1972 Martin D-28 Dreadnought Guitar

Overview: I haven't seen this guitar since 2018! It's now back up here in Vermont after a stint in Georgia getting played healthily (considering the light fretwear I needed to level and dress out of it). It's a nice, even-keeled, good-sounding old Martin and it can get pounded-on heavily without getting overdriven or muddy. I'm also glad I keep good records on my blog because I have the whole story on this instrument, still, even though I'd forgotten about it entirely save its general looks. I'm going to copy and paste my original information about this guy and update it where needed, now...

A consignor had owned this guitar since '76 and had kept it well, though time does plays its little tricks on older guitars notwithstanding. D-28s are popular guitars because they offer a creamier, fuller voice than the more-usual D-18s and their mahogany back and sides. This gives them an edge for straight chord and back-up work while still offering a solid punch.

Repairs included: I've listed older work in the "condition notes" section, but suffice to say this time around all I had to do was give it a very light level/dress of the frets and mild adjustments to setup. It's playing spot-on and ready to go.

• Weight: 4 lbs 10 oz
• Scale length: 25 3/8"
• Nut width: 1 11/16"
• Neck shape: medium-full V
• Board radius: 20"
• Depth at first fret: 0.86"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.95"
• Body width: 15 5/8"
• Body depth: 4 7/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid rosewood
• Bracing type: x
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 54w-12 lights
• Truss rod: non-adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium/medium

Condition notes: Old work on this guitar included a replacement piece of back wood at the lower bout (smaller), a very light bridge shave, a refret, and possibly a neck reset (there's some evidence of it at the fretboard extension). The owner does not remember much of that work so it suggests some it was done before he owned it. There are a few tight hairline cracks (and some chip-out in the fret slots at positions 1-5) in the ebony fretboard that are a non-issue structurally. The pickguard is also a newer, oversize replacement and the endpin is a replacement, too. Other than the back-panel replacement section, though, the body is clean save weather-checking and crack-free.

My own (older) work included reseating of some frets, a fret level/dress, clean-up of the earlier bridge shave work, string ramp additions, and a good setup. The frets posed a bit of a challenge because whoever refretted it both planed the board a little flatter than original, glued the frets as well as hammered them in, and also induced a backbow in positions 1-5 by accident. I had to raise those (and other) frets a hair to get them more-or-less level before my level/dress job, and there's a bit of muck on the board due to some of that work from frets 1-5... though it's not obvious at a glance. The fretboard extension over the body slopes slightly down from the rest of the board and towards the body. The guitar now plays quick and has an effectively straight neck in service.

I will note that the saddle is low over the bridge but it has a hair of adjustment left. It's been stable in service, though, as the action had not changed since I last saw it in 2018.

It comes with: It will ship with a decent case.

Consignor tag: BARM