Martin D-28

The D-28 features a solid Sitka spruce top paired with solid East Indian rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck, and an ebony fingerboard and bridge. This spruce-and-rosewood combination has been the defining tonewood recipe for the dreadnought since the D-28 was introduced by C.F. Martin & Company in 1931.

The D-18 uses solid mahogany back and sides instead of rosewood, producing a warmer, drier, more focused tone with strong midrange presence. The D-28's rosewood back and sides yield a broader frequency range with more pronounced bass, complex overtones, and greater natural reverberation, making it the preferred dreadnought for bluegrass rhythm and strumming.

The D-28 has been associated with numerous iconic musicians including Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Sr., Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Elvis Presley. In bluegrass, players like Clarence White, Tony Rice, and Norman Blake helped cement the D-28's reputation as the definitive flatpicking guitar.

Martin developed the dreadnought body shape—named after the large British battleship HMS Dreadnought—in 1916, originally producing guitars with this body for the Oliver Ditson Company. Martin began selling dreadnoughts under its own brand in 1931, with the D-18 and D-28 as the first models, and the shape has since become the most copied acoustic guitar body in the industry.