Martin Custom Shop 28 Style Dreadnaught East Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce VTS Acoustic Guitar

Martin Custom D-28 East Indian Rosewood

Another stunner from Truetone Music’s September 2019 trip to the Martin guitar factory in Nazareth, PA. During our trip we really wanted to create some special guitars, instruments we and the legendary guitar builders could be proud of. When it comes to legendary guitars, the Martin D-28 might be considered the best all around dreadnaught of them all.

The Martin D-28 was born in 1931.  With its standard rosewood back and sides and Spruce top, it became a sought after model for its big, lush, warm tone.  From the mid to late 1960’s, the D-28 enjoyed its position as the go to guitar for the folk rock movement.

On our trip to the Martin factory, we were treated to a host of behind the scenes guitar building magic.  Especially intriguing was getting the chance to go through Martin’s massive cache of standard and exotic tone woods. We knew we were looking to build the best D-28 we could, but we had no idea what the final configuration would be. By the end of the day, we had actually spec'ed out two D-28 models because we found so much spectacular wood that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

The first build is this incredible D-28, constructed with the finest piece of East Indian rosewood we could find. It wasn’t easy, as there were numerous great spreads, but the beautiful pattern of this stunning Rosewood was really something to behold.  On top of that, the Martin wood specialists assured us it would yield an unreal tone. Along with the East Indian Rosewood back and sides, we selected an upgraded premium spread of solid Sitka Spruce to grace the top. The result is a perfect match, and in every way it is the spectacular D-28 we were hoping to create. Huge, booming lows, warm mids and a crystal clear high end, all perfectly balanced from top to bottom, make it a joy to play.

Also, it's important to note that this guitar has a VTS (Vintage Tone System) top.  Martin uses a unique recipe that is based on the historic torrefaction system. VTS acts much like a time machine - certain time periods can be targeted for the again of the  top/braces. This focused method allows Martin to recreate not only the pleasing visual aesthetics of a vintage guitar, but also reproduce the special tones previously reserved for vintage instruments.  Further, Martin Guitar’s Research and Development (R&D) team rediscovered a process used in the early 1900s to final dress the lacquer on our instruments by hand. The end result is a warm glow appearance that is as enticing to the eye as it is to the touch. The Vintage Gloss finish leaves the guitar with a satin appearance, far from the appearance of a satin spray.

We wanted to retain the traditional look and feel of the guitar, so we chose to go with the standard Style 28 checker Purfling, bone nut, vintage Grover button tuners and black ebony finger board. We also wanted to give the it a slight modern edge, so the D-28’s bracing pattern is forward shifted, allowing more movement and space for the top to vibrate, resulting in increased sound quality and performance. The neck profile is the modified low oval with high performance taper. It has a 16” radius and 1 3/4” nut width. The guitar is finished in gloss with a satin neck and comes with a Martin hard shell case, as well as the certificate of authenticity.

Come to Truetone Music to experience this amazing example of top-notch craftsmanship from the Martin Custom Shop, or order online here today.