Martin | D28 | 1949 | SN:112858
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Luthier Facts :
Name: Martin
Location: Nazereth, PA
Wait list: Sockists Worldwide
Taking Orders?: Yes, standard & customs
RIYL: Martin have set the benchmark for a lot of builders and manufacturers.
Note: (RIYL) Recommended If You Like
- Model: D-28
- Year: 1949
- Top: Sitka Spruce
- Back and sides: Brazilian Rosewood
- Neck: Mahogany
- Nut Width: 1 11/16″
- String Spacing: 2 1/8″
- Scale: 25.4″
- Body Length: 19 7/8″
- Lower Bout: 15 5/8″
- Upper Bout: 11 3/8″
- Body Depth: 3 3/4″, 4 3/4″
- Bridge: Ebony
- Binding: Ivoroid
- Rosette: Ring
- Backstrip: Marquetry
- Purfling: Line
This is a 1949 D28 which has seen much repairs and playing in it’s 60 years. It has a Sitka Spruce top with Brazilian rosewood back and sides.
The prior owner Jeff has this to say:”This guitar plays well and sounds terrific. It is the real deal. This guitar looks like Willie Nelson’s Trigger: it has been played long and hard for 60 years!
It has holes in the top and a hole on the side where a 1/4″ jack was once installed for a DeArmond-style sound hole pickup. On the back of the headstock at the V-diamond cut there is a machine screw screwed into the diamond cut. The wood beneath the diamond cut split and was glued down. This happened a long, long time ago — decades ago.
This is a surface cosmetic issue only, the headstock is not broken and the neck is not broken.
There is no issue with the neck or headstock. Structurally this guitar is as good as the day it was new or else I wouldn’t own it.What is the story of this guitar? This guitar was owned by a guy who played on the Opry circuit with the Everly Brothers. He had an aggressive picking style and wanted to be heard above the band on stage.
Therefore he made double pick-guards in black plastic for the guitar and secured these to the guitar’s top with machine screws. Next, he drilled a hole and installed a volume control above the 6th string in front of the bridge. He also drilled a hole in the side of the guitar to run the 1/4″ jack out of the guitar from the sound hole pickup.
The story of the machine screw through the back of the headstock: Evidently the nut broke free of its glue on the front of the headstock. This guy re-glued the nut and then tried carefully (sic) to secure the nut at its berth with the screw point just coming through the headstock to hold it on top.
When I bought this guitar in 2002 it still sported the double pick guards but the pickup was long gone. The bridge was split and the guitar needed new frets with a neck reset. Greg Reszel of Grem Guitars in Fort Wayne, IN, did a compression re-fret. Elderly Intruments did a neck reset and replaced the bridge with a long saddle replica that looks strikingly original.
A Greven Light D28 pick guard was installed in place of the double pick guards. All cracks and holes were sealed. This guitar is in repaired, unrestored condition. It is 100% structurally sound. No loose braces, neck joint tight and solid, frets level, action like a new Martin, guitar will stay like this and be playable for the next 60 years! I have been playing for 45 years and have owned over 250 guitars. I bought this guitar because I had always wanted a Brazilian Rosewood. Brazilian Rosewood has been virtually extinct since 1969. This guitar is gorgeous.”
Resources: See more 40′s Dreadnoughts:
- 1943 D-28 Adirondack Spruce | Brazilian rosewood [SN:85772]
- 1944 D-18 Adirondack Spruce | Mahogany [SN:87213]
- 1947 D-28 Adirondack Spruce | Brazilian rosewood [SN:99978]
- 1947 D-28 Adirondack Spruce | Brazilian rosewood [SN:100943]
- 1948 D-28 Sitka Spruce | Brazilian rosewood [SN:104xxx]
- 1949 D-28 Sitka Spruce | Brazilian rosewood [SN:112858]
References: Martin Guitars, a History by Mike Longworth.
Pictures kind courtesy of jeffsmusicgear.
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we wold like to know the price on this MARTIN D-28 guitar 1949 model…please email me the price
WHAT IS THE PRIOCE OF THIS GUITAR IF IT IS FOR SALE? THANKS, JIMMY.
Hi Jimmy,
Thanks for your comment- all the guitars in the database are not for sale unless specifically stated.
Would like to get in touch with Jeff @ JeffsMusicGear..any direct contact info would be appreciated..Thanx Dan
I purchased this guitar in Cleveland Ga the summer of 2010 and I absolutely love it! It has the most incredible sound… Balanced tone even across all strings.. It’s loud but not boomy like newer Martins.. It sings and resonates. I’ve always wanted a 40′s D28 … dreamed of it for 40+ years. I’ve had my 1941 000-18 since I was a kid but have craved the 40′s D28. This guitar has so much tone… Anyway.. it’s got a great home with lots of vintage guitars and it’s a favorite that gets played almost everyday… Thanks for the history.. I wondered about its past. Would love to know the name of the guitar player from the 60s.
Update: Ralph Luttrell, Luttrell Guitars gave this lady a couple of minor adjustments and brought an incredible tone out of the guitar! Someone in 2002 (they’d put their initials and date on the cap) had placed a bridge cap (another bridge plate) on top of the original maple bridge plate. The cap was double the thickness of the bridge plate, which actually deadened the sound a stripped it of its upper harmonics. The tone was always even/balanced but it just didn’t resonate like my ’41 and didn’t have the volume of the ’41. Also, Ralph removed the machine screw and filled it. Ralph noted, the neck did have a minor crack but had been repaired.. the screw actually may have been part of the repair as it went through the crack area. The guitar sings now… very pingy with beautiful harmonic overtones and sustains forever… a completely different guitar! AMAZING tone!