Martin D-35 Rory Gallagher Martin D-35 Rory Gallagher Maintaining great loyalty towards the UK dealers, Martin honours the late, great Rory Gallagher, with this aspirational guitar. Richard Thomas spends some of his own time experimenting with what this creation has to offer. I n 1965 the Martin guitar company were facing a major problem. Up to this point its classic rosewood guitars had been made from Brazilian rosewood. However, supplies of guitar-quality Brazilian rosewood large enough to make a dreadnought were becoming increasingly difficult to source. Bob Johnson, Martin’s computer expert, came up with a novel solution to the problem – why not use three pieces for the back of the guitar instead of the usual two? Whilst his idea might have met with a degree of scepticism from some of the traditionalists, the company took up the idea and the D-35 was born. Launched in 1965 it sold well, outselling the D-28 in the early 70s. As a solution to the shortage of Brazilian rosewood its success was relatively shortterm, and the company switched to East Indian rosewood in 1969. However, the success of the model ensured that it became a permanent addition to the Martin catalogue. An unexpected side effect of the three-piece back was a slight enhancement of the bass response of the guitar, and it is partly this phenomenon that has won it many fans over the years. Famous D-35 players include Johnny Cash and Nancy Wilson (of Heart), both of whom have signature or commemorative editions. The D-35 we have for review commemorates that great Irish blues rocker, Rory Gallagher, who died in 1995. Best known for his battered Stratocaster, Gallagher frequently included acoustic numbers in his sets, playing mandolin as well as guitar. Gallagher favoured a D35, hence this commemorative model. In fact the D-35 RG is part of a recent venture by Martin and Westside – its UK distributors – to introduce a series of UK-only special editions. When one thinks of Martin’s dreadnought guitars one probably thinks of the D-18, D-28 or, perhaps, the D-45 as the real iconic manifestations of this design classic. However, I’ve always had a soft spot for the D-35, largely due to the fact that this was the first Martin dreadnought I ever played. It was a very special guitar, which once belonged to fellow Swansea boy Peter Ham who, with his brother Stuart, formed Badfinger, signed to the Beatles’ Apple label and had a number of hits. Sadly, they were dogged by tragedy and Peter’s guitar eventually ended up in the hands of one of my friends. Whether the guitar is genuinely as series instruments in that instead of accommodating the personal tastes of the artist concerned, this guitar is an attempt to reproduce, as closely as possible, Gallagher’s own D-35 which was, of course, a stock 1960s model. The top is a nice piece of Sitka spruce, with aged toner, black scratchplate and black and white purfling and soundhole rosette. The three-piece back and sides are of equally high-quality East Indian rosewood. This is probably a small deviation from Gallagher’s original model, which would probably have been made with Brazilian rosewood. This is a sensible compromise. With dwindling stocks of Brazilian “The neck is slick, and the smooth ebony fingerboard and well-executed fretting contribute to the guitar’s superb playability, which is greatly helped by an excellent set-up” superb as I thought at the time I first played it, or whether its history (the tales of George Harrison using it to record the first demo of ‘My Sweet Lord’; the fact that it was played at Harrison’s concert for Bangladesh; the memories of the tragic and untimely death of two members of Badfinger) imbued it with some special mystique is difficult to say, but it left a real impression on me. So will the D-35 RG be similarly impressive? rosewood available to Martin, its use on this model would have been questionable and would also have made the guitar prohibitively expensive. Another deviation from the original is the mahogany neck’s satin finish, a more modern feature of guitars from Martin’s standard production range. Apart from these two differences the guitar closely resembles an original 60s model, with its white body and fingerboard binding, ebony bridge and fingerboard, dot markers and standard 1 11/16 (43 mm) nut width. In keeping with the original, Construction The D-35 RG is a little different from most of Martin’s signature 48 Martin D-35 Rory Gallagher 49 Martin D-35 Rory Gallagher Martin D-35 Rory Gallagher Model Model: Rory Gallagher D-35 Limited Edition Price: £3,699 Manufacturer: CF