Guitar
Maker
C. F. Martin & Co.
Date1941
Place MadeNazareth, Pennsylvania, United States, North America
ModelD-28 / Dreadnaught Orchestra / Dreadnaught / Dreadnought
Serial No.78845
SignedBranded on back graft: [lettering curved downward at each end] C.F.MARTIN & Co / ―∙― / NAZARETH, PA.Gold and black decal on head: [lettering curved downward at each end] CFMartin&Co. [sic] / EST. 1833
MarkingsBranded on neck block: D-28 / 78845
DescriptionThe Martin D-28, introduced in 1931, is an icon of American guitar-making. The D-28 is modeled after the wide, deep-bodied, style 111 guitars that Martin produced for Ditson in 1916 and called dreadnoughts after the heaviest class of British battleship during WWI. This large body, combined with steel strings, gave the D-28 a powerful sound that suited the emerging country music style, which needed a guitar that could stand up to a band and amplified voices. In 1941, when NMM 10738 was built, it was Martin’s middle-grade dreadnought, with fancier inlay than the D-18, but not including the extensive abalone decoration of the D-45, first built at the request of the cowboy star, Gene Autry. Preserved in mint condition with its original case, NMM 10738 comes from a particularly desirable period of D-28 production. It bears the zigzag back stripe that was discontinued in 1947, and has the distinctive scalloped Martin bracing that was not used on this model after 1944. Both features are signatures of the pre-War D-28.
Stringing: six steel strings
Soundboard: two-piece Adirondack spruce, fine grain broadening toward the flanks
Back: two-piece book-matched Brazilian rosewood; back stripe comprised of alternating strips of light and dark hardwood forming zigzag, so-called “zipper” pattern, surrounded on each side with two strips of light hardwood and one strip of dark hardwood purfling
Ribs: two-piece Brazilian rosewood divided by white ivoroid end graft strip (slightly wider toward top than bottom) surrounded by thin white and black celluloid purfling on each side (2 strips each)
Head: mahogany veneered with rosewood on front face
Neck: mahogany
Heel cap: white ivoroid
Binding: white ivoroid; light and dark hardwood herringbone trim divided by light hardwood purfling strip, surrounded on each side by dark hardwood purfling strip
Fingerboard: ebony; 20 nickel-silver frets; single abalone slotted diamonds (possibly from Markneukirchen – these appear in distributor catalogs) behind 5th, 9th, 15th, and 17th frets; two abalone slotted diamonds behind 7th and 12th frets; white celluloid side dots behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 17th frets
Nut: ivory
Bridge: ebony with curved lower edge; angled, white celluloid saddle; white celluloid bridge pins with black celluloid eyes
Pegs: six chrome-plated steel worm-gear machine tuners by Grover with convex head surfaces and decoratively cut plate outlines
Endpin: white celluloid with black celluloid eye
Rosette: wide band of white and black striped celluloid (9 strips), surrounded on each side with narrower bands of the same material (5 strips each), with natural wood in between
Pick guard: imitation tortoise shell plastic
Varnish: clear with craquelure
Linings: kerfed mahogany
Neck block: mahogany; chamfered corners
End block: mahogany; chamfered corners; maple graft at center, perpendicular to top and back
Top braces: spruce X-brace, the joint of main cross brace reinforced with black canvas; scalloped transverse braces and finger braces in lower bouts; maple bridge plate
Back braces: spruce back graft; four spruce back braces, the two braces in the lower bouts with rounded edges, and wider and lower in height than the two braces in the upper bouts
DimensionsTotal guitar length: 1031 mm (40-9/16″)
Back length: 508 mm (20″)
Upper bout width: 291 mm (11-1/2″)
Waist width: 273 mm (10-3/4″)
Lower bout width: 381 mm (15″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 99 mm (3-30/32″)
Rib height, at waist: 111 mm (4-5/16″)
Rib height, at end block: 124 mm (4-29/32″)
Head length: 159 mm (6-1/4″)
Head width, top: 72 mm (2-11/16″)
Head width, bottom: 55 mm (2-5/32″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 358 mm (14-1/8″)
Neck width, nut: 42 mm (1-5/8″)
Neck width, heel: 56 mm (2-3/16″)
Soundhole diameter: 102 mm (4″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): high E: 648 mm (25-1/2″); low E: 649 mm (25-9/16″)
Published ReferencesArian Sheets, "A Perfect 10! C. F. Martin's 1941 D-28 Dreadnought," National Music Museum Newsletter 31, No. 4 (November 2004), p. 3.
Gevik, Bryan (2021, May 10) Martin D-28 vs Gibson J-55 - Old Guitars and the Local Musicians Who Love Them [Radio broadcast]. SDPB. https://www.sdpb.org/blogs/images-of-the-past/old-guitars-and-the-local-musicians-who-love-them-martin-d28-vs-gibson-j55/
Gevik, Brian, "Images of the Past: Old Guitars and the Local Musicians Who Love Them," SDPB Magazine (June 2021), cover, pp. 4-5
Credit LineJohn R. Barmeyer Collection, 2004
Object number10738
On View
On view
