Martin D-45 | |
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![]() Gene Autry's original 1933 D-45, s/n 53177, photographed at the Autry National Center; one of only three pre-war D-45s with 12-fret neck (and longer body), all the remainder have 14-fret necks. | |
Manufacturer | C. F. Martin & Company |
Period | 1933–1942, 1968–present |
Construction | |
Body type | Square-shoulder dreadnought |
Neck joint | Dovetail |
Woods | |
Body | Sitka Spruce or Adirondack top Rosewood back and sides |
Neck | Mahogany |
Fretboard | Ebony |
Hardware | |
Bridge | Ebony |
Pickup(s) | Optional L.R.Baggs Element Active |
Colors available | |
Natural |
The Martin D-45 is a steel-string acoustic guitar model made by C. F. Martin & Company. The model was manufactured from 1933 to 1942, and in a second production series since 1968. Martin originally made the guitar's sides and backs of Brazilian rosewood. Martins are ranked among the highest-quality, as well as among the most expensive guitars, and the D-45, regarded as one of the first "luxury guitars", [1] was listed in 2011 as the most valuable production-model guitar. [2]
The first D-45 was a dreadnought guitar based on the Martin D-28 with luxury ornamentation (the "45" designation), [2] made especially for Gene Autry who, in 1933, ordered "the biggest, fanciest Martin he could." [3] This guitar is now encased in glass in the Gene Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California. [4] The next year, Martin made one for Jackie "Kid" Moore, a "12-year-old singing cowboy from Milwaukee, Wisconsin." [5] These first two had a 12-fret neck; most others (except for the 6th, made in 1937) made afterward had a 14-fret neck. [6] Two more were made in 1936 and two again in 1937; [6] the D-45 wasn't catalogued until 1938. [7] Other versions included a D-45S (with a special neck, 1939) and a D-45L (left handed, 1940). [6] The D-45 was the top model of the dreadnought line, [8] which also included the D-28 and D-18 models, priced much lower.
In 1942, as a result of World War II, Martin officially ceased production of the D-45 (as well as other Martin models such as the archtops). [6] This first series of D-45's consisted of only 91 instruments. [1]
The luxurious D-45 resembled the less ornate D-28 model enough to entice entrepreneurial guitar builders and craftsmen to modify the latter to look like the former by adding a pearl border and changing the stamps on the neck block, so they could sell them as the more expensive model. One of those craftsmen was Mike Longworth, a banjo player from Tennessee, who Martin hired specifically to bring the D-45 back. The new D-45, released in 1968, cost $1,200 and was the most expensive flat-top steel-string guitar made in the United States at the time. By 1969, Martin sold twice as many D-45s as during the entire 1933–1942 run; customers included David Crosby and Jimi Hendrix. [1] In 1971, a 12-string model was made, [1] and in 1973, another one. [6]
Longworth also designed a more affordable model, the D-41, making sure that the pearl inlays were done in such a way that the guitar could not be modified to look like a D-45. [1] Since 1968, Martin has produced a number of special versions, including the C.F. Martin Sr. Commemorative D-45 (200 guitars in 1996) and the C.F. Martin Sr. Deluxe D-45 (91 guitars in 1996). [6]
Models produced between 1933 and 1942 (also referred to as "pre-war Martins") are among the most expensive production-model guitars ever made. A listing for $135,000 was noted in a 2005 publication, [9] and in 2011, a Vintage Guitar ranking of valuable guitars saw the D-45 (models made between 1936 and 1942) in first place, worth between $250,000 and $400,000. [2] George Gruhn remarked that pre-war D-45s fetch "more than 20 times as much as a recent issue D-45, even though there is relatively little difference in design." [10] [11]