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Another wonderful instrument with top grade Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. The Brazilian rosewood on this in instrument is more figured on the sides, and the back shows wonderful bookmatched figuring. This is an all-original guitar. There are no cracks that go through the wood. There are several finish/superficial cracks in the finish, one on the top near the bottom/endpin area, and one on the back. And a bit of crazing in the top finish. Set-up and playability is great. Wonderful full tonal range up and down the fretboard.

Very Nice Brazilian Rosewood D-28 dreadnaught.

• All original finish, bridge, bridge plate, tuners
• Newer saddle and nut, just installed to give perfect action, tone
• Original Tortoise pickguard
• Original small maple bridge plate, great condition
• Typical small “pickguard crack” as almost vintage Martins with pickguards have. It was professionally closed/glued years ago, stable and no longer an issue. There is a 4 2/3 inch finish crack, with 2 inches or so of that just barely visible from inside– located from edge of lower bout up, about 3 inches to the treble side of the center seam… professionally closed/glued years ago, stable and not an issue now
• Brazilian Rosewood back and sides: crack-free
• 100% original finish, everywhere. No overspray or finish alterations of any kind. Minor dings and some minor pickwear around the soundhole.
• Has never had a strap lug attached to the wood of the heel itself. There is a strap lug attached to the ivoroid heel cap.
• Original frets are in great condition…  just a bit of wear, on frets 1-3/B string only
• Action is great– low and fast and loud, and neck angle is fine. Plenty of saddle left.
• Typical crazing of finish on top and back as seen on almost all mid-60s Martins (finish is all original, everywhere)

A fine Brazilian rosewood D-28. Set up perfectly and ready to play. Tone is exceptional– for any decade vintage D-28. I’d put this D-28 up against any late 40’s or 50’s D-28 for tone, volume, and string separation.

The last of the Mohicans, made within a few months before Martin stopped using Brazilian Rosewood on its instruments. Some guitars feel dead right the minute you pick them up. This is on of those. First and foremost, the tone of this instrument is unsurpassed for the bell-like trebles that only come from Brazilian Rosewood. The tone of this guitar, I would hold up to most mid-40’s D-28’s I’ve played. Playability, and set-up: it could not be better, and it’s got that 60’s combination of low action, great tuning speed and accuracy from the Grovers, and superb intonation all the way to the wee frets. More than anything, this guitar stands out for its low action combined with robust tone. Amazingly, the string height at the 12th fret: Just a hair over 2/32” at the high E; and 3/32 at the low E. It plays in our left hand like a dream, fast and fluid… yet the tone is full with no buzzing anywhere. I personally have never played a Martin dreadnought from any period that is so effortless to play, so easy on the left hand and so fast and yet so full of Brazilian tone. BTW, light gauge strings only? No way… I’ve got it strung with medium gauge, and it plays like butter in your left hand. Condition:

• all original: finish; frets bridge, bridge plate, saddle. (Bridge pins could be replacements, hard to tell, but they are right.)
• The bridge looks like it has never been off
• Neck has never been set
• There is minor pickwear, with some moderate wear around the soundhole.
• No cracks on top; two, almost indiscernible cracks on back, that have been addressed–glued (no cleats). You have to look very hard to see these two back cracks, they are hairline cracks, each about 6 inches long.. but they are not visible from more than a few inches away, and impossible to photograph.
• Minor nicks and dings, most are visible in photos
• No strap lugs ever added
• Original end pin
• Throw away the book on this one… This is one of the best Brazilian rosewood Dreadnought Martins you’ll play, period, in fine original condition.

This is a wonderful, original from the factory "Lefty", a 1975 D-35L. Lefty's from this period are rare. Before the era of computerized factories, and the intro of the CNC machines at Martin, a high-end Lefty like this one was essentially a custom-made guitar. The bracing in this guitar was custom designed and built at the Martin factory for a true lefty top– this is not a regular D-35 with just different saddle and pickguard. It's built as a left-handed guitar, down to every brace. This guitar is in about as close to mint condition as you can get. The original black pickguard was lifting a bit (not from wear, there wasn't any– but just because Martin used some odd pickguard material in those years), so we just thought it would be cool to replace it with a vintage 30s style tortoise guard. I had John Allison cut a new guard, using period correct (1930's that is) nitrocellulose material. It looks great. (and BTW it's on the exact footprint of the original guard– they nudged them up a bit closer to the bridge on lefty's). This guitar sounds great. Fine, ringing trebles. Beautiful mids. It's one of the best D-35's we've played, from any period. And again, the condition is just almost mint. No cracks. No checking of finish. Everything except the pickguard is 100% original. It comes in its original hard shell Martin case, and original Martin literature from the Factory. The neck is straight, and action is perfect.

