Outstanding video. I have one of the original 50 D-28 1937 Authentics made with Brazilian. It has an almost identical tone. These instruments are absolutely magical. I've been offered to considerable amount of money, and will never sell it for any price. The Martin Authentic series Brazilians are literally Holy Grails.
I have a love/hate relationship with video's like this. On one hand I love the sound and beauty of this guitar and on the other hand sit's my bank account.
I have a 1973 Martin SD-45, which was the designation by Martin of their custom made guitars at that time. Because I have large hands I had a 12 string neck put on it, 1 7/8 instead on 1 5/8 at the nut. Unfortunately it has some small flaws in the finish on the upper bottom bout that appeared aafter it was returned from the Martin factor for some minor warranty work. It has not effected the sound and I don't want to ruin it by having it refinished. Unfortunately, at 85, my fingers don't work as well as they used to but I still play it almost every day. Enjoyed the video.
A few years ago, for NAMM, Martin made a one-off of that exact guitar, but with Madagascar rosewood (instead of Brazilian) and a pick guard on top of the finish (instead of under). All the rest of the specs are the same. I now own it...buying it from the dealer who bought it at NAMM. It's a monstrous sounding guitar...like hearing a grand piano.
It’s a beautiful piece of wood and sounds great, but it’s not new, is it? I spotted some very light scratches on and below the pick guard, and a ding or two in the back. I wonder where they got the Brazilian rosewood. It’s been illegal to harvest since the late sixties. Maybe Martin has a secret stash.
Probably supposed to be dinged boss. It's aged. The new thing now. And Martin absolutely has a secret stash. Second of all, there's legal Brazilian rosewood out there that was cut before the laws took place. And stump wood is still legal
Had once one of their D28 Authentics. Came with a relatively (unnecessarily) high action and very difficult to play. For a guitar with glued in vintage saddle and a non adjustable truss rod (not everything what is vintage is better!), there was no chance for me to get the setup right and I would imagine that any pro guitar workshop will have the same problem. I would keep my fingers away from these Authentics. Btw. Jason Isbells signature model was build on the basis of a D18 Authentic and guess what he did: he asked for an adjustable truss rod.
Finally someone not just doing runs and scales.. he plays three styles and shows the instrument. I have to say. For 50,000$ its not quite what i expected. It does have a larger sound. But one problem is people using fresh strings. The string create a shimmer snd overtone. People dont realize. You werent buying strings left and right in 1940...
also using those Sennheiser e914 microphones is not a good choice. They are hyped in the high end. Key is to let the strings mellow a bit, and use a flatter response microphone like an SM81 or Schoeps CMC6. Much more realistic picture of what the guitar actually sounds like.
The model name is confusing to me. All of the other Martin D**S guitars have a 12 fret neck with a bigger body. I guess they can call it what they want and that guitar is fabulous!
@@eddiesguitars all good my man. Didn’t mean to correct you necessarily, just add that little tidbit that I’ve randomly retained from watching that segment on Chris Martin buying one of them for like $300,000 or whatever. That must have hurt. Not a huge fan of gold tuners or bling but I’d make an exception for this one! Lovely playing and guitar.
Yeah, Indian Rosewood doesn't sound like that. The bass and mids roll off completely different. With this model our ears are hearing the absolute best the C.F. Martin factory is capable of producing these days and it's mind blowing good.
Lovely instrument. But am I alone in hating, absolutely hating the whole "distressed" / "relic" thing? Since I have been able to afford good guitars, I have always done my best NOT to mark or scuff them. And here are manufacturers deliberatley doing so. It beggars belief. "O tempora, o mores!"
