| Comments | This 2011 Martin Custom Shop D18-12 Ditson is in perfect, brand new condition with full warranty – the legendary Martin ‘lifetime’ warranty is available to the original purchaser only.
Martin’s Custom Shop built a total of 75 of these instruments, and based them on a 1929 Ditson model 111 that resides in the Martin Museum. The Ditson models were the first dreadnought sized guitars. They were made by Martin for Ditson starting in 1916 until Ditson folded in the late 1920’s, and were characterized by austerely simple decoration and very lightweight construction, leading to a very lively, responsive tone. As with this reproduction, the Ditson guitars used spruce for the top, mahogany for the back and sides, no pickguard, and had a 12-fret neck and a slotted peghead. This is a very good sounding instrument. Its light construction makes it a bit more responsive, and the 12-fret neck moves the bridge closer to the center of the top and this produces a fuller tone. |
| Serial Number | 1548378, built at the Martin plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, in late 2011 for 2012 delivery. |
| Pricing | $4,628.00 CAD with original Martin custom shop case. This guitar is sold, and the model has been discontinued. |
| Neck | Mahogany neck with unbound ebony fingerboard, abalone dot position markers. 25.4 inch scale length with 1.75 inch nut width. |
| Frets | 12 frets to the body, 19 in total. |
| Body | D-style body, using an Adirondack Spruce top and sinker mahogany from Belize. Binding is Madagascar Rosewood, Delmar faux tortoise pickguard, ebony bridge. |
| Finish | Thin gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish. |
| Hardware/electronics | All original hardwear with no wear. Fossilized ivory nut and saddle, Waverly nicke plated, tooled tuning machines with grained ‘butterbean’ ivoroid buttons. |
| Playability/Action | Plays very well, just like a new Martin! |
| Case | Original hardshell, archtop ‘grained’ case with Martin Custom Shop logos and guitar cover. |
