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Just watched an episode of Dream Guitars where they were playing a really beautiful 1931 Martin OM-28. SOunded fantastic with finger-style blues.

Looked at my 1974 Martin 000-28 (I'm the original owner) and was heartened/disheartened to realize that it is now closer to that 1931 Martin than it is to a 2018 version.

I got a good one, but will these 70's Martins EVER get any respect?

Ed

Ed, my second guitar was a 1974 D-18 (my first was an old Yamaha that I still have) - I think I paid 600 dollars for it. Shortly after I added a D12-28 to the quiver.



Both the D18 and the 12 string were good guitars but not really great. A few years back they both needed neck resets and I didn't feel that my path in lutherie made me ready to do it, so I had a well known (but I'll keep him nameless here) Martin tech do the work. The reason I won't mention his name is that he does some modifications to guitars from this era that are somewhat controversial - namely he tries to make them more like their prewar versions.

Many Martin players consider '70's guitars as being overbuilt and there were a few construction issues that haunt them. We had a long discussion about my guitar and along with the reset and refret that it needed from wear, I had him replace the heavy rosewood bridge plate with a smaller maple one, do some brace scalloping thru the sound hole, fix pick guard and side cracks.

When I got the guitar back and was playing it one evening my wife's comment was "you are playing louder tonight". Shortly after I took it to a bluegrass jam where there was a D18GE and a 1937 D-18 (yes, the grail). We passed guitars around and the feeling was that my old over built '74 held its own very nicely.

Did I do the right thing? We can argue that all night - my feeling is that I did. In fact the guy that owns the '37 told me that if I wanted to sell it to call him - he didn't like taking the old one to gigs.

I'm the original owner of a '68 Martin 0-16NY. If I recall it was $212 and I paid it off at the music shop that sold it to me by doing yard work. It's always been a sweet guitar. Two years ago I went through it and reglued the bridge, reset the neck, did a compression refret (my first) and fixed a couple of cracks. Dave Collins taught me how to do the compression refret. I still love playing that little guitar and after a bit of soul searching I went ahead and put in a K&K pickup so I could play it on stage - glad I did. I love old guitars. I wish I was aging as well as my little New Yorker.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Me...
Oh, yea, my 1921 Gibson F4, one of 200 built to test the Cremona brown for the Loar F5 mandolins.



Wife has a '69 D35 BRW, has had it since new.

Oh man I love those old Bimmers too!

Haans

That is about the most beautiful sunburst I have ever seen. Can you post shots of the back and sides?

Thanks

Ed

Here are the rest of the photos, Ed. It is the most beautiful Gibson F4 I have ever seen.



Probably a silver maple back. Notice the tiny mandolin size quilt.



Double flowerpot meaning no T/R. Makes for a very rich tone.



Tuners look almost new...

Thanks Haans. I have wanted to reproduce something like that on a small guitar - sides, sides of the head, neck - and the wood choice for the back was inspired.

Ed

My son's girlfriend wanted him to teach her how to play guitar, but didn't want to spend money
buying a guitar, so she asked if he could fix up an old guitar her father had hanging on the rec room
since the mid 70's. The bridge had popped off and it needed a fret job. He said he have a look and
see if it was worth fixing. Turns out to be a 1927 Martin OO-28. Her father was a drummer and
had no idea about guitars

I have a slightly post war 1940's Stella GC. It was a complete basket case that came to me in pieces... And unfortunately - the original fretboard was not among the salvagable parts.

I reassembled it and that old Birch box actually sounds very good. I still need to fine tune the neck set a bit to bring the action down a little more - but all in all, it's a way better guitar than the usual Stella I run into....

There are Oscar Schmidt Made Stellas ('30's and before), and Harmony made Stellas (late '30's I believe, and newer) - vastly different guitars.

Glenn

Oscar Schmidt Stellas were top of the line. When Harmony acquired Schmidt in '39, Stellas all were the bottom of the line and Sovereigns were the "top". Go figure that one out...