Gotta love how much authority those older Martin's have when projecting beautiful frequencies. Incredible. I'm currently taking apart 100-150yr old pianos to make 000's, Dreadnoughts, and 0 parlors. I couldn't afford a vintage martin, but I can do my best to make one!!
@ryanj6862 just now seeing this. With really old upright ones of mid to higher quality - definitely!! I'd say once you start getting into (and after) the great depression era, the build becomes more ply layers than solid with some veneer. Still usable pieces, but tremendous amounts of work to reveal and process. Same with baby grands, less usable pieces. Yet, with today's lumber prices - I can't deny Old Growth timber that has been curing for 100+ yrs, *and* already "*knows*" music.
@demolitionwilliams7419 thank you! It's been quite a daunting task tearing them apart.. organizing, and planning - but its going well! I am hoping to start cutting and carving within the next month. I have a lot of nice pieces to process. I caught a serious flu that took me down for a month.. but I'm back at it! " Pretty, Old. "
Wow what a guitar , you can really hear the quality when compared to the 45, it’s just powerful and clearer , it makes the 45 sound muffled in comparison & that’s with old rusty strings …. Amazing, that’s why these old aged guitars cost so much , 90 years is what your paying for
As always, the true tell tale tone/sound from a good pre war Martin 28 or 18 is the string to string clarity and articulation.. The D45 sounded dull in comparison. Are the old strings on the 34' EJ16 with the colored ball ends?
The Authentic sounds like its muted, or coming through a smaller speaker. No wonder the Holy Grail Martins are so sought after. It aint authentic until its really authentic.
I’m not often floored by internet videos of vintage guitars but I have to say that’s one of the best sounding guitars I’ve ever heard. And with that massive popsicle brace to boot!
When you get THAT sound you are after and have in your head it just inspires to play so much better and push yourself.I can see how happy you are here Bryan and I have found this in a few guitars Iin my lifetime.That 34 Martin is a joy to behold and you did it justice.Superb and thanks for sharing it with us.
Hello Bryan. Amazing guitar! I'm having a 34 recreation made and I'm learning much about them. In early 34 they had an ebony rod and bar frets but later in that year, Martin switched to a T bar and T frets. I think i also learned that shadetops also transitioned to the dark pattern as that of the 35. I'm torn between an all wood neck or T bar. Which would you prefer?
That's my bodyguard. He keeps the flocks of adoring fans and groupies at bay. Otherwise I'd be signing autographs and posing for pictures 26 h a day and never get any videos done. 😉
Ok - can we quantify objectively; How much of it is the pure age factor and how much is the build/construction of that time? Magic of proper aging vs magic of the techniques and materials of those build days. Love to hear thoughts….. Additionally: (just for fun) how might we expect a comparably built contemporary Collings, Bourgeois, Santa Cruz - or even a modern-day Martin - to sound in 90 years? Better? Similar? Not quite as magical?
Authentics are built pretty much as close to the originals as we can do. I compared a monster D-45 Authentic to the '34 in the video and almost everyone preferred the '34 which doesn't surprise me as it might be the best guitar I've ever played. Age is huge, IMHO. But... I've played maybe 30 prewar D's and few sounded as good as THIS ONE. Most were too boomy for my taste and lacked the crisp clear top end of this one. All the modern guitars are gonna sound okay in 90 years but, again, THIS ONE is really good. All of the builders you've mentioned have their quirks and little things that may prevent them from reaching their full potential. They all sound good and will probably sound good, but I bet THIS ONE has sounded this good for the past 50 years or so. I wouldn't expect a 1960's guitar- like the two I just reviewed- to sound significantly better in another 30-40 years. That's my speculation.
Sounds real good👍 About 25 years ago a good old friend that passed acquired a 1935’ Bone all original very clean . It was a nice old Martin, but He had about 10 Vintage Martin Dreads. His near mint 1965’ D-28 was actually hands down the better sounding. In Comparison,My Brazilian D-28 style copy I crafted in 1990’ sounded as good back 15 years ago. Now 15 years later no doubt My Guitar would surpass that 1935 holy grail. Friend passed 9 years ago. Wife sold His collection off.
