1953 Martin D-18 Steel String Acoustic Guitar Used

A flatpicker’s powerhouse, this D-18 has headroom to spare, great balance, and lots of that elusive mahogany Dreadnought crunch that cuts through any jam or mix. It’s mostly original, but note the finish crazing which is not consistent. This guitar took a hit in the treble side lower bout ages ago, which was expertly repaired and the touch-up and overspray was well done. But the overspray did that lacquer crazing thing while the original finish that wasn’t oversprayed did not.

Other things to note are that the bridge plate and all top bracing are original, and a reset and refret was done at Gryphon in 2015. While the no-line Kluson tuners look right they are repros (but the original set of Kluson tuners are in the case but don’t work as well as these). New bridge and end pins. The question Martin aficionados will ask: “is that an Adirondack top” is one we can’t answer with a definite yes or no. We do know that Martin used quite a few Adirondack tops in ’53, and this both looks and sounds like it could be red spruce. But we’re not making any claims, although we doubt anyone would argue that it’s a terrific sounding D-18. We tend to judge D-18s by their weight, and the lighter the better. This one weighs a mere 3 3/4 lbs. Note the Calton case, another plus.