About James Koontz Expertise Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Amplifiers, Most anything Music related... Also most anything related to security, Fire and access control, as well as CCTV system.
Experience 20 years as a sound engineer, part time luthier, and general all around technical dude for many local bands. One of which was fairly large in the 80's and 90's with multiple recordings, and was the opening act for David Allen Coe, as well as got a nashville recording opportunity. The band disbanded before making it mainstream.
Organizations Loyal Order of the Moose, Boy Scouts,BMI
Publications Highlights for Children, Mystery Magazine,several online Publications, multiple cd's from various artists.
Education/Credentials I have 20 years experience, some electrical college experience. Studied Law, philosophy, and theology.
Awards and Honors well, too many to listm and none worth much more than a paperweight to hold down the ones that are on paper.
Expert: James Koontz Date: 7/20/2007 Subject: c.f. martin
Question QUESTION: Hi. I got a Martin 7-28, now I want to sell it. Could you say how much it is worth. The guitar is in good condition with an original case. I bought it in 1980 from a dealer in Germany.
ANSWER: Hello,
I can honestly say I have never heard of this model number for a Martin. I know of the D-28, but not a 7-28, as a matter of fact, I don't think I have ever seen a Martin model number that began with 7.. So, without knowing more about it, I can't give you any real information, I'm sorry.. Could it be a D-28 instead of a 7-28? If so, I would still need the serial number in order to date it, so I can give you a more accurate value, though, Figure somewhere in the $1500 range for anything late seventies early eighties.. If it is older (I know one store sold their brand new 1965 Martin D-28 in 1992, it sat there in the store all that time, noone ever bought it, until then, SO, stranger things have happened.), then figure the price more along the $2000 range, but it's not hard to sell a Martin, they sell themselves pretty quick, and if you throw it on Ebay, the price will go where you want it in no time, I rarely see a Martin sell for less than it's worth, but I see alot of them sell for more..
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QUESTION: Serial No. is 430081 and ist a short scale Baby-dreadnaught, which sounds very fine but loud. if you enter this to google there is only 1 found, an auktion of eric claptons collection was sold in 2004 , I think in N.Y.
ANSWER: OK, the guitar on the auction isn't a model 7-28 it is an older archtop that was converted to a flattop. The Archtop was made in 1935, and the conversion to flattop was made in 1973. SO, this isn't the same guitar as yours. Yours appears to be a 1980 model based on the serial number, so it was as new as new can be when you bought it. I would contact Martin and get more information on this. I know in the late 70's/early 80's there were many companies making some very convincing copies, and they were being sold in alot of shops in Europe as the real deal. I am hoping that is not the case here, but since you said Germany, it has crossed my mind, an I felt obligated to forward this on. Definitely contact Martin, I am very knowledgeable on things like setting necks, repairing dents, adjusting intonation, truss rod adjusting, but I just can't possibly know every model Martin ever made.. SO, take my advice instead, and contact Martin. And please let me know what you find out. You can send it private if you wish, or even email me privately, at guitaranswerman@jkoontz.com
All the Best
Jim
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QUESTION: Dear Jim. I know that is no copie, because I have a Martin catalog of the year I bought it from an official dealer in Stuttgart. Do you think the Martin company could tell me th actuel worth of my instrument.greatings
Answer C.F. Martin does NOT give values of guitars.. They would tell you to find a vintage dealer, or get the guitar blue blook. Unfortunately your model isn't in the guitar blue book. So, this poses an interesting problem. I have not found this model guitar in ANY CATALOG I or anyone else I know that collects Martins.. ALso, It isn't in the archives of their own website, where they list all their discontinued models, and since this one was made in 1980, it should be there. Unless it was made for German release only, but I am not aware of Martin making any models specifically for release in any european country.. Nor am I familiar with them making a baby dread size guitar.. interesting..
Well, I have contacted Martin, and hopefully I can get an answer to this soon... It's driving me crazy... I would love to see the catalog, and guitar... Is it possible to send me pictures? I have an email address set up just for this site, guitaranswerman@jkoontz.com
