Any acoustic buffs know what a Martin D41 is worth? Now with pics!

fretfinder

I've been offerd a D41 as a swap for my Historic 335 which is on the classifieds here. It's not the vintage reissue D41 but the standard model with the hexagonal inlays. It's from '97 and played so not mint, and has an under saddle pickup fitted. I'm asking £2k for my 335, any idea what the D41 is worth? Cheers.

Evilmags

What are the specs. New ones are situated spruce. If the top is Ariondak it is worth as least 3,000. What they were in 97 god knows, but the classic Martin sound is Ariondak.

fretfinder

I would imagine it's Sitka spruce but how would you tell?

richardhomer

I would suggest a 'pearly' Martin is definitely £2500-£3000 - with the caveat it has no obvious issues.

Models beyond 35 series are very rare in this country and Martin build-quality was very high around that period.

CloudNine

fretfinder said:

I would imagine it's Sitka spruce but how would you tell?

Typically, Adirondack has much wider grain than Sitka. It is easy to tell the difference once you check out a few. Show us a close up pic of it and should be able to tell you which it is.

And by the way, while Adi is considered a bit of a holy grail these days, it may not be what you like best. It's often louder with more headroom, but if you want a nice warm strummer to sing with, Sitka is often better. I have both and probably on the whole prefer Sitka.

fretfinder

Thanks @richardhomer and @CloudNine, pics below, low res unfortunately but it's all I've got. You can see a wear patch behind the first fret where the board has gone paler, should that happen with ebony? 

This other one is on eBay for £1800 with no bids and has failed to sell twice before. Maybe collection only from deepest Wales isn't helping.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1989-Martin-D41-dreadnaught-acoustic-guitar-/151440098711?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2342888597

Thanks again guys.

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/52f88c128d6b88195b0f95b7f88f4330.jpg

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/c2d47cbd9f3437dd8dc1e7b9a7816919.jpg

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Fretfinder/7311dd21eb51f1328aaa843d7cae1694.jpg

richardhomer

The wear mark I suspect is emphasised by the flash used to take the picture. It looks like there are some lighter streaks on the bass side as well - not all ebony is completely black. I'd be more concerned about the added strap button screwed into the heel cap. Definitely in the wrong place and couldn't be removed invisibly....

In some respects, I'm not surprised it hasn't sold on eBay. Acoustic guitars vary enormously in terms in tone from sample to sample. I doubt many players would buy at this price level without being able to compare it to others.

Any high-end guitar is a risk from the point of view of what you might get for it if you needed to sell it quickly - so it depends whether you think it would be a 'keeper'?

FWIW, I bought a brand new D28 22 years ago - I still own it. In that sense it was a great buy, as it has provided fantastic long-term value - it's cost me the equivalent of 15p a day.

CloudNine

I would hazard a guess from that distance that the guitar is Sitka. The 'Cross Silking'  you can see between the grains seems fairly prominent, and that is seen much more often in Sitka, than Adirondack.

I am 85% sure from that distance. Close up shot and sure we could defo confirm.

Ask for height of action at 12th fret. A picture of the saddle height for the side. And a measurement of the height of the G string from the soundboard, where it meets the bridge (Should ideally be in region of half inch, on a guitar with reasonable action). This will tell you whether the bridge itself has been shaved to compensate for a neck angle issue. Also a picture of a straight edge laid across the top, front to back, to see if any dip around the soundhole, which might mean the top is caving in.

They are all good starting points for avoiding something painful, which happens easily with acoustics I can assure you. Knocking on 20yrs is often heading into neck reset territory for many acoustics.

ICBM

richardhomer said:

The wear mark I suspect is emphasised by the flash used to take the picture. It looks like there are some lighter streaks on the bass side as well - not all ebony is completely black. I'd be more concerned about the added strap button screwed into the heel cap. Definitely in the wrong place and couldn't be removed invisibly...

The only good thing about putting it there is that you *can* remove it invisibly if you're prepared to replace the heel cap - not a trivial job if you want it to look original, but more possible than invisibly filling a hole drilled in the wrong place anywhere else. Better to put it in the right place to start with though!

The wear on the fingerboard looks highly suspicious - it really does look like an ebonised board which has worn through rather than pale streaks in ebony, but you would have to see better pics to be sure.

fretfinder

Thanks fellas.