But then these woods are usually dyed and there for one can not go by color. The bridge looks like it is BRW and the fretboard looks to be ebony. The one question I have is related to the fact that Martin Company states that their authentic series is a very close copy to the original, otherwise how could they call it “Authentic”! So my question is this…what is the composition of the fretboard and bridge. Is this the prototype for the 1931 D-1 Authentic that Martin made recently? It certainly has all the features that were included in my wonderful 1931 Authentic. It appears that the starting thickness of the top was 1/7" resawn spruce veneer (roughly 0.140") whereas later Dreadnoughts began with 1/8" (0.125") spruce veneer. It will be seen that the thickness measurements are somewhat higher than Dreadnought guitars. The last photo shows a map of the top thickness at various points. This guitar has black celluloid binding and black and white line of purfling while the other D-1 guitar had white celluloid binding.Ī third D-1 was ordered in September 1931 but the designation was later changed to reflect Martin's regular styles and it was delivered as the first D-18.
Ditson & Co., a D-21 was made about a month earlier for CMI. It will also be seen that this guitar has a single sound hole ring like Ditson Dreadnought guitars.Ĭontrary to conventional wisdom, this is not the first Dreadnought guitar made by Martin for a customer other than C.
However, one had a 19 fret fingerboard while the second had 20 frets. They were clearly made as protoypes for Chicago Musical Instrument Co.
Serial number 47052 was stamped on and cleared final inspection on June 2 that year. I wish I had more photos to share on this guitar but it is so interesting and rare it is worth having at least something to look at!
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