Martin D35 3 piece back question/martin tuner to grover question

[zumaboy]

I like Grovers on Les Pauls and hate them on Martins, but that's just me. The Ping tuners on my '92 D-28 started acting up so I replaced them with Waverly's. Can't remember, but I think it required conversion bushings but that was no big deal. The Ping tuners are good quality, I wouldn't change them unless they start getting hinky...

[sbeirnes]

My 3 piece back is lighter in the centre. I really really really like 3 piece backs. Does anyone besides Martin do this?

D35's look as pretty as they sound.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by sbeirnes

My 3 piece back is lighter in the centre. I really really really like 3 piece backs. Does anyone besides Martin do this?

D35's look as pretty as they sound.

Morris guitars from Japan do a 3-piece back on some models.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by djwayne

Why would you want to change the tuners ??

I've thought about it myself but I would only change to gold plated tuners, if I made any change.

It was a standard change among players to change stock Martin tuners to Grovers. A perceived upgrade by many I'm sure. I agree that there are better ones on the market now than they were then, such as Gotoh.

Why would you change out tuners for a gold finish, that is my question?

Originally Posted by AveEscapeArtist

Anyway I just got a killer deal on a 2001 Martin D35, and she is a beauty! My question however , is was it common for Martin to use one solid piece of wood for the 3 piece back?

So uncommon that I would say never. It's more apparent with some back sets than others, but the design of the D-35 was to have a contrasting center wedge. So, if the outer panels are lighter, the center will usually be darker. Or the other way around in reverse.

Originally Posted by AveEscapeArtist

Also I was wondering if I could drop grovers in without drilling or any upgraded tuners for that matter that don't require drilling into my new best friend? The tuners that are on it are the regular Martin's that have the screw towards the bottom inside.

A photo of the tuners would help. Martin-branded enclosed tuners of that era were made by both Schaller and Ping. I wouldn't expect modern Grover Rotomatics (imported) to be any better than Pings, and they certainly won't fit the footprint. If yours are Schallers, then that's as good as you'll get on a production guitar and miles ahead of the current Rotomatics.

[Yamaha Man]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Why would you change out tuners for a gold finish, that is my question?

To match the gold foil lettering on the headstock. I think they'd look cool. Being a coin collector, I appreciate gold and silver. Gold tuners to me would be a status symbol. I used to have them on my old Les Paul Custom and liked them very much. I sold the Les Paul and the gold tuning pegs were a big selling point.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by sbeirnes

My 3 piece back is lighter in the centre. I really really really like 3 piece backs. Does anyone besides Martin do this?

D35's look as pretty as they sound.

Hi sbeirnes...
Yes, other companies and many builders build multi-piece backs.

The D-35 is an obvious 3 piece back laid out in decorative manner.

Many Ziracote backs are actually 4 piece backs closely matched so they look like a Book Matched 2 piece back. This next picture is a friend's Kronbauer (Ziracote/Cedar). It is a 4 piece back...

[AveEscapeArtist]

Ok so here are some pics of my new D35. Thanks for all the replies everyone!
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[Dirty Bill]

The middle piece on the back of mine is the same color,but the grain is different.The tuners say grover.

[L20A]

As many of us already know, the D-35 was introduced into the Martin line when Brazilian Rosewood started to become scarce.
Martin could use smaller pieces of wood that otherwise was scrap by gluing 3 pieces together for the backs.
For a year or two the center strip was still Brazilian and the book matched outer pieces were East Indian.

[phavriluk]

Story I got that Martin found a way to differentiate a D-35 from other Dreadnaughts and use up undersized wood at the same time. A little more labor, a little more bling, and wood that would otherwise be unused put to good use.

[woodstock64]

Congrats and welcome. I see why you would think all three pcs are from the same piece of wood but It's extremely unlikely. The whole reason for the three piece back was because Martin did not have big enough pieces of BRW to form a full back so the started constructing some of their backs with three pieces of RW. Therefore cutting one piece into three would defeat the whole purpose of the three piece back.

[Mrbirdog]

off topic but why are you hidin that d35 from that nice horse ??? Does he play ????
Mrbirdog

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

The ones that are stamped Martin are made by Ping. Ping also makes Grovers BTW. Gotoh's are noticeably better than either IMO.

Mine has a much darker center wedge.

[AveEscapeArtist]

Originally Posted by Mrbirdog

off topic but why are you hidin that d35 from that nice horse ??? Does he play ????
Mrbirdog

Mrbirdog, how do you like your D16rgt? Does the richlite bother you at all? And upon inspection can you tell it's not ebony? How's the guitar sound? If I wouldn't have found such a good deal on my D35, it would've either been the rgt, or the mmv/dsr. I actually really really like the dsr's but I fear the the satin finish on a Sitka top, or just that guitar particularly would pick up a lot of dirt and eventually end up looking bad. I've played mmv's that have sounded much better than some d28's. Very strange to me. I did hear that a d28/d35/standard Martin brand new out of the box would sometimes not sound as good as say a mmv or rgt, but that in the long run the standards tend to sound better. Aging better/ opening up more than the slightly lower priced models... Anyone want to chime in? Would love to hear some opinions

[Fireside_Guitar]

Some old pics of my OM-35. Oval Waverly tuners and Tor-Tis guard were the first things I had modded.