Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Martin

000-28

Eric Clapton met the 000-28 in pictures of Big Bill Broonzy. Now people meet it in pictures of Clapton.

A few photographs and a bit of old film: Big Bill Broonzy, the bluesman, playing a Martin 000-28. Somebody in England is paying very close attention. His name is Eric Clapton, and eventually he goes and gets one.

Introduced
1934
Type
Acoustic
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

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The short version

  1. 1902

    The 000 size

    Martin’s 15-inch auditorium body appears. Fewer than five 000-28s a year for two decades.

  2. 1934

    Fourteen frets

    The 000-28 goes 14-fret. About half that year’s guitars still carry the longer OM scale.

  3. 1938

    Ten dollars cheaper

    A 000-28 lists at $90 without a case. A D-28 is $100.

  4. 1947

    Herringbone runs out

    Early in the year, the herringbone trim ends on every Style 28 size.

  5. 1970

    Clapton’s first Martin

    He buys a 1966 000-28. It later gets converted with Style 45 appointments.

  6. 1973–74

    Nick Drake’s last songs

    A UK-imported 000-28 that arrived after all three albums, on his final five recordings.

  7. 1977

    “Wonderful Tonight”

    Written on Clapton’s 1974 000-28, the one with the Rodeo Man sticker.

  8. 1996

    A Clapton 000-28

    Martin’s second Clapton signature, and the first on this model.

Side A

A1

A picture of Big Bill

The way Eric Clapton’s Martin story gets told, it starts with Big Bill Broonzy. Not a concert, not a lesson. Photographs and film of the bluesman playing a Martin 000-28. Which 000-28, nobody has pinned down. It didn’t matter. Clapton saw the guitar in the hands of a man he wanted to sound like, and that was that.

Most of us meet our guitars that way. Not in a catalog. In somebody else’s hands, on a record sleeve, in a grainy clip. You don’t want the wood. You want what the person holding it had.

In 1970 Clapton bought his first Martin. It was a 1966 000-28.

A2

Smaller than you’d think

The 000 is Martin’s 15-inch auditorium body. A dreadnought is 15⅝ and a good deal deeper. Put them side by side and the 000 looks almost polite. It isn’t a D-28 in a smaller box. It’s its own guitar, quicker and more even, with less low-end thump and more of every string.

The 28 is Style 28: rosewood back and sides and herringbone trim around the top. Rosewood gives you that shimmer and depth on the top and bottom. On a 000 it stays clear enough to fingerpick without the notes running together.

The size dates to 1902, and for two decades Martin built fewer than five 000-28s a year. Regular production starts in 1924. It went to 14 frets in 1934, when the 000 took on the squarer shoulders of the OM.

In 1938 a 000-28 listed at $90 without a case. A D-28 was $100. Ten dollars.

A3

The scale trap

Here’s where the collectors start squinting. The OM-28 used the same body with a longer 25.4-inch scale. When Martin dropped the OM name, the factory kept using those necks for a while. Of the 120 000-28s built in 1934, half had the long scale. By the middle of that year, the scale settled at 24.9 inches, and that’s the 000-28 you buy today. A 1934 000-28 isn’t automatically short scale. Measure it.

Scalloped braces, shaved thin so the top can move, lasted until late 1944. Early in 1947 the herringbone ran out, on every Style 28 size. The rosewood stayed Brazilian until the end of 1969, give or take some leftover sets, so don’t trust a clean 1970 cutoff. Today’s Standard has herringbone again, but that’s a restoration, not something that never stopped.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • $90

    A 000-28’s 1938 list price without a case, ten dollars under a D-28.

  • 24.9″

    Scale of the modern 000-28. The OM-28 on the same body is 25.4.

  • 120

    000-28s built in 1934. Sixty of them had the long-scale neck.

  • 5

    Songs Nick Drake recorded on his 000-28. None are on his three albums.

Side B

B1

Two guitars that aren’t the famous one

Clapton’s 000-28 life is tangled, so let’s untangle it once. The famous Unplugged show at Bray Studios in January 1992 was a 1939 Martin 000-42. Not a 000-28. His first Martin, the 1966 000-28, was later converted with Style 45 appointments, so it isn’t a stock one either.

The stock one is the 1974. It was his go-to acoustic after Derek and the Dominos. It has cigarette burns on the headstock and a sticker that says “SHE’S In Love With A RODEO MAN.” He wrote “Wonderful Tonight” on it in 1977. In 1999 he let it go at a Crossroads benefit.

