C. F. Martin D-28 Owned and Used by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1957)
LOADING IMAGES
Just Arrived!
This item is currently on hold.
Item # 12650
Prices subject to change without notice.
C. F. Martin D-28 Owned and Used by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1957), made in Nazareth, PA, serial # 158994, natural lacquer finish, Brazilian rosewood back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, black hard shell case.
This very well-worn Martin D-28 dates to late 1957, a year or so before the Kingston Trio made ownership of this exact instrument a badge of honor for EVERY aspiring folk guitarist. Country & Western stars of the day had also made the D-28 their standard, and many top artists would not be seen without one. This D-28 has a more recent artist provenance, having been a prominent stage guitar for Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. It is an instantly recognizable guitar thanks to the double pickguards, which appear period. Jeff often played this guitar with a tooled leather cover (ala Elvis and Ricky Nelson) but the twin pickguards make it instantly recognizable even so.
The D-28 has a long pedigree as the frontman's guitar; after WWII it was the biggest, best and most expensive guitar Martin made. The elaborate pearl trimmed models were discontinued during the war and not revived, leaving this comparatively austere rosewood Dreadnought as top of the line. Despite strong competition from Gibson's Jumbos, in the 1950s the D-28 was the final word in a flat-top stage instrument to most professional players.
This example was one of 921 sold in 1957, the model's highest total to date even at the fairly stiff price of $270 (without case). It shows the classic period appointments: multi-layer celluloid binding on the back and top, a long-saddle ebony bridge, "Big-dot" graduated pearl inlaid ebony fingerboard, tortoise pattern Celluloid pickguard(s) and the then brand new "patent pending" Grover Rotomatic tuners. It features a beautiful straight-grained Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a tight and even-grained spruce top that would also be considered premium wood today. The mahogany neck is slimmer than some with a noticeable "soft V" profile.
This is a seriously worn in, used guitar and as with most old Martins its real beauty comes in the playing. The D-28 is one of the most respected of all Martin models, and this is an easy playing example, deep and warm sounding example with a powerful bass response. This one has been "rode hard" for decades but still delivers, a super friendly stage guitar that has been many places along the way.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 15 3/4 in. (40 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 5 in. (12.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a VERY played-in guitar with wear and repair abounding but structurally completely solid and very playable. And you want to talk vibe? This D-28 has it for days, showing signs of decades of use even before reaching the Wilco Loft. The finish is HEAVILY checked on the back, sides and headstock and very well ambered on the top. There is a lot of loss to the back from both buckle wear and exposure to moisture, with a decent amount of finish missing. The back of the neck is also very heavily worn down to the wood over much of its length. Really there is wear just about everywhere on the guitar, although apart from a couple of case lid dings and a dirty spot by the upper corner the top is the least disturbed area. The neck and headstock had a thin lacquer overspray decades ago that is heavily checked and mostly worn off again.
The top does have a nasty looking crack repair off the bottom edge of the lower pickguard, solidly but pretty artlessly sealed up with splices long ago. There is some overfinish to the top in this area only. This area is ugly but solid. The top also has a sealed up bash mark on the lower bout treble edge and couple of small sealed grain splits between the front edge of the bridge and pickguards that are relatively inconspicuous. The double tortoise celluloid pickguards look quite old, 1950s or '60s certainly but there are marks on the soundhole rim indicating another set of double guards was once installed that were just slightly larger, covering more of the rosette.
Internally the braces are intact and unaltered with some noticeable signs of re-gluing under the treble half of the top. The original small maple bridge plate is still in place and has had the pin holes patched and redrilled. The neck looks to have been reset long ago and what appears to be the original bridge has been lowered somewhat on the treble side and reglued. A strap button was added on the heel.
Specific modifications for Jeff's stage use include small dot stickers applied as position markers on the side of the neck (a couple quite well worn) and a Sunrise soundhole pickup fitted, wired to an endpin jack. There is a small label on the back of the headstock reading "D-28 #1". This instrument has certainly had many adventures along the road but is an excellent playing guitar, chunky sounding but smooth and even.
This D-28 remains exactly as it has lately lived in the Wilco loft still carrying Jeff's old strings, optimized as an amplified stage guitar but a re-stringing and pickup removal would give it more acoustic resonance. The hardshell case has the Wilco Loft's identifying labels intact, reading "JT 1957 MARTIN D-28 with DOUBLE PICKGUARD for leather cover". The strap Jeff used with the guitar (as pictured many times) and a "Wilco" brand Herco style nylon pick (very clever that!) are included; the tooled leather cover is not! We have left Jeff's very worn strings on the guitar, but can of course change them if desired. This is a super cool artist instrument, a real veteran of a guitar with a LOT of stories played into it Overall Very Good + Condition.
