Description
Exceptional / #180999
No cracks, No fret wear
Brazilian RW Back and Sides
Professionally Intonated
This 1961 Martin T-28 is exceptional! Master grade Brazilian Rosewood back and sides; Master grade Spruce top; Mahogany neck; Ebony fingerboard and bridge.
It would be hard to find any 65-year-old Martin instrument that is at this level of great condition. And it comes with its original hard case.
* When this instrument came from the Martin factory, it would not play perfectly in tune. This was mostly due to the original bridge had a simple straight wire saddle which placed all the intonation marks along one line. An experienced luthier in Chicago fashioned a perfect fit new bridge that allowed 4 separate bone saddles, one for each string course. Not only does it look superior to the original Martin bridge, it allows the instrument to be much more accurately in tune.
Brazilian Rosewood peghead overlay has the Martin & Co decal at the top of the slotted peghead. This is a ten-stringed instrument. It uses four string courses: 1st= 2 strings; 2nd= 3 strings; 3rd= 3 strings; 4th= 2 strings. Graduated pearl dot inlays in f.b. Twelve-fret neck joint. 18 total frets. Small dot position markers along the bass side fingerboard. Ivoroid heel cap.
The body has Master Grade quarter-sawn Brazilian Rosewood back, sides and the peghead overlay. Master grade Spruce top. A major part of the overall beauty of this Tiple is the thoughtful bindings all around the top and back. Ivoroid outer binding around the Spruce top edge with 5-ply purflings seen inside the main binding. The soundhole rosette has 11-plies of ivo/blk/ivo…etc. Ivoroid end wedge with 3-ply binding edges. The back is more simpler with 3-ply bindings seen from the back face.
The Intonated Ebony bridge is well-designed and works. More than that, it looks very “original” (looks more like a high end original bridge than the true original bridge looks.
Check the photos… it is like stringing a classical guitar with ball-end strings. There are 4 bone individual intonated saddle pieces, one for each course of strings.
This is a high-end, well-appointed Tiple. The crisp, clean condition is astonishing! The tone is delightful. Comes with the original hard case.