The Unplugged guitar got the album cover. The one with cigarette burns on the headstock got “Wonderful Tonight.”

B2

The last five songs

Nick Drake made three albums and didn’t use a 000-28 on any of them. His was a UK import that arrived after all three. He used it for exactly five songs in 1973 and 1974: “Rider on the Wheel,” “Black Eyed Dog,” “Hanging on a Star,” “Voice from the Mountain,” and “Tow the Line.” Then there were no more sessions.

Those five are spare, quick, and a little frightening. The guitar is bright and close, and the voice seems to be coming from the next room. Joni Mitchell had one too, a 1913 twelve-fret, from long before any of this.

B3

Passing it along

In 1995 Martin built 461 Clapton signature 000-42s, based on the Unplugged guitar. The next year came a Clapton 000-28. In 2025 the Martin Museum acquired the prototype.

It sits behind glass in Nazareth now, a guitar with Clapton’s name on it. Some kid is going to look at it the way Clapton looked at those pictures of Big Bill: somebody else’s hands, a guitar in them, and a sound you want.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. Eric Clapton · 1977

    Wonderful Tonight

    Clapton wrote it on his 1974 000-28, the guitar with cigarette burns on the headstock. Listen for the song under the arrangement, the part that started on a small rosewood Martin.

    Find it on YouTube

  2. Nick Drake · 1973–74

    Black Eyed Dog

    One of the last five songs Drake recorded, all on a 000-28 he got after his albums were done. Just him, that guitar, and a voice that sounds very far away.

    Find it on YouTube

  3. Nick Drake · 1973–74

    Hanging on a Star

    Another of those final sessions on the 000-28. Listen for how bright and quick the guitar is next to that quiet voice.

    Find it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • Big Bill Broonzy

    A 000-28, in pictures

    Photographs and footage of him with one are where Clapton’s 000-28 story starts. Which guitar it was, nobody has pinned down.

  • 1977

    Eric Clapton

    1974 000-28, “Rodeo Man”

    His go-to acoustic after Derek and the Dominos. He wrote “Wonderful Tonight” on it and sold it at a 1999 Crossroads benefit.

  • 1970

    Eric Clapton

    1966 000-28

    His first Martin, later converted with Style 45 appointments. Not the Unplugged guitar.

  • 1974

    Nick Drake

    000-28

    His last steel-string, used only on the final five songs, after Pink Moon.

  • Joni Mitchell

    1913 12-fret 000-28

    An old twelve-fret one, a long way from today’s Standard.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Auditorium Style 28 — short-scale 000, not a D-28 in a smaller box, and not the OM-28 that kept 25.4" long scale on the same body.

Body
000-14 Fret auditorium; spruce top with aging toner; East Indian rosewood back and sides; antique white binding, bold herringbone, Style 28 multi-stripe rosette
Neck
Select Hardwood (Martin spec — not explicitly mahogany), GE Modified Low Oval with High-Performance Taper; satin, dark mahogany color; dovetail joint
Fingerboard
Ebony, abalone diamonds and squares long pattern, unbound, 20 frets, 14th-fret joint
Scale
24.9"
Pickups
None
Hardware
Ebony GE Modern Belly bridge, drop-in saddle, 2 5/32" spacing; bone pins with faux-tortoise dots; compensated bone saddle (16" radius); nickel open-gear tuners with butterbean knobs; faux-tortoise pickguard
Electronics
None
Finish
Gloss top and back/sides; satin neck; aging toner on top
Nut
Bone, 1 3/4"; 12th-fret width 2 1/8"
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

SKU 10Y2500028. 2025 Standard Series refresh. GE-scalloped. Hide glue not listed. Scale 24.9" — not the D-28's 25.4".

Construction

C. F. Martin & Co., Nazareth. Auditorium 000, not a dreadnought. guitarhq.com: 14-fret 000 is 15" × 4 1/8" × 19 3/8"; D is 15 5/8" × 4 7/8" × 20". Style 28 woods and trim on a 000 body. Not a D-28 in a smaller box.

000 size 1902 (guitarhq.com body-size table; Vintage Guitar on Style 21). guitarhq.com production table: OOO-28 majority production 1924–present, with 1902–1923 "less than 5" per year. First existence 1902. Regular production 1924. 14-fret standard 1934. Keep all three. Don't pick.

