Martin ‘D-28’

This beautiful Martin belonged to a dear friend of mine who sadly passed away in 2004. I’ve always felt I’m the custodian rather than the owner of this instrument.

It’s a great instrument for strumming and flat-picking. I played it in the studio on many occasions. I think I used it on Rise Up, the opening track of the Crossing Borders album. It has a very deep, almost boomy tone, especially now that the strings have lost their spark. When played on its own it’s like a church organ, it really fills the room with those wonderful harmonics. When played with a band sometimes it feels too much, by which I mean that it sounds so full that it’s difficult to let it come to the forefront in the mix.

The D28 is a classic instrument, copied by many brands, particularly in the 70s. In fact, come to think of it, I should include a picture of this next to the Mountain (a Japanese copy of the D28 that a friend kindly donated to me), so you can have fun spotting the differences.