1966 Martin D-18 Excellent, Hard, $2,995.00

Mid-1960s Martins are a little more lightly built than slightly earlier or later ones, can be a delight to play, and this one is a prime example. It has been in the same hands for over 35 years and has been beautifully kept. It has never had nor needed any major repairs, is virtually crack free other than the standard tiny “pickguard crack” that happens on almost all Martins from the 40s-80s, which was repaired, beautifully and near invisibly at the Martin factory sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Martin factory work is like handwriting, can be identified instantly by those of us who have been working with them for forty or fifty years, as I have. At the same time, it got a new factory bridge and one literally undetectable additional coat of lacquer on the top, took me a while to prove it. Has had a matching tortoise pickguard added on opposite side; be your own Cowboy Star; a little belt-buckle rash on the back, adds character. Has endpin jack for what is probably a Fishman pickup, works well, a bonus. Martins from the mid-60s generally have necks of standard width, and are usually a bit smaller around the back; every Martin neck was hand-shaped in those years no two are alike. Original frets in excellent condition and no other repairs of any sort; never needed a neck reset and still doesn’t; neck perfectly straight too, and it plays just beautifully with typical crisp Martin dreadnaught action and has big, clear Martin Dreadnaught tone. This is a heck of a really nice 50-plus-year-old Martin guitar, at a price that’s almost the same as a new one; a true bargain. Comes with later Martin hard shell case. $2995 w/hsc