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Preston Thompson D-MA Addy/Mahogany Dread #1703 - Used  From Preston Thompson

Preston Thompson's exquisite dread in mahogany and Addy spruce!

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Preston Thompson Guitars

"Gone, Baby, Gone"

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What We Think

Condition: Used, Excellent

This dreadnought from Preston Thompson is an incredible instrument that sticks to the pre-war school of guitar building and gets you a great vintage sound from a guitar built today. You can almost tell as soon as you sit down that it wants to be played and has such a great balance in its tone that lends itself to many different styles. If you like pre-war style dreadnoughts, this will have a familiar feeling, and the tone will have you grinning from ear to ear!

SP Luthier Notes: Fret dress and setup

Manufacturer's Description from Preston Thompson

Preston Thompson dreadnought models are all crafted to produce the tone and volume that the dreadnought guitar was originally designed to achieve. These are powerful instruments that, when needed, stand up to the volume of a mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. They have the bass response that provides an almost full orchestral backing to vocals. Their mid-range response and bright trebles take flatpicking and lead playing to new levels of achievement.

These are traditional instruments and all models are based on the famous 1937 Herringbone Dreadnought, owned by the late, great Charles Sawtelle of the award-winning bluegrass band, Hot Rize. All feature red spruce (Adirondack) tops chosen for tap tone and stiffness, advanced X-brace placement, hand graduated top thickness, pre-war hand carved scalloped braces, nitrocellulose lacquer finishes and time-tested design features such as dovetail neck joints.

It’s all about sound, and that is what the Thompson dreadnought specializes in. Regardless of the model – mahogany, East Indian rosewood, Honduran rosewood or Brazilian rosewood, Thompson dreadnoughts are built with the finest woods, materials, and craftsmanship to deliver that sought after pre-war sound and playing feel.

Preston Thompson Guitars

About Manufacturer

From our workshop in the music-loving town of Sisters, Oregon we build custom guitars and standard models based on the best American made guitars from the 1930s. The choice of Grammy-winning flatpick and fingerstyle guitarists alike, Preston Thompson Guitars are among the best acoustic guitars available anywhere, renowned for superior tone, craftsmanship and materials.

Our fine guitars are designed by master guitar luthier, Preston Thompson. Discovered by bluegrass virtuosos Charles Sawtelle and Peter Rowan in the 1980s, Preston has built a reputation for handmade, original vintage style guitars based closely on the measurements and sound quality of those golden era steel string guitars. He got his start building guitars under Charles Fox at the School of the Guitar Research & Design Center in Vermont, one of the first schools for guitar making in North America.

It was during his collaboration with bluegrass great Charles Sawtelle of Hot Rize, that Preston began to gather measurements from Sawtelle’s collection of rare and famous pre-war vintage instruments.

The guitar Preston built for Sawtelle based on these studies became one of his most treasured instruments. And Preston uses his detailed measurements of those instruments to this day to create guitars that are coveted for their superlative sound, the beauty of their materials, and the precision of their construction.

Specifications

Model: D-MA

Serial: 1703  /  Year: 2020

Top: Adirondack Spruce

Back/Sides: Mahogany

Binding: Tortoise

Top Purfling: BWBW

Back Purfling: None

Side Purfling: None

Soundhole: 4"

Rosette: 18 Style 3 Ring

Back Strip: Ebony Strip

Tail Wedge: Tortoise

Top Bracing Pattern: Advanced X Adirondack

Top Bracing: Pre-War Scalloped

Back Bracing: Adirondack Spruce

Tongue Brace: Yes

Neck Material: Mahogany

Truss Rod: Single Action 14-Fret

Peghead Overlay: Figured Ebony

Peghead Logo: Thompson MOP

Custom Inlay: None

Headstock Binding: None

Headstock Type: Solid

Neck Binding: None

Volute: None

Nut Width: 1 3/4"

Width @ 12th Fret: 2 1/4"

String Spacing: 2 5/16"

Neck Thickness: .840"

Neck Profile: Soft V

Heel Cap: Tortoise

Neck Finish: Vintage Brown Mahogany

Top Finish: Toner

Back/Sides Finish: Natural Gloss

Fingerboard Material: Ebony  

Bridge Material: Ebony

Sunburst: None

Fingerboard Style: 18 Style

Fingerboard Bindings: None

Fingerboard Inlay: Old Style 18 Dots

Inlay Material: Abalone

Scale: 25.4"

Side Position Markers: 2 mm Dots

Side Position Material: White MOP

End/Bridge Pin Type: Ebony

Strap Button: None

Bridge Type: Ebony Belly Drop-In

Tuning Machines: Nickel Waverly with Tortoise Knobs

Nut Material: Bone

Saddle Material/Style: Bone

Pickguard: Tortoise Dreadnought

Fret Wire: Standard Nickel Silver

Case: Harptone

Related Videos

Preston Thompson Guitars Workshop | Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes at the Preston Thompson Guitars Workshop.