Pre War Martin plans

[PhilQ]

Any suggestions as to who sells or has the best/most detailed/accurate pre-war D or 000/OM plans?

Thanks!!

[CoolerKing]

Tough question because some of the people who do have these keep them closely guarded. My recommendation is to go to the Martin forum (UMGF) and post the question in the technical forum. There are a few world class luthiers there that might send you some stuff.

One thing that is well documented on UMGF is the bracing library, i.e. Backlit photos of various prewar Martins to show bracing placement etc.

[CrystalForest]

Nice plans for dreadnought with forward shifted scalloped X-bracing per Martin Pre-war builds. Makes a great sounding guitar.

Georgia Luthier Supply

[phavriluk]

Maybe someone with firm knowledge can reply - - - I thought SM's plans for their 'Herringbone' guitar was derived from a prewar Martin.

[Howard Klepper]

Originally Posted by CrystalForest

Nice plans for dreadnought with forward shifted scalloped X-bracing per Martin Pre-war builds. Makes a great sounding guitar.

Georgia Luthier Supply

That plan is vague as to exactly what it is a plan of. From what I can see looking at the internet image, the top brace locations look like a pre-1938 Martin D, but the neck is nothing like that of a prewar Martin. There were distinct changes in the Martin design throughout the 1930's and 40's, so when they say "based on the classic Martin D-18's and D-28's that were made so popular in the 1930s and '40s," you really don't have any claim about what guitar is in the plan.

I'd suggest the plan sold by John Hall at Blues Creek Guitars, which is taken from a 1937 D-28. Many people consider the 1937 design to be the epitome of pre-war Martin dreads, but there are plenty who prefer the differences found in other years, too.

[KingCavalier]

I'm using the OM plan from Christophe Grellier.
It's based on the 30's Martin OM and from what I can see it's spot on.

SA