This very well-worn Martin D-28 dates to late 1957, a year or so before the Kingston Trio made ownership of this exact instrument a badge of honor for EVERY aspiring folk guitarist. Country & Western stars of the day had also made the D-28 their standard, and many top artists would not be seen without one. This D-28 has a more recent artist provenance, having been a prominent stage guitar for Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. It is an instantly recognizable guitar thanks to the double pickguards, which appear period. Jeff often played this guitar with a tooled leather cover (ala Elvis and Ricky Nelson) but the twin pickguards make it instantly recognizable even so.
The D-28 has a long pedigree as the frontman's guitar; after WWII it was the biggest, best and most expensive guitar Martin made. The elaborate pearl trimmed models were discontinued during the war and not revived, leaving this comparatively austere rosewood Dreadnought as top of the line. Despite strong competition from Gibson's Jumbos, in the 1950s the D-28 was the final word in a flat-top stage instrument to most professional players.
This example was one of 921 sold in 1957, the model's highest total to date even at the fairly stiff price of $270 (without case). It shows the classic period appointments: multi-layer celluloid binding on the back and top, a long-saddle ebony bridge, "Big-dot" graduated pearl inlaid ebony fingerboard, tortoise pattern Celluloid pickguard(s) and the then brand new "patent pending" Grover Rotomatic tuners. It features a beautiful straight-grained Brazilian rosewood back and sides and a tight and even-grained spruce top that would also be considered premium wood today. The mahogany neck is slimmer than some with a noticeable "soft V" profile.
This is a seriously worn in, used guitar and as with most old Martins its real beauty comes in the playing. The D-28 is one of the most respected of all Martin models, and this is an easy playing example, deep and warm sounding example with a powerful bass response. This one has been "rode hard" for decades but still delivers, a super friendly stage guitar that has been many places along the way.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 15 3/4 in. (40 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 5 in. (12.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a VERY played-in guitar with wear and repair abounding but structurally completely solid and very playable. And you want to talk vibe? This D-28 has it for days, showing signs of decades of use even before reaching the Wilco Loft. The finish is HEAVILY checked on the back, sides and headstock and very well ambered on the top. There is a lot of loss to the back from both buckle wear and exposure to moisture, with a decent amount of finish missing. The back of the neck is also very heavily worn down to the wood over much of its length. Really there is wear just about everywhere on the guitar, although apart from a couple of case lid dings and a dirty spot by the upper corner the top is the least disturbed area. The neck and headstock had a thin lacquer overspray decades ago that is heavily checked and mostly worn off again.
The top does have a nasty looking crack repair off the bottom edge of the lower pickguard, solidly but pretty artlessly sealed up with splices long ago. There is some overfinish to the top in this area only. This area is ugly but solid. The top also has a sealed up bash mark on the lower bout treble edge and couple of small sealed grain splits between the front edge of the bridge and pickguards that are relatively inconspicuous. The double tortoise celluloid pickguards look quite old, 1950s or '60s certainly but there are marks on the soundhole rim indicating another set of double guards was once installed that were just slightly larger, covering more of the rosette.
Internally the braces are intact and unaltered with some noticeable signs of re-gluing under the treble half of the top. The original small maple bridge plate is still in place and has had the pin holes patched and redrilled. The neck looks to have been reset long ago and what appears to be the original bridge has been lowered somewhat on the treble side and reglued. A strap button was added on the heel.
Specific modifications for Jeff's stage use include small dot stickers applied as position markers on the side of the neck (a couple quite well worn) and a Sunrise soundhole pickup fitted, wired to an endpin jack. There is a small label on the back of the headstock reading "D-28 #1". This instrument has certainly had many adventures along the road but is an excellent playing guitar, chunky sounding but smooth and even.
This D-28 remains exactly as it has lately lived in the Wilco loft still carrying Jeff's old strings, optimized as an amplified stage guitar but a re-stringing and pickup removal would give it more acoustic resonance. The hardshell case has the Wilco Loft's identifying labels intact, reading "JT 1957 MARTIN D-28 with DOUBLE PICKGUARD for leather cover". The strap Jeff used with the guitar (as pictured many times) and a "Wilco" brand Herco style nylon pick (very clever that!) are included; the tooled leather cover is not! We have left Jeff's very worn strings on the guitar, but can of course change them if desired. This is a super cool artist instrument, a real veteran of a guitar with a LOT of stories played into it Overall Very Good + Condition.