1966 Martin D-35 - Good Condition

The D-35 was introduced in 1965 as Martin's solution to a practical problem: wide Brazilian rosewood blanks were becoming increasingly hard to source, so the Nazareth shop devised a three-piece back that allowed them to use narrower pieces that would otherwise have gone to waste. The accidental result was a guitar with a slightly different tonal character than the two-piece D-28, one that many players and collectors actively prefer.

This 1966 example is a first-generation D-35, built just a year after the model's introduction when Brazilian rosewood was still in regular use. The three-piece Brazilian back gives this guitar a more even, focused response than a comparable D-28, with a sweetness in the trebles that is distinctly Brazilian and a warmth and projection in the bass that the dreadnought body handles naturally. Within a decade it was Martin's best-selling guitar.

Johnny Cash made the D-35 his own — an all-black custom he played through nearly two decades on stage, so tied to his sound that Martin eventually built a signature model just to honor it. Elvis played one too, for over twenty years, until a guitar strap snapped mid-performance in 1977 and took the top down with it. Today, Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers plays a D-35 built to his own specs.

This is one of the earliest examples of the model that became the standard — same three-piece back, same lightened bracing that gave it its deeper bass, before either was common knowledge.

Condition: Nearly 60 years of aging have treated this guitar well. The top has opened up, the Brazilian rosewood has deepened in color and complexity, and the whole instrument sounds fully realized. There is a crack in the pickguard starting at the top. This guitar probably needs a neck reset, a new bridge, and a refret. The body is in very good shape. No cracks or minor wear.  Overall: Good condition. 

* The information presented here was collected from the estate of Marvin Rosenberg and independent research. It is accurate to the best of our ability.