2011 Martin Custom D Dreadnought Guitar

This was dropped-off for consignment in recent memory, though I stashed it in the to-do pile because it really needed a neck reset to play its best. A fellow who plays his faithful '70s D-28 all the time was in the shop and looking for an alternate guitar he could buy to leave in Vermont so he could leave his "main squeeze" at home. He checked-out the various guitars fixed and in-shop at the moment and then I remembered that a few more D-28-style instruments (this one, included) were hanging-out upstairs. He picked on them (in their not-playing-swell states) a bit, decided that this one would be the one to grab, and then he came back a couple days later to pick it up.

These "Custom D" models with satin finishes, tenon neck joints, and simplified bracing appear from time to time and most of them seem to have been sold through Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, or the like as special models. I worked on another one recently so I knew what I was looking at when it wandered into the shop. The cool thing about these boxes is they tend to sound alarmingly-good. This one does! The modified bracing gives them more warmth and bass than the traditional x-pattern and they tend to open-up under playing really fast.

This one needed the neck reset, a level/dress of the frets, and a K&K pickup installed -- all of which I did in the earlier hours of the morning, as I recall, to make sure it got done in time. If you make it down to the last picture -- no, I didn't crack the serial-number-plate -- that was the last guy to try to tighten-up the neck joint.