@@Bryankimsey Yes, Yes, Yes & MORE Yes!!!!!!! Martin & all these companies can bake their guitars with motor oil & then, smoke them with a honey glazed ham, if they want to, but they're still NEVER going to duplicate that REAL, TIME AGED, LOVED & PLAYED SOUND!!!!!!! That's not to throw any shade on the D-45. That 45 has all the right potential to be a real beast once it ages in!!!!!!!
That's some sort of old repair that I didn't get a good look at but it looks 10x worse on the GoPro. I'm going to look at it again in a few weeks and will get a better idea of what that is. I only had 2 hours total to look at the guitar, tell stories, record and edit the video, and get it uploaded and then I had to get on the road for 6 hours.
Devil’s advocate view…..think about what the -45A costs and think about what the -28 will be selling for. One ain’t cheap, but the other will be in the stratosphere. The Authentic is relatively GREAT bang for the buck.
According to the Martin Guitars a technical reference (Johnston & Boak) there were an estimated 52, however I'd rather have one of the estimated 21 12 fretters made.
Fantastic sounding 34' You're correct that the tuners are period correct. 34 tuners did not have the slot for adjustments. I would do what you are suggesting. Plug the bridge, lengthen the saddle, one way or another get rid of the 2nd bridge plate an d put another pick guard over the original. I noticed that both corners of the head stock are more rounded than a 34' also there doesn't appear to have been a martin stamp on the back of the head stock. Just saying. :) Contact me if you care to see pictures of another 34' :) Great video. thanks..
Agree on the neck ... I'm going to research that further. It definitely is old but I wonder if it was replaced in the 40s or 50s? Feel free to send pictures to bryankimsey@gmail.com
Man, this D-28 makes it 90 years without a single crack in the top. I bought my D-28 new in 2011, and within 3 years, I left the case in the floor, forgot about it, got up, tripped over it, like the moron that i am, and my hand landed dead center of the case. Put about an 8" crack down the upper part of the soundboard. I think i may have made up a few cusswords when i opened the case and saw it. 😭 I thought about having a new top put on it, but its by far the best sounding Martin Ive ever played, and the top has aged into the most beautiful dark color ive ever seen. So i carried it to Chris Bozung right outside of Nashville, left it with him for a couple months. He sealed up that big crack, and 2 or 3 more tiny cracks that i didnt see. You can still see the crack pretty noticeably, but I aint gettin rid of that top. Ive never seen a guitar, thats only 14 years old, with so much mojo. It had the craziest loud, clear, vintage sound, the day i bought it. All Martins sound great, but this one sounds better than great. Its a 2010 but it hung on the wall at Guitar Center in Memphis, until i bought it in November of 2011. It still amazes me how it hung there that long without being sold, when it sounded like it did. Was meant for me to have it i guess. I just dont think it was meant for me to fall on it though. 😂 Ive got a buddy, who right before i bought mine, he ordered a new guitar from Martin Custom Shop. Its a CS-21-11, with an adirondack top, and Madagascar RW back and sides. I went over to see his the day after i got mine. We played them both, and we both gravitated to the sound and playabilty of my Standard D-28 over his. I think he paid about 3 times more for his than i did mine, and mine still played and sounded better. Although I do know it takes a long time for the red spruce tops to open up. When they do, they sound crazy good. I think that the fact I paid $2500 out the door for mine, and he paid nearly $8000 for his, made him sick. 🤣
Lordy! What a beautiful guitar. Anything that puts a D-45 Authentic in the shade by a mile is remarkable! That straight grained Brazilian… YIKES!!! The sound speaks for itself. You didn’t say anything about its history regarding neck re-sets. If it hasn’t had one wit action like this then color me shocked!!! Thanks for sharing this with us!!!
I don't know how many neck resets, but I'm sure it's had one, maybe two, at some point. All that matters right now is that the action is excellent with decent saddle height. I didn't see anything funky and, having done over 500 neck resets myself, that should mean something.
