1934 Martin D-28 

We are not the owners of fine guitars - only their caretakers. We are obligated to take care of them, to keep them in good repair and make sure they are played regularly. Don’t let great guitars rot away in a closet, or get stripped for parts!

My D28 just turned 30 this year and I hope it survives as long as the 1934 in your video. Luckily (at least up to now), the condition of mine is a bit less rough, but then again, the 1934 certainly has a few more stories to tell then mine does... Thanks for the video!

Thats so cool the whereabouts of the very first one is known

Beautful sounding......nice playing too! I love to see an old well played Martin........this guitar has spread a lot of happiness for many many years

Thanks for thanking Grieg Hutton. His detailed research has cleared up a lot of Martin history and Martin aficionados are very grateful.

Fabulous, thanks for sharing this. Great sympathetic playing too.

Great vid-the history beautifully and articulately presented and beautifully appropriate playing examples. Still sounds amazing even with all the changes and repairs.

Amazing guitar and great history lesson, very knowledgeable guy.

Amazing story lovely D-28 : )

Nah, there's that saying "Never buy version 1.0." Wait, what?!? I want that! lol Thanks, Tyler. I enjoy your appearances on the channel.

Damn that sounds amazing. Nothing can beat old wood... 😊

Great presentation and history

A wonderful video about a great guitar with some excellent playing as well. Thanks.

Super cool! LOVE old Martins. I own a 62 D-28 it spent time with Michael Bloomfield back in the day.

Thank you guys for making this video. The understated-ness was as right as right can be, as was Skyler's playing.

A museum guitar...and a museum video. Great job!

Martin was already 101 years old at that time. I own a littl Martin guitar and its the best acoustic guitar Ive ever owned really fun to play

CLARITY WOW Thanks for the video

I’m liking that demo. Just working it out on my old D41.😊

Very rich sound . Probably the best tone i have ever heard.

Great video!!!

Great lesson on Martin Guitars. I was fortunate to meet Chris Martin in Birmingham UK Nice guy with great guitars !!

I played the finest guitar in the world, and probably the earliest D28 ever made. I was at GTR guitar shop in Nashville around 1973, where old D45s hung on the walls. This guitar looked like a D28 without the volute or Martin name. It was built in 1916 and was owned by the foreman of the Martin factory. GTR bought the guitar and had sold it to Greg Lake of EL&P, but George Gruhn allowed me to play it as long as I removed my belt and belt buckle. This video mentions the handful of Rosewood dreadnaughjts dating back to 1916, and this may have been the first. Greg Lake didn't seem to mention it when discussing his guitars, and I am wondering if anyone ever made a video on its history, or recorded its perfect sound.

Outstanding tone

Sounds amazing!

Great playing

Absolute BEAUTY!

That sounds so fookin’ good❤️

It sounds amazing. :)

Outstanding ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So THAT is what a D-28 is supposed to sound like! Amazing!

That is the most vibe guitar I have ever seen.

Man! That "THING" sounds sweet!!!!

This is the Jason Momoa guitar. Really nice!

Amazing

My dream guitar

Pretty awesome

Thank you for giving us all a look at this guitar, and your fascinating and detailed description of its known history and the repair work done over the years. I have a question. Is the herringbone trim original? The pre-war 'bone trim was narrower than the modern reissue version. If original, then kudos to Martin's repairshop for somehow preserving it along with (as you point out) the pickguard when the top was replaced in the 1950s. It's interesting how some of these old dreadnoughts have survived with their original tops while others haven't. I suspect that some tops were simply stronger than others, with the weaker ones 'bellying' excessively and needing replacement - which seems to have (possibly) been the case with this guitar.

Out--STANDING!!!! Cheers!

I wish I had a fraction of this guy's knowledge. Wow!

oh wow this ole guitar must feel so happy to be played again and whoever built it must be happy to see it last to this modern day in heaven

This appears to be in the same shape as many of the first batch 14th frets D28 with factory replaced parts like fingerboards and tops. The reason for this is the majority of these "new" D guitars were ordered by professional musicians that were often rough with their guitars. You know, heavy on the downstrokes and quick mileage. Since they were under warranty to original owners these were sent back to factory for repairs and left to the mercy of what they would repair or replace parts and always seemed to get the dreaded "refinish". You just don't see many from this first batch completely original.

Predictably, the aged soundboard sounds quite nice. Having collected some antique items, I can understand why this sold quickly. Concerning acoustic guitars, if I make a purchase, it is my intent to enjoy playing the instrument and not be so concerned that its value gets in the way of enjoying my experience with the guitar. For me, the question around antiques was do I own them, or do they own me?

Beautiful. I would love to see some of those gut string guitars you mentioned.

way cool!

Very fine commentary, accurate, and a beautiful instrument artistically "beat to hell" on the road I suppose. That and a Towns Van Zandt like out fit ought to get you at least a couple of free beers at your local joint,!

That belongs in the martin museum...

Even though it was retopped & has a rear shifted brace pattern, that Brazilian rosewood is original & who knows when that wood was actually cut. That set of BRW is extremely old & looks mostly straight grained. I'm not a wood expert & I don't know how big those trees usually get, but I would assume that the straighter grain typically comes the mid section of the tree, just before the branches start. Many of the early D-28's I've seen, have really wavy & inconsistent grain. I always assumed that stuff was mostly stump wood & Martin could buy it cheaper than the straighter grain BRW. I mean.......with the ongoing depression of the time, that would make good sense to me. I would have probably done the same thing. Given the wear to the newer 50's top, it's pretty amazing that the rest of the guitar has survived to tell a fraction of it's story. Through the demo, it has an excellent dynamic range, amazingly rich tone & clarity over my studio headphones!!!!!!! Thank you & the owner for sharing this guitar & for letting it's voice be heard!!!!!!!

