sized pickguard used to be. There's a lot of ugly disturbance under the replacement bridge from when a ginormous aftermarket bridge had been installed (poorly). The fretboard extension is cut at the body joint (not from me, but from an earlier repair attempt, it's not obvious) and the fretboard extension dips down a little bit over the body post-neck-reset. The bridge, tuners, saddle, endpin, and bridge pins are all replacements. The tuners are great-quality, StewMac vintage-style repros in an antiqued finish.

It comes with: sorry, no case, but I will try to include at least a chip case if I can find one to fit.

Consignor tag: JS