1949 Martin D-28, Then and Now

I took this restoration job knowing that it was a large time sink and many other areas of my business and personal life may suffer during the course. I also believed that a positive outcome would be beneficial to the business and create at least one life-long fan and customer.

Well… I did spend considerable time on the project and on a brighter note, did not loose my spouse in the process. In the end, a great new/old instrument arose from the ashes and found it’s voice clear and full of tone.

Throughout the restoration I have posted photos of various steps with a bit of commentary. You can find these photos by clicking the ’1948 D-28′ tag (it is in the column on the right, down the page a little). Once you have the results, click the heading to read the full post and view the photos.

Below I have posted a gallery of photos from the beginning to now. Some photos have captions, some not. Post a comment if you like, I will try my best to answer. Here you go.

By the way, if you get any photos or video of the happy owner playing this beauty, please send them my way. I would love to add them to my blog.

Happy Fats guitar top signatures.

More Happy Fats guitar top signatures.

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2 Responses to 1949 Martin D-28, Then and Now

  1. David Doucet says:

    Hello there,
    A friend of mine pointed me to your restoration of Happy Fats’ guitar. Wow. His name was LeRoy ‘Happy Fats’ LeBlanc.

    Happy Fats was one of the original Cajun recording artists, from the 1930s through the 1970s. He performed in several groups and had a TV show throughout the 1960s. There is even a Happy Fats LeBlanc day, Nov 9.

    Do you have any more pictures of the top with all the signatures? Do you know anything about that guitar? Any information you could pass on would be greatly appreciated, I assure you.

    Thanks for your time.
    David Doucet

    • Chris Oliver says:

      David,

      Thank you for some of the history of Happy Fats. I will ask the current owner if there are more photos of the top and add them to the gallery in this post.

      In the meantime, if you come across any photos of LeRoy with this guitar, I would greatly appreciate a copy. Also, if you know of anyone that may have photos, please share this post address with them and let them know I would be interested in posting their photos as well.

      http://www.infinityluthiers.com/blog/archives/405

      I added another photo of the top with more signatures. Check below the finished photos.

      thank you,
      chris

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