Wartime J-45s have become sought-after among the collectorati mainly for the variations in build. This resulted in the first J-45s having multi-piece tops, with Sunburst the only finish initially available - a great way of disguising the joins in the timber.Īnother effect that the war had upon manufacture resulted in a few models in 1943 having maple necks, as opposed to mahogany, and no truss rod, as metal was a precious commodity, most of it being diverted away from domestic use and into the war effort. In fact, much of the company’s staff was involved in war-related projects and reserving spruce for guitar tops was considered secondary to its use in aircraft manufacture. It wasn’t long before Gibson’s ‘no frills’ dreadnought found its way into players’ hearts and it soon became known as ‘The Workhorse’
You might think that this would have been a difficult time to launch a new model to the range, what with restrictions put in place on the use of resources like timber, metal and, more importantly, manpower. Gibson’s J-45 first saw the light of day in 1942, right at the beginning of the USA’s involvement in World War II. But it would be another 11 years before they brought out the model that would seriously challenge the might of Martin - the Gibson J-45. These Limited Edition J-45s in Pelham Blue and Goldtop finishes were released in 2013 Big G enters the pictureĪround 1934, Gibson began making its own larger-body acoustics with the Jumbo flat tops including the J-35, so-called because of its $35 asking price. Thus the dreadnought was born, its powerful voice and lower-mid-rich tones finding favour with country artists who at last had an instrument that would sit well with fiddles and banjos as an accompaniment to vocals. But in 1931 CF Martin added the D-1 and D-2 models to the range, the D-1 featuring mahogany backs and sides, the D-2, rosewood. However, in terms of construction, they featured mahogany backs and sides and spruce tops since becoming pretty much standard with makers of dreadnought-style guitars worldwide.Īlas, the Martin-made Ditsons only lasted four years, as the Ditson company stopped trading in 1920. These models had 12-fret-to-the-body necks, slotted pegheads, no pickguards and with unique inlays and soundhole rosettes. Strangely, the first dreadnought acoustics didn’t bear the Martin logo, but were made for the Oliver Ditson Company with production beginning in 1916, marketing being centred upon New York and Boston. A few of those attributes could apply to the big-bodied beast of the unplugged world, too.
Named after a British battleship launched in 1906, the original craft was a turning point in naval history, bettering its rivals in terms of armament, speed, size and firepower. The dreadnought was born, its powerful voice and lower-mid-rich tones finding favour with country artists History reveals that it was the CF Martin Company that first coined the name ‘Dreadnought’ for an acoustic body size. These days, dreadnought acoustic guitars are commonplace in virtually every style of music you can name.
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Martin's Retro Series HD-28E (right) and D-18E are 2012 recreations of specific pre-war-made specimens Introduction