Posted: 5/12/2026 6:00:57 PM EDT
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Let me start by saying I have never held a Martin D35 or a D28 for that matter. Went to guy's house and saw the guitar in his garage. I had the $1900 in my pocket which was his asking price and I was fully prepared to take it home. This is what I observed. Had a beat up Road Runner plywood hard case instead of the Mart case. he said he was selling it because he had it a long time and just didn't play it. he said he bought it on Ebay. He said it was tuned up. It wasn't even close. While tuning, the strings were getting caught on the nut or the tuners had major gear issues worse than cheap tuners. It was difficult to tune every string to tension. Tuning the tuning machines sometimes acted backwards but the strings were wound correctly so I think maybe the strings were getting caught on the nut. IE Tuning to increase tension made the frequency go down not up or down then up then down then up etc all turning to increase tension. The neck had A LOT of relief, more than I have ever seen on a guitar. I didn't measure it. The neck had a very deep bow to it which made me think it either didn't have a truss rod or it was broken. The intonation was wonky. The low E on the 12th fret was 200+- cents sharp. The A string intonation was 200+- cents flat. The D intonation was 200+- cents sharp. The G intonation was 200 +-cents flat. I stopped there and didn't bother checking the last 2 strings. The neck where it lays on the soundboard was angled down into the sound hole, visibly power than the sides of the soundboard. The saddle surface looked rough and the B string had no compensation, although the strings did lay on the saddle in 2 different files lines, one line fore the 3 low strings and a different line for the 3 high strings. The binding looked like cheap plastic, but it was glued on intact  The headstock logo was a raised gold decal, which may have been legit for a 2002. It had virtually no low end. The low E string sounded dull. The high end sounded ok but had less resonance than I expected, maybe the strings, I don't know. I told him i was going to pass in under 5 minutes. I said " I think it might need a neck reset", he said " It is what it is" which leads me to believe he knew that or knew it was fake. So either this authentic martin had nut issues and needed a neck reset, and saddle issues with intonation issues and tuner issues or this was a fake martin. |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
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Nobody is coming to save us.
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| Definitely sounds fake. I have an HD28. Martin D28/HD28/D35 guitars are nice. Even the beat up ones are nice. They're well made, fit and finish is nice. They're not the level of custom made, but for an off the rack guitar, Martin makes nice guitars. Either it was something that someone had screwed around with and screwed up, or it was a fake. |
2 legs move our bodies. 4 legs move our souls.
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Originally Posted By Hacksaw25: Sounds like a fake. This. It’s been fun hearing how much you’ve learned over the years. It’s curious but the very first thing I look at any more is the guitar case. It tells much of the story. |
Pure blood saved by His.
In my defense I was left unsupervised.
In my defense I was left unsupervised.
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Originally Posted By BTccw: This. It's been fun hearing how much you've learned over the years. It's curious but the very first thing I look at any more is the guitar case. It tells much of the story. Originally Posted By BTccw: Originally Posted By Hacksaw25: Sounds like a fake. This. It's been fun hearing how much you've learned over the years. It's curious but the very first thing I look at any more is the guitar case. It tells much of the story. I still want a Martin |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
.
Nobody is coming to save us.
.
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Originally Posted By Hacksaw25: Sounds like a fake. Agree. My martin is almost 25 years old and other than getting a fret job its gtg. |
"Some people have issues. Sounds like he signed up for an entire subscription." ~Brohawk
Proud member of Team Ranstad.
Arfcom St Jude Mafia 3 years
Arfcom callsign: trenchfoot
Proud member of Team Ranstad.
Arfcom St Jude Mafia 3 years
Arfcom callsign: trenchfoot
|
Originally Posted By RickFinsta: Yikes. You have to wonder if the guy knows or not. Someone more shrewd about trying to pass off a fake would be asking like $800-1200 saying it may need truss rod repair or something. Would you buy a mulit-thousand dollar guitar on ebay? I would not. He said that he bought it on ebay. |
Mach
Nobody is coming to save us.
.
Nobody is coming to save us.
.
2 legs move our bodies. 4 legs move our souls.
Joined:
Nov 2012
Posts:
42552
EE: 0% (0)
ID, USA
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Originally Posted By Mach: I don't know. Would you buy a mulit-thousand dollar guitar on ebay? I would not. He said that he bought it on ebay. I’m looking at one right now.  My last one…I promise. |
Pure blood saved by His.
In my defense I was left unsupervised.
In my defense I was left unsupervised.
|
Originally Posted By Bhart89: Interesting. I haven’t seen a fake d-35 yet. Japan made a bunch in the 1970s, often called Lawsuit Takamine's. Not all had a takamine label and not all stipped being made. I have a late 70s Alvarez Yairi that other than the name on the headstock is a d28 copy (mine is also a 12 string). I've seen every top end model of martin copied (45,42, 35, 28...) |
"Some people have issues. Sounds like he signed up for an entire subscription." ~Brohawk
Proud member of Team Ranstad.
Arfcom St Jude Mafia 3 years
Arfcom callsign: trenchfoot
Proud member of Team Ranstad.
Arfcom St Jude Mafia 3 years
Arfcom callsign: trenchfoot
|
Originally Posted By d16man: Japan made a bunch in the 1970s, often called Lawsuit Takamine's. Not all had a takamine label and not all stipped being made. I have a late 70s Alvarez Yairi that other than the name on the headstock is a d28 copy (mine is also a 12 string). I've seen every top end model of martin copied (45,42, 35, 28...) Not copied, faked. |
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