Vintage Martin Guitar

A real sweetheart of a 1983-vintage Martin D-35 guitar.  For anyone not familiar with these, they have rosewood sides and 3-piece back, spruce top, mahogany neck, and bound ebony fingerboard.  They are the ideal accompaniment instrument for a folksinger  -- warm, full, bassy sound, but the 3-piece back seems to make it less strident than its cousin the D-28, which has a 2-piece back.  Built on the 150th anniversary of Martin's founding in 1833, this has the special anniversary marking branded on the back-brace.

This D-35 is in excellent condition, especially for its age. It is LOUD but mellow, fully opened up over the years.  There are absolutely NO cracks, and no significant dings-- just minor playwear.  The original black pickguard is NOT lifting or warped, and there is NO "b-string crack.  (Owners of vintage Martins will appreciate how rare that is for a guitar from this era!) There is a small spot on the upper bass bout where the finish is rubbed off ( I suspect from a previous owner taping his "setlist" there...).  When I got the guitar, the binding was coming loose in a couple of places, and it looked like the previous owner had tried glueing it back in place.  I took it to a Martin repairman and he did it correctly, completely removing and reinstalling the original binding in a professional manner.  If you look hard you can see some evidence of it, but not much.  The action is light to medium; it hasn't had a neckset and doesn't need one; and the fretboard is in great shape with no visible wear.  The first three frets show a little grooving under the b-string, but won't need to be dressed for a long time to come.

The guitar comes with the original black thermoplastic hard-shell case with golden-brown plush interior. It's in as good a shape as the guitar.  No cracks, no dents, no warping, no fading, the latches all work, the "feet" are still attached, and so is the name-plate.  (These cases were brittle and fragile compared to current Martin cases, and it's hard to find one of this age that isn't warped, blistered, cracked, or missing the Martin nameplate).

The I love this guitar and would like to keep it, but I have many more fine guitars than I can possibly keep busy with.  So a few of them need to go out to other pickers who can make great music with them.  You can go out and buy a new one for $3.099 (MSRP) and wait 25 years for it to open up and mellow out...or you can bid on this sweetheart right here.

Any questions, send me an email and I'll get back to you right away.

Returns -- This is a great guitar, and I don't expect an unhappy buyer.  But I myself wouldn't buy an expensive guitar unseen unless there was a return option, so you should expect the same guarantee.  If you are unhappy, please let me know right away, and ship it back within three days.  I'll refund your purchase price, but you'll be responsible for shipping costs in both directions.