Martin & Co. Built in: USA Body Size: Dreadnought Woods used: Top: Solid Sitka Spruce Back & sides: Solid East Indian Rosewood Neck: Genuine Mahogany Fingerboard: Black ebony Frets (No. & size): 20 Tuners: Grover 60’s Style Nut Width & Scale Length: NW. 1 11/16th SL.25.4” Strings Fitted (Gauge & Brand) Martin MSP 4200 Med Phos.Bronze Onboard Electronics: No Left handers? Yes.To order. Same price. Gig Bag/Case Included: Hard case Contact Details Westside Tel: 01412 484 812 www.westsidedistribution.com What we think Pros: Excellent playability and sensational sound. Cons: The price! Overall: It’s a fine guitar and is the kind of instrument that many of us aspire to own ACOUSTIC RATING OUT OF FIVE Acoustic Ratings Exceptional Excellent Good Average Poor Martin have used Grover tuners, which were fitted to most of their guitars in the 60s, and I must admit that I prefer the look of their kidneyshaped buttons to the chunkier more rectangular affairs used on most current Martin guitars. A further attempt to replicate Gallagher’s D-35 is the rounding-off of the corners of the headstock. Over the years, wear in the jigs and tooling used by Martin led to headstock profiles becoming less sharply defined, and the headstock profile changed slightly as corner radiuses increased. It seems that Martin have made some attempt to replicate this feature on the D-35 RG (as they have done previously on one or two other signature models based on 60s guitars – the D-18 Andy Griffith model springs to mind). Finally, the guitar has a custom label, signed by CF Martin IV and Donal Gallagher, Rory’s brother. The label also features a photograph of the man himself playing his beloved D-35. In Use In many respects there are no surprises here. This is a Martin dreadnought and has an instantly familiar feel. The neck is slick, and the smooth ebony fingerboard and well-executed fretting contribute to the guitar’s superb playability, which is greatly helped by an excellent set-up. In fact, I think that this is one of the best playing new Martin dreadnoughts I’ve ever picked up. The action is just right – high enough to allow you to really dig in, without being unnecessarily daunting. And I’d say that this 50 was exactly right for this guitar. It certainly makes you want to dig in. It’s a flatpicker’s dream. There’s just a touch more separation than one usually encounters with dreadnoughts. It’s very responsive to the dynamics of the player’s right hand and is capable of delivering a serious amount of volume. The harder one digs in, the better the guitar seems to like it and there’s no hint of break-up. It loves bluegrassstyle bass runs, and with a touch of warmth in the mids and quite bright trebles filling out the sound it’s a real belter. The D-35 RG is a rhythm guitar par excellence and I must admit that I found it quite difficult to put down. The D-35 has a reputation for having an even stronger bass than other Martin dreadnoughts, and I was keen to see if that was anything more than just myth. Of course, this is a new instrument, so the bass isn’t fully developed, but benchmarking against my D-42 I’d say that the D-35 definitely has something extra coming from those lower strings, and there’s clearly more potential to be unleashed. “It’s very responsive to the dynamics of the player’s right hand and is capable of delivering a serious amount of volume. The harder one digs in, the better the guitar seems to like it and there’s no hint of break-up” show that Martin can still cut the mustard. My only reservation with this instrument is the price. At just under £4000 it’s about twice the price of a standard production model. I guess the production of a small run like this, destined for the UK market (which must be relatively small by comparison with the US market), significantly increases the cost, as does the selection of premium materials and the inclusion of one or two of the ‘authentic’ touches, but I’m struggling to see exactly why it’s so high. Clearly the guitar will have an appeal for Gallagher fans, but I suspect that many people would rather buy a standard model and keep the change. Richard Thomas Summary It’s good to see Martin extending their signature range to recognise the contribution made by British musicians to guitar-based music, especially with the UK-only editions. There’s no doubt that the D-35 RG is a fine dreadnought. It’s reassuring to see that they can still deliver stunningly good guitars. It’s not always easy to occupy the top spot in the market and there’s plenty of competition snapping at Martin’s heels, but instruments like this