Ted Davis has clearly studied dreadnoughts thoroughly before indulging in building his instruments. This Herringbone D-18 is crafted with beautiful Red Spruce and figured Mahogany that are a stunning pair visually and tonally. The Herringbone is emphasized by a reddish sunburst finish that offers a distinguished look, standing apart from other "shadetops". This guitar plays very well and shows some signs of wear from years of playing. There are no notable repairs and no wear that impacts sound or playability.
From Ted Davis, Lowden TN. “This Ted Davis guitar is a D-28 style but with curly mahogany sides and back so I suppose we would call it a D-28/18 style. Made in May of 1996, it has a shaded top with a slightly redish tone, a nut width of 1 11/16", scale is 25.4". The neck profile is best described as the shallow or slim modern Martin profile with a 28 style volute. It has ivoroid bound herringbone trim, beautiful curly mahogany sides and back, ivoroid bound ebony fretboard, ebony bridge, Pernambuco bridge plate, bone saddle and nut and Waverly tuners. A penciled note from Ted on the underside of the top verifies that the red spruce top was from the Smokies Hurricane Opal 400 year-old tree. The story of that tree is below. A few minor nicks and scratches from being played but in very good condition, no cracks. The guitar plays easily and really sounds really good, the neck set is good with very good action and saddle height. Comes in its original hardshell TKL/Canadian style case”
Smokies Hurricane Opal spruce top: In October of 1995 the remnants of Hurricane Opal came through the Great Smokies National Park on the Tennessee- North Carolina border which has the largest remaining stand of old growth red spruce. The storm knocked down a 400+ year old red spruce tree in a landslide which covered the highway. Normally, all fallen trees in National Parks are protected and they cannot be removed for any reason, but the necessity of clearing a Federal highway required removal. John Arnold and Ted Davis saw a news report of the slide on the highway, recognized the downed red spruce tree, drove out there and bought the tree from the road contractor before he sold it to the mill for lumber. The Smokies Hurricane Opal log was extremely tight-grained with up to 65 grains per inch and has produced some of the best red spruce tops in recent years.
Comes with the original hard shell case
