I own a '62 D-21. I modified it about twenty-five years ago when the original Klusons started malfunctioning. I saved them, but replaced them with good quality Goto(sp?)tuners. I never thought much about this till someone said,"Nice guitar. Too bad it doesn't have the original tuners." I do have the original tuners, but I wonder what difference replacing them made to the value of my guitar.

When I first got my guitar, I wrote to Mike Longworth, asking him why they quit making the D-21 in 1969. He said that most people were paying the extra $20 to get the ebony fingerboard and white binding. I realize I'm prejudiced, but I prefer the looks of the tortoise coloured binding of the D-21 and D-18s.

I noticed that someone mentioned D-35s above. The only visible difference I can see between a D-28 and a D-35 is the three piece back and bound fingerboard on the D-35. Are there any other differences? Does one sound different? Mike Lonfgworth's book states that Martin started making D-35s in the '60s because they were having difficulty finding pieces of rosewood big enough to make two piece backs. It seems odd that they would charge more for this instrument unless there was some greater difference.