Fun times...!
I bought the Fender Deluxe a couple years, and really haven’t learned to play it with the Bassman amp that I bought with it. Got a close deal on both so I bought them. I’m still foremost a flat picker, but I need to just take action. Have used Aria Mando, that I’m fixin to learn.
Have an HD28 1934 Martin Reissue thru Mandolin Bros that I bought in 1979 that was a POS from day one. It was first one they made. I could NEVER get it in tune. Flat. No sound to it. Dead. Then top cracked and the bridge raised and the middle seam split.
After sending it to Martin 3 times, who refused to replace the top, I said screw it and put it in it’s case. 4 years ago I took it out and starting playing guitar again. Using a Snark I could get it relatively close in tune and I amplified it to make up for the lack of sound.
I read an article about Martin tops cracking due to the gluing of the pickguard. I sent it to a Martin guy to look at. He writes back that the guitar had been altered with a new bridge and bridge holes and therefore the warranty was void.
I told him only Martin worked on it. He called me a liar, but agreed to send the guitar to Martin.
Then it dawned on me, that maybe the guitar had intonation problems during the original assembly. I called Stanley Jay at Mandolin Bros. who said that since it was the first, kinda of prototype it made sense that they altered the guitar. Martin made crappy guitars in the late 60s and 70s to 80 IMHO.
He called Marting for me. Turns out they agreed that guitar was altered at Martin at some point AND THEY AGREED TO REPLACE THE TOP FREE OR CREDIT ME $1000 TO UPGRADE TO AN ADI TOP WITH FORWARD BRACINGS AND ANYTHING ELSE AT COST.
I DID JUST THAT AND IT’S A GORGEOUS GUITAR WHICH I’LL POST HERE LATER TODAY IF I CAN. SINCE IT 35 YEARS OLD IT’S GOT SOME AGE, BUT THE ADI TOP ADDS A REAL PUNCH. I PUT A TORCH TOP ON IT, SO C.F. MARTIN IS ONLY SEEN IN THE SOUND HOLE.