The Martin D-28: One Thing Commies and Rednecks Agree About
Written: Aug 09 '00 (Updated Jun 11 '04)
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Pros: bold, rich sound; stays in tune; hammers and pulls sound great
Cons: a bit bassy for some delicate finger-picking tunes; don't get too close to the mic!
The Bottom Line: The Martin D-28 is the standard by which all rosewood dreadnought guitars are measured.
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| Horswispr's Full Review: Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar |
The Martin D-28 is the standard against which all other flat-top acoustic guitars are measured. If you’ve ever listened to bluegrass music, folk music, or even New Age guitar music, odds are you’ve listened to a Martin D-28. Lester Flatt, of Flatt and Scruggs, played a D-28 from the late 1950s on, as did several other bluegrass greats. Bob Shane, of the Kingston Trio, played a Martin D-28. Stephen Stills’s guitar, shown on the cover of Crosby Stills and Nash's classic self-titled album (the one with Suite: Judy Blue Eyes on it), was a Martin D-28. Even New Age virtuoso Michael Hedges played a Martin D-28.
The D-28 was originally introduced in the early 1930s, and was considered without equal as an acoustic steel-string guitar for country and bluegrass players who needed power and sustain. Since then, it has gone through several changes, but it remains the standard for acoustic players. A 1935 Martin D-28, which then sold for $100, would today be worth several thousand dollars.
The D-28 is a heavy, solidly build guitar that has a full and rich tone. Its sides are made of solid rosewood, and it has a solid spruce top. The fret board is made of ebony, which plays fast and wears well. You hardly have to touch a D-28 to make it sing. It is ideally suited for playing bluegrass music and for accompanying vocals. It is bassier than a D-16 or D-18 (the guitar Elvis used early in his career), leading some delicate finger-pickers to use smaller guitars, or guitars made of mahogany instead of rosewood (like my Martin D-16). But if you want “that big sound,” there is no substitute for a D-28.
It is also a beautiful guitar to look at. It has the classic Martin dreadnought shape, a gloss finish, and a black pick guard in the classic Martin shape. The quality of the wood grain tends to be high: both fine and straight.
Some interesting historical notes about the D-28: It was originally made with scalloped, or shaven, bracing beneath the top (sound board), leading to a really forward sound. But around the time of WWII, many players were using heavy strings, trying to get still more volume from the instrument. In 1944, Martin opted for heavier, non-scalloped, bracing, leading to a stronger instrument, but one that didn’t project quite as well. The scalloped bracing was brought back to the D-28 in 1976 in a “new” model, called the HD-28. The HD-28 also brought back the herringbone “purfling” (fancier ornamentation) which had been dropped during WWII.
In 1985, Martin also began using an adjustable truss rod in their guitars, meaning that the “action” (height of the strings from the neck) could be adjusted using only a small wrench inserted into a slot just inside the sound hole.
Today, both the D-28 and HD-28 are available, with the HD-28 costing a few hundred dollars more than the D-28. The HD-28 projects a bit better than the D-28, but the overall tone of both guitars is quite similar. The neck of the D-28 (and HD-28) is fairly thick, but I find it relatively easy to play.
There are several other things I like about playing a D-28 (or HD-28): First of all, I don’t have to play hard to get a strong tone. I attribute this to the rosewood back and sides. Further, if I DO play hard, the strings don’t rattle, or go out of tune. The ebony fret board seems to make hammers and pull-offs more prominent (and easier to achieve) than with lesser fret boards. And the bass of Martin D-28 and HD-28s goes right through your body as you play--a rather pleasant experience. In terms of bass, playability, and resistance to hard playing, the D-28 and HD-28 are better than my beloved D-16. Put simply, they are “ballsier” guitars than the D-16.
Some players have commented on the remarkable consistency of Martin guitars, but I find that each guitar is slightly different from the next. They play differently, and the tone quality is slightly different, guitar to guitar. As I said in my review of the Martin D-16, I heartily recommend playing the particular guitar you’re interested in several times before purchasing. I have played probably 25 new Martin D-28s and HD-28s, and I find them to be excellent instruments, often with better action (strings close enough to frets to make playing relatively easy) and intonation (in tune up the neck) than the (about 10) vintage Martins I’ve played. But it’s also fun to play a vintage Martin D-28 to hear how the tone ripens over the years. It’s easy to see why these guitars appreciate in value over time.
If you’re looking for a high quality (and fairly expensive) rosewood dreadnought guitar, you simply have to play the Martin D-28 and HD-28. My next guitar will be one of the two.
Note: For more details about the history of Martin guitars, I recommend The Martin Book, by Walter Carter. If you want to HEAR what pre- and post-war Martin D-28s sound like in the hands of a master, get the CD Tone Poems, by David Grisman (mandolin) and Tony Rice (guitar). Tony Rice plays Martin D-28s on tracks 6 (a 1935 model) and 16 (a 1952 model), and on track 17, he plays a Santa Cruz Tony Rice guitar (a 1993 model), derived from the early (scalloped bracing) Martin D-28 design.
Recommended:
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