12-fret 000: 15" × 4 1/16" × 20 7/16"; slotted peghead. 14-fret from 1934: solid peghead, squarer OM-derived shoulders. guitarhq.com "all Style 28… 14 frets in 1934" is the catalog default — 12-fret S/VS/specials continue.

Scale is the trap. Current Standard and Custom Shop 000-28 1937: 24.9" (Martin.com, 25 Aug 2026). D-28 Standard: 25.4". OM-28 (1929–1933) shares the 000/OM 14-fret body at 25.4" long scale; 1933 "000" still OM-spec after the name dropped (guitarhq.com). 1934: Folkway (serial 55634): about half of 1934 guitars stamped 000 still have OM 25.4"; by mid-1934 scale shortened to 24.9". A 1934 000-28 is not automatically 24.9". 12-fret 000 scale is a source fight: guitarhq.com OM essay 25.6" (1902–1931) vs Martin 000-28VS 25.4" (retired 12-fret recreation; UMGF agrees). Flag 25.6" as guitarhq-only. Never print 25.4" as the Standard 000-28 scale.

2025 Standard refresh: Sitka GE bracing (refresh copy; spec table says spruce), GE-scalloped 5/16" X. Neck is "Select Hardwood" — not printed mahogany. Hide glue is not listed.

Custom Shop 000-28 1937 is the in-catalog vintage-spec guitar, not the Standard: Adirondack top, East Indian rosewood, scalloped 1/4" Adirondack X (Authentic 1937 forward-shifted), hide glue in copy, genuine mahogany Modified V. Same 24.9". Different guitar.

Pre-war Style 28: Brazilian rosewood, Adirondack spruce — do not assert Sitka for a 1930s 000-28. guitarhq.com: Adirondack pre-1946 (1946 can be either); Sitka from 1946, D bodies first, smaller bodies lagging. Scalloped X, forward into 1938; rear-shifted late 1938–late 1944; last scalloped approx. serial 89926. 1945–mid-1970s 000-28 = non-scalloped; scalloped returns on selected models from 1976 (HD-28). Herringbone through early 1947 (last serial 98223); zipper backstrip through mid-1947 (last 99992). Vintage Guitar: that 1947 herringbone-to-plastic change applied to all Style 28 sizes. Current Standard herringbone is a later restoration, not continuous production. Inlays: slotted diamonds pre-late 1944, then dots; current Standard returns abalone diamonds and squares.

14-fret 000/D nut 1 3/4" until late 1939 serial 72740, then 1 11/16". T-bar from 1934; adjustable rod from 1985. Hide glue phased out after the 1964 factory move. Brazilian until late 1969: last Style 28 Brazilian serial 254497; first Indian 254498 (a D-21). Leftovers after. Not a 1 January 1970 cutoff.

000-28VS (retired): 12-fret, slotted, 25.4" scale. Custom Shop 000-28 1937 Brazilian: 14-fret Authentic idea, limited to 28 worldwide.

Players

The public story is Clapton's, and it splits by model. Unplugged is not this guitar.

Eric Clapton — 1974 000-28, serial 353275 ("Rodeo Man"). Guitar Player (Phil Weller, 1 April 2025): go-to acoustic after Derek and the Dominos; used to write "Wonderful Tonight" (1977). Sold at a 1999 Crossroads benefit; later Bonhams, June 2024. Cigarette burns on the headstock; "SHE'S In Love With A RODEO MAN" sticker. Strongest stock 000-28 in the public record. Not the Unplugged guitar.

Eric Clapton — 1966 000-28, later converted to Style 45 appointments. Christie's Unplugged 000-42 lot essay: first Martin, bought 1970. Acoustic Guitar names a "1966 000-28 (modified with style-45 appointments)" among the Unplugged Martins. Named, then-altered. Not a stock catalog 000-28 on camera. Do not use it to call Unplugged a 000-28 show.

Eric Clapton — 000-28EC prototype, Martin Museum (acquired 2025). After Unplugged, Martin issued the limited 000-42EC in 1995 (461 guitars), then the 000-28EC in 1996. The museum piece is the prototype. Signature, not the Unplugged instrument, and not a stock Standard Series 000-28.

