Certain guitars have long been the standard by which all others are judged; the Pre-war Martin D-18 is always one of them. This mid-1940 example represents a beautifully played-in original 14-fret mahogany Dreadnought that has seen endless imitations but very few peers since its birth. While the guitar shows quite a bit of playwear it remains in excellent playing condition and offers the expected fantastic sound one expects. The power and depth of a Dreadnought combines with the sweetness, sparkle, and singing character of the best pre-WWII mahogany Martins in a magical mix, making this an exceptionally versatile flat-top guitar suited to practically any musical situation. This D-18 shows the classic pre-war features of the model, introduced in this form in late 1934 and widely imitated ever since. This wonderful example is a very rare late’39/ Early ’40 transitional Tortoiseshell Headstock D-18. 

Coming out of the Great Depression, Martin built two very special batches of D-18’s. The last 25 D-18s built in 1939 were stamped December 19th, 1939. A few weeks later, the first 25 D-18s of 1940 stamped January 9th, 1940 featured a rare beautiful Tortoiseshell Headstock overlay instead of using rosewood. This was a very short-lived feature on dreadnoughts and first featured on several of the 91 pre-war D-45s. No more than a dozen of these rare D-18s have surfaced over the last 20 years and even fewer have been for sale. This one is from the January 9th batch and recently was sent back to the Martin Custom Shop in Nazereth to have a correct authentic & completely correct profile 1940 neck w/a slight V Shape grafted on utilizing its original Tortoise overlay from its original headstock. Its body has 100% original finish & it’s completely crack free. The neck feels fantastic w/a perfect dot inlaid ebony fingerboard & an early 1940 ebony bridge. Martins bill of sale from their Custom Shop is attached to the photos for inspection. It’s super featherweight & absolutely excellent overall w/piano-like tone w/HUGE volume. Paula at Martin was a pleasure to deal with & she made sure it came out flawlessly.  

The top is made of tight-grained Adirondack spruce, its Honduras mahogany back & sides have aged nicely, bound on the edge with celluloid. The pickguard is made of tortoise celluloid in a small “teardrop” shape, it’s a design that often proved too small to fully protect the top from the ravages of enthusiastic picking. The neck was replaced 2-3 decades ago w/a mahogany classical neck w/its original unbound ebony fingerboard installed. The original tuners are open back individual Grover G-98 pointed plate tuners with metal buttons. This D-18 serial # 74116 was stamped on January 9, 1940 and cleared final inspection on May 21st that year. This was just verified by Martin Guru, “Greig Hutton”. What make this so special is its just 1 of 25 known ever from early 1940 w/a factory tortoise headstock overlay. This feature was also occasionally used on their 0-15 & 0-17’s from 1940-1 to give them a richer appearance. It also sports its original matching tortoise bindings on both sides of its body (all D-18’s had simple black binding all over).

In 1940 the price of a new D-18 was $65 (without case), a sizable expense for many Americans at the time. They sold decently by contemporary standards, with 377 shipped that year. By the 1950s Martin was building two or three times that amount every year; pre-war examples were far scarcer even then. Today at 85 years young, finding a 1940 example even as well preserved as this one is a fairly rare occurrence. In the minds of most acoustic guitar players, collectors, and historians, very few instruments approach the pre-war Martin Dreadnought in terms of sound and historical importance. Compared to all that’s come down the pike since, this is still one of the finest performing or recording guitars imaginable. While the rosewood D-28 is optimized for power and bass response, the D-18 is often a more versatile instrument combining the mellow depth of the Dreadnought with a crisp, slightly dry mahogany ring.