Hey, thanks for the video. Curious about the first song. what is it? Regards from Sweden.

The changeover from banjo to guitar and the whole 14-fret thing is the result of recording technology going from acoustical to electrical and the resulting bandwidth gain that made the cutting brashness of the banjo less essential and the guitar a better choice for rhythm work.

Steel strings were available from 1900. I don't think Gibson ever oput gut strinhgs on their early mandolins, banjos or guitars. “The first 000 appeared in 1902, as did the first steel-string that Martin built - a special order 00-21,” although Martin didn't get into producing guitars with steel strings on a regular basis until the 1910s.

The tuners are misaligned A&D strings rub on the E an the way to the nut! Or is that the way all are made?

What are the names of those two gorgeous songs played during demo?

Cool

How much did it sell for? I'm surprised it was even out there floating around for sale and it wasn't in a museum.

It looks like even that second top has had at least two other pickguards on it before the original or period correct one was put back on

Even though I just got my first Martin a few months ago, I dont know much about "Martin culture" or people, so I have to ask... Is this guitar: A) Going to a loving home where it will be played, recorded and cherised. B) Be detuned, thrown in a display case of a Hamptons summer home. C) it is no longer a guitar, its a financial asset. If it had its original top, and fretboard, of course it would only be an asset. But something with this many repairs??

There are no rosewood D models b4 1931 when two D-2 models were built on a short run at the North Street Factory. (Through 1934 the Martin's production records show 7 D-2s & 2 D-1s built) The D-1 designation was the same as released with the Ditson branded model 111. All Ditson models were mahogany bodies. In 1931 Martin quickly renamed the newly offered model Dreadnoughts as D-18 & D-28 putting them in line with their own long standing specifications. From 1931 through 1936 Martin produced approximately thirty 12-fret D-18s and approximately 40 12-fret herringbone D-28s in addition to the D-1s and D-2s mentioned above. Martin would not built 12-fret Dreadnoughts again for nearly twenty years when limited production of the 12-fret Dreadnought began with 1 or 2 D-28S's until the mid 1960s and the "Folk Scare Era" when the D-18S was reintroduced. In 1966 the D-35S was added to the catalog, in 1969 the D-45S was added and in 1970 the D-41S. Through 1975 or so production of the four S model Dreadnoughts total between 100 to 800 units each year. To this very day 12-fret Dreads rule the acoustic guitar world. You mileage may vary of course. 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Posedujem akustičnu gitaru proizvedenu 1963 godine u potpuno originalnom stanju,dakle sve na njoj je originalno,autentično i zvuči bolje od bilo koje gitare novije generacije. Na gitari piše samo Melody i godina proizvodnje 1963 ,ali ko je proizvodjač i iz koje države potiče nigde nije napisano...volim stare gitare 🎸

Thank you for sharing such a historical piece so close-up. Man, that first fret slot is cut soooo deep, oops! 😂 😂

The sound is surprisingly different it seems but nice and mellow.

Does anyone know what the nut width is on this guitar?

Love these videos..more please?

Ill take two, thanks

what did it sell for?

Anyone know what those demo songs were?

Whar is name of the first demo song? Melody is familiar.

Look at all that compensation at the saddle. Hooo wee! Bettcha the low E actually intonates well.

Wow wee

Sooo.... this is a sub-neck + back + sides of a 1934 guitar? still looks cool on this rarity!

How much did it sell for?

What was the price tag?

I wonder how much someone paid for a 1937 back and sides? its still beautiful.

Amazing. Sounds awesome. I hope it goes to someone who will play it and not have it sit in some display case.

That guitar has MOJO

I was not aware these 30’s versions came with an Ebony truss rod. I thought that came into play during the 40’s and war effort. Who knew?

Jason Mamoa bought it

Aqua-man bought it!

Your intro clip makes me drool

surprised this guitar atill exists 😮

So its not the original spruce top? Imagine someone replacing a strad top...

빈티지 외관 죽이네요ㅎ 내가 원하던.. 굿

I’d like to know where that Prototype is….

#AquamansGuitar #NewVeryOldGuitarDay

How much did it sell for??? 😲

Interesting video and piece of guitar history. Not really impressed with how it sounds, but I guess guitars have come a long way since then, and a custom made luthier guitar from today is always going to sound much better.

So its a bit like Triggers broom.

I just want to play her....

Great story aww but new board , new top. Kinda sad , but I guess if Nazareth did the repairs. It's still bonafide, it's a survivor

You can’t call that a 1934 D-28 when it’s top has been completely replaced.

Hey, thanks for that, an interesting vid. She sure looks like she's been through a few bar-fights.. every kinda ding. crack, split, dent and scratch imaginable! That's one beat-up old geetar, still sounds great though! Can't beat an old Martin i guess, even one that's been through the wars like this one. No mention of who used to own this old gal? Great vid, thanks :))x

How much $$$$

So this guitar was, what today is referred to as, a lemon??

SOLD to Jason Momoa 🤟‼

Strings are not old enough though

Looks like it needs a neck reset.

So it was sold to Aquaman for 100k?!?? 'guitar (55676) was the first PRODUCTION 14-fret D-28, which came after the apparent success of the prototype..' Anybody else smell a mole?

Typical Martin. You buy it new and then have to send it back many times for repairs. Mine broke in two after 6 months. The top side split in half, it was a D28 modern deluxe.

Someone scratched the logo cause its not real anymore. 😂

Its not such an icon being a retop. Old BR, but it has lost lots of originality. I’d get rid of the oversized bridge and install the smaller original size; maybe cut the slot to what intonates accurately on this guitar. So what if there is a lacquer touch up? especially after being refinished multiple times. Oversize bridges are tone suckers.