“Dear Modern Musician,
My Martin D-28 does NOT have completely black ebony fretboard as indicated by the picture on the MM website. I was initially quite disappointed and taken aback by this. However, I took advice from my music teacher, who does have an older D-28 with a completely black fretboard. We checked pictures on the Sweetwater website and in fact all the D-28's had a two colour ebony fretboard with black being the predominant colour. Apparently the "deluxe" D-28 have an entirely black fretboard. If I had the opportunity again then I would probably have spent another $250 on a deluxe model with an entirely black fretboard. Although I did discuss the guitar and its characteristics with Spiro, the fretboard wasn't mentioned. Nevertheless, it it now my guitar and it sounds great - maybe a bit bright with the new Martin strings, which I am sure will mellow over the next few months. My previous acoustic guitar was a Japanese Pro-Martin (D-35) copy made in the 1970's and cost me $200 in 1980. So I feel lucky to have such a beautiful guitar to play now some 40 years later.
Regards - Mark, Brisbane.”
