C. F. Martin D-28 Authentic Custom Shop Aged Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (2022), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 2730657, natural lacquer finish, Indian rosewood back and sides, Adirondack spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.

This Custom Shop Martin D-28 Authentic takes the company�s venerable rosewood Dreadnought back closer to its Depression-era roots, but is not an exact re-creation of a specific year's pre-war guitar. It DOES have features that experienced players had been asking the company for decades including hand scalloped, forward X bracing on the Adirondack spruce top, hot hide glue and cloth strip construction and the wider 1 3/4" nut used in the mid-'30s. The neck is fitted with an adjustable truss rod, not a true 1930s feature but very useful for the modern player.

The back and sides are boldly straight grained Indian rosewood, Martin's standby for the last 55+ years if not exactly "authentic" to the 1930s. The top has a new thinner, harder lacquer finish with what the Custom Shop calls "Stage 1 Ageing" which is a subtle delicate checking. Theoretically at least this allows the wood the "breathe" more than the standard finishes, promoting a livelier sound and quicker actual "ageing in". This is a lovely instrument to play, more responsive than many modern Dreadnoughts and a nice example of Martin re-imagining their own roots for the 21st century.

Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 15 7/8 in. (40.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).

This guitar looks to have been lightly gigged, with just a few notable wear spots and some general light handling marks. The top is discreetly checked from the factory but shows little that appears to be actual wear. There is one scratch to the finish on the lower side in the waist area and several in a tight grouping on the back that have been lightly touched up, apart from these the guitar shows little finish disturbance. A passive 3-point K&K pickup has been added under the bridgeplate wired to an endpin jack for gigging purposes, and a strap button added to the heel. The frets show virtually no wear and this is a lovely player, with a sweeter sound than some Dreadnoughts just starting to age in. It resides in the original HSC with some Martin Custom Shop paperwork. Overall Excellent Condition.