When does the bidding start. Already found a buyer for my Yamaha fg -800. That should cover about 10% of the tax of what it sales for. I’am going to see if the old lady will let me sale the farm
It's in the owner's hands. Have them PM me on messenger or email me. My name at Gmail. See the very end of the D45S video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xskv2f7XLAA.html
Making 1934 wages too. You could buy the D45S at current price and current wages as a hedge against an unknown future. Looks like another Great Depression forming like a dust storm on the horizon. You'll hopefully survive WWW III. 😉
Nice to see it. Surprised with the bridge history. Some kinda funky Gibson bridge on there, probably back in the 50's or 60's. He didn't even slot the pin holes on this one. Probably oversized to deal with the monster that came off. Why would they put that particular bridge on there? Needs a thru slot and proper spacing just outa respect if nothing else. Action looks higher than a kite up the neck. Looks like the top is a bit sunken in front of the bridge, is it? I'd think the value should be about 40-50% of a "good" condition 34', but there ain't many out there for sure. Thanks for posting. I'm on the hunt for a 37' D-28 to match my 37' D-18. Passed on a great sounding 38' due to bridge issues. Good luck to the seller.
Action is 3/32" up the neck. You're looking at fisheye from the GoPro lens...it's not any more distorted than the other two dozen prewar D28s I've played. As for the bridge, people don't know and sometimes don't care, especially in the 60s and 70s. There's nothing I see here that couldn't be fixed, IMHEO. Good luck on your hunt.
I felt pretty comfortable playing it. WORKING on it... I dunno... I'd sweat bullets. Owner's looking for $75,000. Check out the '38 that Carter Vintage has... $175,000. Dunno if they'll get that but that's their asking price.
thats nuts!!! my 72 d18 will have to suffice for me. its pretty nice and does not have a misplaced bridge. i paid $325 for it new. got the blue steal me case for $50.00@@Bryankimsey
Very full sounding! Every good vintage Martin I've heard has had lots of sustain, without the districting loud overtones of newer guitars. The depth, warmth, and clarity of this D-28 is amazing!
Braces are always spruce.... Sitka spruce, in this case. You must be thinking of something else? A 1934 D-28 is the first year of the 14 fret D-28. There's nothing transitional about it... this is Ground Zero, basically. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TLAeYrZJPWI.html
I was focused more on the mechanical aspects of the guitar and less about the originality. Once we got to the bridge, the originality is blown, so I'm focusing on the sound and playability.
That's some sort of old repair that I didn't get a good look at but it looks 10x worse on the GoPro. I'm going to look at it again in a few weeks. I've seen much worse, believe me.
How'd you come up with that? I didn't even mention relief here. I did in the other video, I think. Here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TLAeYrZJPWI.htmlsi=7iskb4Jus28SDPEp&t=936
Extraordinary! But even more extraordinary his how well the D45 stands up. That is an amazing guitar in its own right, and it won't break the bank (as these things go!).
I was not really impressed by the sound and character of the D45 (I always thought that a D45S was a 12-frettter). That old scratched D28 sounds amazing and so much more alive than the new family member! It is singing and echoing, while the D45 sounds like nothing special... Interesting video, very well done and nice Bluegrassy pickin´too! Thanks!
"S" stands for "Special". That would include 12-fretters, slotted headstocks, and, in this case, a bigger body. Pretty much everyone loved the '36 D-45s until I compared it with the actual prewar which, hey, fair enough!! The prewar is gonna cost 3x the D-45s, and the D45s is gonna cost 6x what the D-28 '41A runs and the '41A one costs 2x what a modified 70's will cost. The D-45 is the only thing I thought MIGHT give the prewar a little challenge... looks like it didn't! :) See this video and the comments: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v5yzEqrcor0.html And: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Xskv2f7XLAA.html
it's at the end of this video. make sure you spel it wright. :) bryankimsey at the google mail thingy. Or google my name... website... "Contact". I'm on FB, too.
