D-4532

Total Production 48

Through the generosity of a contributor to this website, some good pics of this model have finally become available for use here. They certainly confirm what one would expect from a Style 45 guitar, even going one step further with the engraved tuner buttons and older style of fingerboard inlay. The serial number dates this guitar to very early 1991, suggesting that it was part of the initial batch of 24 made in that year. A second batch of 24 is listed in the Martin records as being completed in 1992, adding up to a grand total of 48 examples of this model. According to the Shenandoah FAQ (published on the UMGF Forum all the way back in 2002) the original list price was $2150. A standard D-45 from Martin that year could easily cost double that, with noticeably less bling to show for it

One other interesting point about this model is that, per the Shenandoah FAQ, the factory production records initially listed all 48 of them as being made with back/sides of Indian Rosewood. This is directly contradicted by the added word “Brazil” on the ID plate found on the neck block of these guitars, in the same three-line format that showed up on many of the Custom Shop guitars and other Rare Birds

Model Number on top ——- Brazil ——- Serial Number below

This fact supposedly led one of the D-4532 owners to contact Mike Longworth at Martin, who ended up correcting the error in the official records kept by the factory

Sure looks like Brazilian to me….

All pics courtesy of AKF