Stuart Mossman was one the country’s top luthiers in the 1970s and 80s– working in the tradition of the great American Dreadnought. According to an article in Vintage Guitar magazine: Stuart Mossman “…. began making guitars in 1965 and through his early efforts concentrated on experimenting with bracing of the tops. He spent four years building 40 or 50 prototypes in his garage at home. By the end of the decade, sensing a niche in the market for high quality handmade acoustics, he had incorporated S. L. Mossman Guitars in Winfield, Kansas and moved into facilities at Strother's Field outside of town. Mossman had noticed what was happening with major acoustic guitar manufacturers at the time. The folk music boom had pushed demand for acoustic instruments to an all-time high and while Gibson, Martin and Guild were increasing production, imports from the Pacific rim countries were beginning to exploit the lower end of the market. Mossman was concerned with what he saw as an erosion in materials, design, and craftsmanship in the construction of the traditional flattop acoustic guitar, particularly among the larger manufacturers as they rushed to meet the strong demand. Using only top-quality woods, a proprietary bracing structure, and old-world building techniques, Mossman guitars entered series production in 1970. ‘We were the first of the small manufacturers to make it as a larger company', Stuart Mossman recalls…” The original 70’s Mossman dreadnoughts are very well built, with attention to detail, and craftsmanship unsurpassed in this period. One of the hallmarks of the Mossman guitar is that each instruments has a paper label inside, with the serial number (that included the year date) and model. And the label was always signed or initialed by the craftsmen building that guitar (this one includes Stu Mossman’s initials: SLM). The Flint Hills model featured East Indian Rosewood back and sides, spruce top, ebony fretboard and bridge, and a unique inlay around the soundhole. This example is all original, and is in fine condition, with no cracks. Original West German Schaler tuners. It has an under-saddle pickup installed, and an input jack in the end pin. Tone is fine, and loud, reminiscent of a 60’s Martin– but with a little more punch in the mids and trebles– a perfect bluegrass instrument.

Martin established the X-brace as the standard in American guitars, but that was never pre-ordained, or set in stone. The fan-bracing of the Spanish guitar has equally appealing qualities, and is a century-plus long standard that continues to dominate the design of the classical and flamenco guitar. Not an “Estudio” (student) model, this is the top of line model, 1a Ramirez flamenco. If you’ve never played one of these exquisite cypress Ramirez flamenco guitars–you’ll be surprised at the tone. Spanish cypress back and sides. Cedar top. First of all, the guitar is so light. It floats in your hands, yet it’s tight as a drum. It’s one of the lightest guitars you will ever play (due to the lightness of the wood, and also to the use of tuning pegs–so that the head and neck of the guitar are not pulled down by gravity, allowing the head to float effortlessly at about eye level. And the raspy bass is unbelievable. It’s all about that percussive tone and throaty bass. Conventional wisdom says rosewood for a “classical” guitar, for sustain; and cypress for a flamenco guitar, for the percussive, throaty quality, and more volume. Action is low, as it should be for flamenco. And that wonderful wide nut (2-1/8 inch), you’ve got so much room to move on this beautiful ebony fingerboard. Original finish. As with almost all these old Ramirez flamencos with the tap plate on top, there are shallow, thin hairline cracks where the top edge, and bottom edge, of the tap plate (clear plastic) meets the top (similar to the small cracks you get on an old martin, due to the guard being glued to the top). There is also a six-inch long hairline finish crack on the top above and parallel to the fingerboard (does not go through the wood), and a 3-inch long hairline finish crack below the fingerboard. A few dings here and there, but finish is that original, beautiful high polish reddish-amber.