Serial No.149896

The real thing! Very good condition. Dark spruce top, straight grained Brazilian rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard and bridge. Nut: 1 1/16” Scale: ~25.4”. Lower bout: 15 5/8”. Original “waffle” back machines and ivory nut. A 2 ¾” piece of the outermost purfling rings has been replaced.

There are a few small chips in the finger board, adjacent to the first, third, fourth and fifth frets. I believe these are due to the guitar being partially re-.fretted. The ends of the frets are all nicely finished in the Martin style. There is light fret wear on the first three frets. Frets are all .042” high.

There are no cracks in the back or sides. On the top there is an almost invisible typical Martin crack along the treble edge of where the original pick guard was. This has been reinforced with a diamond shaped cleat on the inside. There is also a repaired top sliver in the lower portion of where there was a custom base side pick guard. ). It appears that there is overspray on the top, but it is a professional job.
The ebony bridge was custom made, slightly oversized as is the bridge plate. These were done by MacBlane Stringed Instruments (Robert MacBlane).

Action is perfect for serious flat picking: Distances at the12th fret are 3/32” for the 1st and 7/64” for the 6th string. (Measured from lowest point on the string to the top of the fret.) The removable (un-glued) saddle has good height, should lower action be desired.

Unlike most vintage guitars there is quite bit of documentation with this guitar. There is a Repair Order from Martin from 1970, with the guitar being returned by the original owner. The Repair Order indicates that the bridge was re-glued and per sketches provided by the owner two custom pick guards were installed. The outlines of these are evident in the photos of the top. There is also a Packing List for the return of the guitar to the owner after this work was done.

There is another Packing List from Martin from 1985, again to the original owner. It indicates a Barcus-Berry “Insider” pick-up was installed. At some later time the pickup was removed. [I plugged the oversized hole from the end pin jack, re-drilled the hole and installed an old style 28 end pin. Now, there is nothing to showing that the guitar ever had an enlarged end pin hole.]

There is also a photocopy of a Notarized letter, dated April 1, 1989. It is from the original owner to Martin. In the letter he asks Martin to confirm that he is the original owner. There is an undated letter from C. F. Martin IV (no recipient identified). The letter congratulates the person on purchasing a new Martin and states that an Original Owner’s Identification card is enclosed. This card is with the guitar! The purchase date typed on the card is “01/30/56”, the Model “D-28” and Serial No. "149896."The owner’s name is also typed on the card.

The arched lid tan hard shell case (red lining) is believed to be the original. It is in very good condition. On the outside there is a medallion from the dealer, Castiglia Music. In his letter to Martin the owner identifies Castiglia Music as the store where he purchased the guitar. The key is still with the case!

This is great sounding guitar with a powerful bass and strong treble.

WAS $10,495.00,

NOW $9449.00