Are modern D-18s built to the same specs as 60's and 70's models?

[mikedanton]

Are modern D-18s built to exactly the same specs as 60's and 70's models?

A friend of mine has told me about a 1969 D-18 that's up for sale. It's in good condition and shows no sign of cracks.

Not sure if it's worth buying since I already own a 2003 D-18.

Thanks.

Mike.

[Jerry K]

Martin started using adjustable truss rods in 1985. Bracing has also undergone changes over the years.

[drive-south]

Martin's from the 60's had very rounded headstocks, because their tooling was warn from 40 years of use. They also had those big Grover Rotomatic tuners which look ok on some guitars but not on a Martin. Newer ones use either the Martin sealed tuners or vintage style open gears. My personal preference is the vintage open gears. Some players don't like them because they have very small buttons, but they look great on the paddle headstock.

Other than that the bracing was heavier and the neck profile was also differant. Martin uses 2 differant neck profiles now. Their standard series uses the slim neck and vintage series uses a soft V-shape neck.

I'd prefer a newer D18 anyday, especially a D-18GE.

[rmyAddison]

Mike,

As mentioned specs have changed over the decades.........

Mother Nature has a way of improving guitars over the years, if in good shape I'll go older every time.

Play the '69 against yours and keep the winner, no need for two mahogany dreads. That's what I would do, good Luck!

[Tone Gopher]

Originally Posted by drive-south

Martin's from the 60's had very rounded headstocks, because their tooling was warn from 40 years of use.

That sounds like urban legend to me. Most tools stop cutting rather than "go round". Saw blades and other cutters usually get sharpened or replaced. Could we call Myth Busters on that one? I'm betting it was a conscious design choice.

[drive-south]

It has to be true. I read it on the internet.

drive-south

[NJJax]

The way that I heard it, the change in the curvature of the Martin headstock was not because of saw blades -- it was because of the template that the Martin builders used to outline the headstock. The template was made of wood, and during years of tracing, the graphite in the pencils wore down the corners of the template wood. It makes sense to me.

Empirically, I have a Martin from the 1960's and one from the late 1980's and the corners are more rounded on the headstock of the the '60's Martin. Also, I have some catalogs from the early 1970's and they show the more rounded headstock corners. Finally, I checked the photos at the Gryphon site and they show the same difference in the curvature of the corners of the headstock.

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by Tone Gopher

That sounds like urban legend to me. Most tools stop cutting rather than "go round". Saw blades and other cutters usually get sharpened or replaced. Could we call Myth Busters on that one? I'm betting it was a conscious design choice.

You are confusing tools (cutters and blades) with tooling (jigs, and templates).

Martin used hardwood jigs and templates. Over the years the headstock templates had gotten rounded off a bit, and the jigs for placing the bridge had worn, causing the problematic intonation issues of some 70's era Martins.

[stuco]

In the late 60s they got thick rosewood bridgeplates, some thicker braces etc. The late 60s and 70s martins are good but can be made better with a little work. Those negative things were fixed around the end of the 70s. The neck profiles are different now. They used cedar necks and 'wings' now (though these things take nothing away from the sound, structural integrity or playability). The new ones use the raised logo which I don't like but most probably don't care. The necks are satin finished on newer ones too.

[Zigeuner]

Originally Posted by Tone Gopher

That sounds like urban legend to me. Most tools stop cutting rather than "go round". Saw blades and other cutters usually get sharpened or replaced. Could we call Myth Busters on that one? I'm betting it was a conscious design choice.

The early Martin headstock is noticeably smaller, say on my 1962 D-28, than on the 1967 D-35 that I have. It's obviously a design change for a different appearance. The headstocks are clearly different and the change was made around the time that the glue-in saddle was changed to a drop in -1965 or so.