The word “herringbone” or even just “bone” is enough to evoke thoughts in a guitar player’s mind of an instrument with the richest tone and most powerful sound of any flat-top guitar ever made – Martin’s legendary pre-WWII D-28.

Martin had made the thick-waisted body style under contract for the Ditson company since 1916, and in 1931 the company introduced it under the Martin brand. Rather than extending the nomenclature system from 000 to 0000, Martin named it ‘dreadnaught’ after the British ship HMS Dreadnaught, which was, in it’s day, the largest class of battleship.

Style 28 featured rosewood back and sides with a top border of herringbone purfling. The combination of Brazilian rosewood, Adirondack red spruce top and Martin’s X-pattern bracing resulted in an instrument that blew its competition out of the water. By 1947, Martin had made changes to the bracing and eliminated the herringbone, leaving the original prewar D-28s as the standard to which all makers – including Martin – still aspire to reach.