1969 Martin D-18

This is a 1969 Martin D-18 Dreadnought guitar. It features an evenly grained sitka spruce top aged to a pleasing amber color, a Brazilian rosewood bridge, a mahogany neck, back and sides, and a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, bridge and headplate. The nut width is 1 11/16” and the spacing at the bridge is 2 ⅛.” 

These 1969 Martins were made during a time of transition for Martin build specifications. This guitar was built not long after the change to a large rosewood bridge plate, The through saddle bridge was replaced with a drop-in saddle design a few years before and Grover Rotomatics became standard equipment in 1967. Even the iconic celluloid pepperoni pickguards gave way to a plain black acetate.

The guitar shows signs of careful maintenance. The neck has been expertly reset. While the neck was off, the back and sides were lightly oversprayed. The work blacklights as original, but there are a few small areas where old marks are visibly filled with the careflu spray work. The original black acetate guards are known for curling up into oblivion as this one has, so it has been replaced with a modern black guard cut to the original dimensions. The tuners have been replaced with modern Grovers, though there was never a change in the type of tuner mounted to the instrument, so the peghead remains otherwise unmodified with no tell-tale evidence of tuner changes. A crack running from the bass side of the bridge to the tailblock has been tightly glued and expertly cleated. 

All and all, this is a light, resonant and powerful guitar from an era when the Martin D-18 was, culturally, in its ascendancy.