GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria 2012 Martin CS-D18-12

All images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.

FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Martin Custom Shop's CS-D18-12 was inspired by the 1929 Martin/Ditson 111 in the C.F. Martin museum. Martin made dreadnaught guitars for the Oliver Ditson company of New York in the 1920s before making them under their own name beginning in 1931. Not only does this Custom Shop model look similar to the Ditson, the CS-D18-12 goes a step further than Martin's Golden Era vintage models in terms of construction. The Custom Shop built the guitar using hide glue and the neck uses a T-bar instead of an adjustable trussrod. Of course, the Ditson didn't have a T-bar or adjustable truss rod, but the early 1930s dreadnaughts did, so close enough. Of note is the wood chosen for this guitar. The headplate and heel, purely decorative of course, are made of Madagascar rosewood which looks very similar to the Brazilian rosewood used on the Ditson. And like the Ditson, the CS-D18-12 uses old growth Honduran mahogany believed to have been cut in the late 19th or early 20th century and reclaimed from a sunken log in a Belizean river. The combination of wood, T-bar, glue, and even the straight bridge, give this D-18 a clear voice with strong bass that is "more" than found in the Golden Age 12-fret D-18s. Except for players with big hands, it is also more playable by virtue of its slimmer neck with 1 3/4" nut width. Martin limited production of the CS-D18-12 to 75 guitars.

MARTIN CS-D18-12 (2012)

Body: Hollow; solid 2-piece Adirondack spruce top, solid 2-piece mahogany back, and solid mahogany sides; single bound top and back