1973 Martin D28
 

Hi everyone. A friend has asked me to try and sell a guitar for him. Its a 1973 Martin D28 and he says it is in good to vg condition. It has a little wear because it was played. He also said something about it being special due to the size of the sound hole size being larger and the practice was discontinued after that model (Never heard of it myself) .
He says he has had it appraised and in writing from a luthier.

He wants me to try ebay and I have no idea what to sell it for.

1. Was/is this some special edition guitar

Thanks for your time.

This is going to be a hard thread since we're not supposed to talk about guitar pricing.

Oh, and as far as the soundhole goes it was probably enlarged after the fact to be more like Tony/Clarence's guitar.

A 1973 D-28 can be a good guitar, but it is no better than any from the more current crop. Many of the seventies guitars were overbuilt, and their tone can reflect that. Some of the early seventies Martins have some QC issues like an incorrectly placed saddle. Correctable problems, but potential issues nonetheless. And that's before you even consider that a guitar of that age might have age related issues like cracks, pickguard separation, neck angle, etc.

If it had an enlarged soundhole, it's likely that that has been done by a previous owner, and it will hurt its value instead of enhancing it.

IMHO, your mentioned minimum price is pretty optimistic. (I suspect that the mods will take issue with you mentioning prices BTW.)

This auction might be a decent indicator:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1972-Martin-D-28...item45f2ddb8e1

Thanks. That does say a lot...

Scratz, I'm going to be charitable and assume that your friend is merely repeating a load of horse puckey that somebody told him . But the truth is that:

1.) Early 70's Martins are probably the least sought-after of any guitars Martin has ever built;

and

2.) An enlarged soundhole is something that Martin would have been appalled by during that era, and wouldn't have done even on a special order, much less as a stock feature on any of their regular production guitars. It wasn't until MANY years later that the continuing popularity of Tony Rice and the customized Martin he owns more or less forced Martin to make it an option and to have enlarged soundholes on a few limited edition instruments.

So, without any question, this guitar got fiddled with by someone between the time it left the factory and the time your buddy acquired it.

My sincere advice to you is that you tell your friend that you'd rather he sold his own guitar. This is not going to be the best friendship-building enterprise you could engage in.


Wade Hampton Miller

You'll find some 70's D-28 prices among this group, they tend to be a bit all over the place, depends on condition:

http://www.gbase.com/stores/gear/gea...rd=martin+d-28

In addition to other issues, guitars from that era typically need or will need fairly soon a neck reset and compression fret job if they haven't had one, and may need the neck straightened to begin with.

While some of these 70's 28s had/have issues (saddle misplacements, larger "tone killer" bridge plates, over-built bracing), some of them are real gems.

I negotiated a great price on a 1976 D-18 because it had some of these problems, but I also realized it had a great warm, aged tone regardless. I invested in selected repairs and couldn't be happier with the outcome: it sounds better than any current or late model 18 I've tried or heard.

Let the luthier set the price, you shouldn't have to. Stay as neutral as you can, and warn you're buddy he's technically dealing with damaged goods because of the modifications to the soundhole, even though it may sound great. Good Luck!

Hi a 1971 Martin D-28 just sold online for $xxxx in beautiful condition in New Zealand, you can work out the exchange rate, hope this helps :)

Daza.

Hi Wade. Funny you mention Tony Rice. He did mention that name when he first talked about the guitar..

Another Question. What kind of info would the serial number reveal about the guitar?

Sorry, this is not a "special" guitar, and I do collect Martins.

Other folks like Wade have already covered the 70's part, and as mentioned the enlarged soundhole is a detriment not a plus.

If done at the factory, and I agree Martin probably would not have done it in those days, the guitar would be stamped "custom". A modification by the best luthier in the world is still a negative versus having a pristine stock instrument.

Appraisals (and not just guitars) are typically very high and do not reflect the real market, the appraiser gets paid and the owner is happy, but insurance claims will only reflect a percentage of the inflated appriasal.

That guitar is worth less than a typical 73 Martin with the enlarged soundhole, and early 70's Martins are not held in high esteem and prices are lower in general than other decades.

If your friend thinks he has a special guitar he will not be happy with what it is really worth, I would back out of selling it for him, it's a losing proposition.

I've always been curious as to why I see so many "I'm selling this for my friend" things on eBay. If it's legit (not referring to the OP here) I've always assumed that it's because either:

1) a lot of people have lazy friends
or
2) the selling friend has better eBay feedback, and it's assumed that people will be more likely to by from them than the friend that actually owns the item
or
3) the friend that owns the item is away (at school, military service, etc.), need money, and can't get at said item

I guess it would really never occur to me to ask a friend to sell something for me, just wondering why it happens.

Call me cynical, but I echo your observations and to me, it works totally the 'wrong' way - I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole.

My immediate question is: Why doesn't the owner sell it. If he hasn't got an account, the 'friend' can help him set one up.

Perhaps I'm just not a particularly trusting soul.

http://www.gbase.com/stores/gear/gea...rd=martin+d-28

Here's what a bunch of 1973 Martin D-28's are selling for to be even more year specific.

Go to UMGF and ask them how much lower your friend's D-28 should be now that the sound hole was enlarged.

HE