Is there any possibility a Martin OM 28 could be all mahogany?

Ttanik · #1 03-22-2021, 10:34 AM

Hello! I would like your help if possible, on a subject I have been struggling to find out properly which is basically if a Martin i'm interested in purchasing can really be an original Martin

There is an OM 28 (supposedly) for sale at a city 3 hours from mine, but it's an all Mahogany guitar.

As a noob from Brazil, I always thought OM 28s were spruce/rosewood guitars.

As its an expensive guitar, I wanted to check with you, if this could be a counterfeit or, there was indeed a om28 series that were all mahogany. Covid and lockdowns are making it harder for me to see it in person right now =/

https://imgur.com/a/wAkiSZc

Any help is appreciated

Kind regards...

JayBee1404 · #2 03-22-2021, 10:37 AM

Not an OM-28. Probably not even a Martin, it doesn’t look ‘right’ to my eyes.

generalliamsayn · #3 03-22-2021, 10:37 AM

IMO, because it's got the wrong model #, the gold foil CF Martin looks messy, the finish around the tuners looks even messier, I would run away from this one.

jaymarsch · #4 03-22-2021, 10:40 AM

If I remember correctly, you can check the serial number, from the photos that you linked us to, on the Martin website. It might have been a guitar custom ordered by a dealer or an individual which might account for the different tone woods. I hope that you are able to get some info on it. Martin makes really nice all-mahogany guitars.

Best,
Jayne

JayBee1404 · #5 03-22-2021, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

If I remember correctly, you can check the serial number, from the photos that you linked us to, on the Martin website. It might have been a guitar custom ordered by a dealer or an individual which might account for the different tone woods. I hope that you are able to get some info on it. Martin makes really nice all-mahogany guitars.

Best,
Jayne

Jayne, the website would give the year of manufacture, but not the model or any other detail. And I’m pretty sure a Custom wouldn’t have ‘OM-28’ on the neck-block, just ‘Custom’. I think a call to the Mother-Ship is in order!

If it is a Martin, which I seriously doubt, it could be a 000-15 or OM-15, but...

jaymarsch · #6 03-22-2021, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayBee1404

Jayne, the website would give the year of manufacture, but not the model or any other detail. And I’m pretty sure a Custom wouldn’t have ‘OM-28’ on the neck-block, just ‘Custom’. I think a call to the Mother-Ship is in order!

If it is a Martin, which I seriously doubt, it could be a 000-15 or OM-15, but...

Thanks for correcting me, JayBee. I certainly didn't want to be misleading and I agree that checking in with Martin directly would be in order.

Best,
Jayne

JonWint · #7 03-22-2021, 10:55 AM

COUNTERFEIT. Not a Martin. Probably a Chartin (Chinese fake.)

It's worth about $60 US.

Edit: Drastic price increase. (Still worth $60)

https://guitarofchina.com/goods-360-...ic+Guitar.html

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pickinray · #8 03-22-2021, 11:11 AM

It looks like a fake to me. The pickguard and saddle don't look right. Holes in the headstock are rough. Not the right tonewood combination, etc. The serial corresponds to a 2012 build year. I wouldn't touch it.

MFG · #9 03-22-2021, 11:23 AM

This guitar is a 100% unquestionably total fake.

Scotso · #10 03-22-2021, 11:31 AM

If this is supposed to be of newer vintage, it will not say made in USA. There will be a separate line saying it was crafted in the USA etc etc. Also I have never seen a recommendation for string gauge stamped in a Martin. I also have never seen Martin use a compensated saddle like the one on the guitar. And I agree with the many tells others have mentioned.

So....FAKE

Erithon · #11 03-22-2021, 11:31 AM

As everyone else has said: it's a fake.

The rosette is all wrong, the binding is wrong, the gold inlay is dubious, and the neck block should read "custom" if someone had started with an OM-28 and changed a bunch of features. And that wouldn't happen because it would be far cheaper to start with an OM-15 and add in some upgrades. Any dealer would know that and wouldn't let their client go about a custom order so backwards.

JayBee1404 · #12 03-22-2021, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scotso

Also I have never seen a recommendation for string gauge stamped in a Martin.

Martin did indeed laser-etch the string-gauge recommendation on the back strip until a few years ago. I’ve owned three Martins with that ‘string gauge’ message on the back-strip.

Ttanik · #13 03-22-2021, 12:00 PM

To everyone who replied, thank you very much!

I was suspecting it a little bit, but to be honest I was really interested in trying it out and maybe buying it (Never had any Martins, only MIJ Takamines and Asian Cort's, so it's like a dream to own one)

I was risking spending 10 months of brazilian minimum wages, kinda dodged a bullet

Thanks!!!!

Mattface · #14 03-22-2021, 12:05 PM

It is bizarre to me that anyone would go to that much trouble to counterfeit a Martin go stamping logos all over it, and then stamp it with such a clearly wrong model. You'd think if someone was making a counterfeit, they would actually look at an example of the thing they were trying to copy. It would be even more bizarre to think that Martin would ever put a 28 designation on a guitar with no spruce, no rosewood and no binding.

Guitarplayer_PR · #15 03-22-2021, 12:08 PM

I talked to Jose Feliciano and he told me it looks fake. Hey, it's not even mahogany!!!!! That back looks exactly like my cheapo nylon string at the academy I teach.