Martin 1840 Spanish Style 28

1840's "Small DiGoni" Hybrid X Braced Spanish Martin Guitar

While the instrument made for Madame Di Goni is thought by some to be Martin's first X braced guitar, this size 3 Martin, which fits the description of a "Small DiGoni" has the same hybrid of X and fan bracing with a number of Spanish influenced features that precede those on the DiGoni guitar.

This guitar has the earliest form of French Jerome tuners with bone rollers, plain plates without decoration, and the early barrel shaped gears.

These earliest examples of this style of slotted headstock are sometimes referred to as having extra wide slots. In fact, all of the slotted heads have slots approximately 3?4" wide.

This is because all of the heads that follow measure approximately 1" from the top of the slot to the top of the head.

The earliest of these heads measure 3/4" from the top of the slot to the top of the head. The slots are the same, but the relative proportions give them an appearance of being wider.

These early Spanish Martins have a beautifully elegant curve to the heel.

This guitar has the tie style pyramid bridge with early wide saddle.

While Martin often mixed older features with newer ones, this guitar, an early version of a Style 3-24, has an early tie style bridge rather than a later pyramid pin bridge, an early elegantly curved Spanish heel, aback strip of straight holly lines, an early wide version of the slotted headstock with large bone rollers, a rosette more reminiscent of a Martin & Coupa with tiny dentils, rather than the more standard Style 21 herringbone, and a broad full 2" wide neck width, along with a faux Spanish foot, and an earlier rounded popsicle brace.

Shield shaped Spanish foot individual widely spaced kerfing, and while this guitar has solid sides, it is unusual in having the center reinforcement on the sides.

Hybrid DiGoni style braces and rosewood bridge plate.

Profile 13 in "Inventing the American Guitar: The Pre–Civil War Innovations of C. F. Martin and His Contemporaries". "

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