For Sale: Kimseyfied 1976 Martin Sunburst D35

[CoolerKing]

Up for sale is my "Kimseyfied" 1976 Sunburst Martin D35. As I may have mentioned, I am in a very tight financial situation and have had to make some very tough decisions, specifically my archtop and this guitar. The Archtop is the only one in existence that I know of, and this Martin is special in so many ways.

First of all, it's a birth year guitar for me. I've been slowly looking for a sunburst D35 for quite a while, and when I found this I knew I had waited for a reason. It needed some work when I bought it; the saddle had been worn down to a nub and the bridge was shaved, all because of the inevitable need for a neck set.

For those of you unaware, Bryan Kimsey is the undisputed Continental King of fixing 70s Martins. During that time, Martin's tooling was off by as much as an 8th of an inch, making the scale too short for the fretboard and therefore infuriating to tune. There are a bunch of ways to fix this, but since my guitar already needed a new bridge we decided to move it back an 8th of an inch. THere was just a tad bit of finish under the leading edge so the "scar" is extremely subtle. We swapped out the tuners to Grover 18:1 because the Rotomatics are so heavy; the neck has had a reset, we have refretted 15 of the frets, removed the gigantic rosewood bridgeplate and switched it out for a much smaller but very study Amazon Rosewood plate. All this bridge work enabled us to change the bridge spacing to 2 1/4. Additionally, we installed a new bone nut and saddle, and did a little bit of magic on the saddle and with the bridge spacing, the guitar plays as close to a 1 3/4 nut as we could possibly make it.

I'm sad to see it go, but I am in a real financial bind. Price to you would be $3200, I will pay shipping to CONUS. Comes with original 70's Martin "Steal Me" Case, as well as some case candy, original tuners, pieces of old monster bridge plate.

Condition issues: Finish is original and has some checking, but not a ton. The 12th dot side marker fell out when the finished cracked. There are raccoon eyes around the tuners on the head plate, but we couldn't do anything about that without ruining the Martin logo. Otherwise I would rate in Excellent condition.

If you're interested in Bryan's work, check out his website. Although this may be the very last Kimseyfied Martin.

http://www.bryankimsey.com/music/lutherie.htm

Brian A/B'ing a modified D35 just like mine with an unmodified 70s D28.

[Dalmationdexter]

Wow. That sunburst is gorgeous (and rare!). Bryan Kimsey brings these guitars to life.

Someone is going to be really happy getting this. I would expect to have seen this with a premium for the Kimsey work done and a premium for the rare Martin burst. This is a great deal.

Good luck with the sale!

Cheers,
Mike

[CoolerKing]

Originally Posted by Dalmationdexter

Wow. That sunburst is gorgeous (and rare!). Bryan Kimsey brings these guitars to life.

Someone is going to be really happy getting this. I would expect to have seen this with a premium for the Kimsey work done and a premium for the rare Martin burst. This is a great deal.

Good luck with the sale!

Cheers,
Mike

Thank you so much! I will have all my watches and guitars on the market in the next few weeks save one of each. This one is just a bummer for me because it's my birth year, and how hard is it to find a sunburst D35? So I gave it the Kimsey love. Anyway, thanks for the good thoughts.

[hat]

Originally Posted by matthewpartrick

Thank you so much! I will have all my watches and guitars on the market in the next few weeks save one of each. This one is just a bummer for me because it's my birth year, and how hard is it to find a sunburst D35? So I gave it the Kimsey love. Anyway, thanks for the good thoughts.

Sorry to hear of your financial issues. these are tough times indeed! I'm curious as to what sort of watches you have? Swiss vintage? the old mechanical watches just fascinate me. so intricate, yet complex, mechanical workings that endure all sorts of wear and abuse, yet continue to do what they were designed to do, year after year. Fascinating indeed!

[ClaptonWannabe2]

Originally Posted by hat

I'm curious as to what sort of watches you have? Swiss vintage? the old mechanical watches just fascinate me. so intricate, yet complex, mechanical workings that endure all sorts of wear and abuse, yet continue to do what they were designed to do, year after year. Fascinating indeed!

Out come the watch guys. LOL I am one too.

Guitars and watches. Two expensive hobbies/collections.

[CoolerKing]

Originally Posted by hat

Sorry to hear of your financial issues. these are tough times indeed! I'm curious as to what sort of watches you have? Swiss vintage? the old mechanical watches just fascinate me. so intricate, yet complex, mechanical workings that endure all sorts of wear and abuse, yet continue to do what they were designed to do, year after year. Fascinating indeed!

I won a Rolex Explorer II through The Explorers Club, which got me started. Then I bought a Doxa that actually gets used quite a bit diving. I have a Seamaster that has a ton of sentimental value, and then a Speedmaster. I also have a Laco and a few others from fringe brands. I'm selling everything except the Rolex. What a bummer...

[CoolerKing]

The infamous Martin D35, a guitar that folk and country singer/songwriters gravitate towards.

This one is extra special because:

1) It's my birthyear Martin and I really want to keep it.
2) I had it tuned up by Bryan Kimsey, the best in the business with 70s Ds.
3) It's a sunburst! When was you saw a legitimately playable 70s sunburst Martin? I think their spray booth was down from 1937 to 1994.

My super painful financial straits makes for your gain. Do me a favor and give it a home where it will be loved.

[CoolerKing]

Bump. The classic singer/songwriter guitar.

[CoolerKing]

Cool guitar, price negotiable.

[CoolerKing]

On Hold.