187*** One Year Later

It's exactly a year ago that I got the old D-18. I played the thing most of the day yesterday, on a cold slushy/snowy day, that seemed tailor-made for loafing. This is one of the the nicest sounding guitars that I have ever played. I have never been a big fan of Martins, or the D-18, so when this one fell into my lap, so to speak, I only thought of it as a rescue project, and one that I would probably move along to someone fairly soon after it was done. But now, after getting to know it as an instrument, rather than as a puzzle which needed to be solved, I have to say...this is a great guitar and...I think I want to keep it. A long time ago I was lucky enough to play a 1937 D-18. The first strum proved to me what all the fuss was about. I walked away from that experience with a new respect for what an old Martin could be. In the years since I have never played another Martin D-anything that had the vibe of that '37. To me, the Martins I have encountered seemed fairly bland; nice sounding, but bland, so I didn't pick up that, "I-need-me-a-Martin" bug. I knew that the really great ones were way out of my reach, financially anyway. This guitar, while certainly no collector's item, will satisfy any residual D-18 longing I may have had hidden deep within my vintage guitar psyche. As a '63 it still has all of the design elements that I find cool in these things. Above all, Martin was still using hide glue to build their guitars in the early sixties. I believe hide glue is very important to the sound of a guitar. Call me crazy; but that's what I believe. In addition, this particular instrument has all the right stuff: a great neck feel, nice action, frets and fretboard, and that tone that we are all looking for. It also has the cool individual small Kluson tuners (before they switched to the huge and ugly Grovers) which I think match the feel of the 18 series better. It has the rounded headstock corners of the fifties and sixties which were the result of a well-used, (some might say overused) template from the Pennsylvania factory. It has the tortoise pickguard and binding, rather than the black that Martin would switch to in the mid 60's. And, this particular guitar has the shadow of a hard life it lived before I got it, the scars of mishaps that it just barely survived. I like how I let it wear these scars openly too. There was just no way I wanted to send it to off to Martin, or to some expert repair guy/luthier, and spend thousands of dollars on it so it could be all artificially perfect again. What's the point of that? This guitar has had a tough life, and it's earned its place at the table with the veterans. Side by side, tone-wise I don't know how it would compare to the '37, and I don't really care. It has presence, tone, sustain, depth, a dynamic woody tonal range across all the strings, with perfect dead-on intonation. But more than anything, it has a sweetness I have never heard from one of these before. If you were in a shop with a dozen D-18s, this is the one you'd keep coming back to if you were primarily looking for a great sounding guitar. I think this is the guitar you'd leave the shop with too. This guitar has that "it" factor. It says, "Play me. I'll give you back more than you came with."

All together now

The new pickguard looks good.

The whole guitar looks good.

And it sounds amazing.

It Plays

I've been playing the guitar this weekend, and despite the fact that the nut is sitting on a shim that's too tall, while the original saddle is sitting on a shim that still makes it too low, let me just say this: Holy *&%$^@!#!

This old beast sounds like a canyon. It's got sweetness, depth, tone, range, balance, and that dry woody thing I can never explain, but only recognize when I hear it. This guitar sounds way better than I expected it to, and far better than I can describe.

It plays.

Now for a little set-up work, and then the installation of the pickguard. I kind of like the old one, that came with the guitar, but the concensus around the house is that it looks like an old telephone receiver. I have a new 'guard that looks pretty cool on there. It is a nice one, and looks pretty correct for this vintage of a Martin guitar. I guess I will listen to the critics on this one.

Neck ON

We glued the neck back on today. It's a guitar again. Now, it'll need some set-up work, and the guitar will play music once more.  What will it sound like?

Top patch redux

The top patch that Todd convinced me to re-do, looks really good. Todd helped mightily, with the binding as well as the tinting of the very, very white patch. Thanks Todd. Numerous layers of French Polish have been applied.

Bridge work

Last night the bridge was reattached to the top of the guitar. Chisel made a nice clamping caul and I mixed up a fresh batch of hide glue. It seemed about as perfect as glue can be. I left the bridge clamped overnight, and all today. Overkill perhaps.

French Polish

A lot has happened since my last post. The violence that was deliberately done to the top has been repaired and disguised to look a lot like the rest of the top. Additionally, a few coats of french polish have been applied. The light is on at the end of the tunnel. I believe the guitar will be making music soon.

Chunks

Yes, that's right; what was once a patched complete top, now has a fresh hole in it, inflicted by me, with a little help from the Chisel. Why?! Why would we do such a thing? Well, long story short, the guitar guy we most respect--Todd at Fraulini Guitars--said, "You don't want to put a finish on the top and then look at the four piece patch and think...maybe I shoulda done something about that..."  And, well, as much as I hate to take a step backward like this, I know he's right. So, when the Chisel came over the other night, he agreed too, and that sealed it. So, we got all abusive with the guitar and produced more wreckage.

I also need to find/order/make some binding that will somewhat match the stuff on the top of the guitar. There's also a little patch in the back of the guitar that I need to take care of too. So, one step forward and a few steps back?