That is what Nancy told me when I first got to know them. Regarding the comment "When Norman is done with them there's nothing left, they're played out". Tom, Does Norman still own that D-18H and if so I wonder what tuners he put back on it? I would think that with some work a once great sounding guitar could be put back into as good and/or better sounding condition? what does that mean? Played to the point of needing work? Play wears out frets and can cause divots in the fingerboard for some players but what else? In my experience sound changes when physical factors about the wood and construction change with the environment and string stress being critical factors that affect setup, neck set, relief, structure of the top and bracing, bridge and bridge plate etc all of which affect tone. What a great thread and fantastic information. Cool that you're having one built too, James 747. Also, mine is being finished in shellac instead of nitro and will have bar frets like the original. I've requested a shading more towards Martin's '33 ambertone coloration which is my favorite, and I'm eager to see what Per comes up with. The finish on that guitar is really dark from all the pics I have seen. Is Per going to recreate the shaded finish?I'm not going for an exact copy of the Blake D-28. Frankie says he has seen 3 or 4 of these earliest 12 fret D-28s.
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John has sent me the schematic of the top bracing, which I'll forward to Frankie Montuoro who is building me a version of this guitar. He told us he did not like the original ones on the 00-40H, so he replaced them with the ones from the D-18H. My final story about stuff that has showed up in this thread is that we own the tuners off of Norman's D-18H - at least that is what he told us when we traded for his 34 00-40H about a decade ago. I also heard that "played out" quote attributed to Norman about that shadetop D-28, but that is from my perspective an unconfirmed rumor. It probably has nothing to do with the shadetop, but John can say I guess. There is also a story (from John Arnold) about a replaced neck (found in a barn) from a 12-fret early D-28.
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My primary recollection of that guitar is very full sound and very strong lows. We have bought maybe half a dozen guitars from Gary over the years and for us playing his guitars in his booth or at his house has happened often over the years. I have played the old shadetop D-28 three times that I remember - but never for long. If I knew there was going to be a test, I would have taken notes.
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It is cool to hear from someone who owned it! I talked to Randy about it once - it seems to me that it was Randy's guitar at the time and Norman never actually owned it - Randy played a bit of rhythm with Norman in John Hartford's band at that time. That guitar confused a lot of people on-line over the years. When I mentioned the difference in that recorded sound and the actual instrument to a former manager at Gruhn's, he said, "When Norman is done with them there's nothing left, they're 'played out'. In case you were wondering, that guitar sounded like it was strung with rubber bands no matter what string you used. There is an old thread where this guitar is discussed and there are photos when it was in my care. AFAIK, the guitar still hasn't re-surfaced. Another few years later, my friend heard from that same fellow that the guitar had been stolen from him.
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My friend traded it for an early Mastertone 5-string. It is a 1950 D-28 with a slot head neck that was made by Randy Wood. I used to own the guitar on the cover of "Back Home in Sulphur Springs".