Nick Drake — 000-28, last steel-string, 1973–74 sessions only. AcousticMusic.Org (Leonard Wyeth, 8 July 2020): serial shows UK import after all three LPs; only the last five songs ("Rider on the Wheel," "Black Eyed Dog," "Hanging on a Star," "Voice from the Mountain," "Tow the Line"). Not Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, or Pink Moon. The Bryter Layter cover Guild belonged to the photographer.

Joni Mitchell — 1913 12-fret 000-28. Named 12-fret instrument, not the current 14-fret Standard. No song credit in this pass.

Not this guitar. MTV Unplugged, Bray Studios, 16 January 1992: a 1939 Martin 000-42, serial 73234 (Christie's / Wynn). Eight of seventeen songs including acoustic "Layla"; album-cover image. Martin's first Clapton signature (000-42EC, 1995) is based on that 000-42. The 000-28EC is the 1996 follow-up. Do not call Unplugged a 000-28 performance.

Big Bill Broonzy appears as Clapton's origin story (photographs / footage of a 000-28). Not a locked serial here.

Keep off this page: OM-28 / OM-45 (including Clapton's "come back as a Martin OM-45" line), D-28 players, 00-28, Mayer's OM/D-45 identity. Lage's 1939 000-18 lives on martin-000-18.

Rarity

Current Standard: regular; not rare. Authentic 1937 is Custom Shop, not vintage-scarce. Brazilian 1937 run of 28 is the only current 000-28 with a published tiny cap.

14-fret pre-war 000-28 is scarce relative to modern and post-war 000-28 — not D-28-scarce, not D-45-scarce (pre-war D-45 is a closed 91-serial census). Production is larger than D-45, in the same order of magnitude as early D-28 some years; the market pays a fraction of D-28 money. RetroFret on 1938: 000-28 listed $90 without case vs D-28 $100 — the resale gap is later demand, not original rarity.

Public year counts, labeled. Do not invent the missing years.

  • 1928 (12-fret): 48 — Elderly Instruments listing copy.
  • 1929 (12-fret): 82 — same Elderly listing, "peak of 82 in 1929."
  • 1934 (14-fret): 120 — Greig Hutton / The Guitarphile: of those, 60 had long-scale necks. Archival.
  • 1938: 97 — RetroFret (almost certainly Longworth).

A UMGF shaded-top table for 1934–42 is shade counts only (13 shaded 000-28s in 1934 vs Hutton's 120 total) — not total production. Post-war Brazilian (1947–1969) is uncommon vs Indian Standards, not pre-war rare. CITES Appendix I (1992) is a shipping/permit factor, not a count.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask vs sold. Public 2024–26 solds are thin. Treat the ladder as ask-heavy. Clapton Unplugged is a 1939 000-42, not a 000-28 — not a comp.

New street. Standard 000-28 $3,599.99 (Martin.com); Elderly $3,599.99 / Ambertone $3,799.99. Custom Shop 000-28 1937 new $6,199.99–$7,199.99 (Martin); Elderly $5,999.

Used modern. Equipboard used current ~$2,345 (n=8 — listings, not solds). 1970s Indian 000-28: Joe's "low thousands."

Vintage / collectible. Joe's July 2026 dreadnought guide (asks, excellent original): D-28 1931–44 $80,000–$300,000 — comparison only; do not use those numbers here.

1950s Brazilian: Music Emporium ask $9,500 (1954; same shop's 1957 D-28 $12,000). Late Brazilian: Lovies ask $12,945 (1969, SN 253705). Player-grade 1945 herringbone: Make'n Music ask $17,950 (reset, new bridge, cleats) — not a collector original.

Carter Vintage, August 2026, same-wall asks (not hammers): 000-28 1937 $85,000; 1945 $55,000; 1934 long-scale $55,000 (shade-top refinish); 1944 $45,000 (complete refin); 1938 $40,000. Same board: D-28 1938 $215,000; OM-28 1932 $55,000. Not D-28/D-45 money.

Dealer asks cluster $40k–$85k for 1930s–mid-1940s examples, restored/refin $18k–$55k. Thin solds.

See also

  • martin-d-28 — Style 28 on the D body; short-scale 000 is not a smaller D-28
  • martin-d-45 — Style 45 pearl; pre-war is a different guitar and a different market
  • martin-000-18 — Style 18 mahogany on the same 000 size; Lage’s 1939 is that plate

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.