Mountain D-45 Copy

I bought this guitar used from Derringer's Music in Adelaide, Australia in 1986 for $300 AU (about $200 US). I went back to the same shop in 2008 & bought another great used guitar from them- but that is another story! I was a US military guy looking for a guitar to knock around with, as I left most of my other guitars back in the US. I found this Martin copy to be very toneful- the intonation up & down the fretboard was spot-on and it was in excellent shape. The inlay & three-piece back was also well done. The bridge was beginning to pull up off the soundboard, however. This I fixed with a little carpenter's glue; the repair holding up well after all these years. I have since added a Martin Thinline bridge pickup and a heel mounted strap pin to replace a body mounted pin. The guitar also has a 'story'. George Harrison was in Adelaide for the 1st Adelaide Gran Prix (Harrsion was a racing fan) and the store was all excited that Harrison had come in the previous day & borrowed a guitar to use while he was in town. I have no proof, but I like to think George may have strummed this guitar while in the shop. At least it was in the same room with the great former Beatle!

The sound is fantastic, and only my 1982 Martin HD-28 and custom Mossman Golden Era (costing $$$ more)sound better. The action is set very low with extra-light guage strings, as I do a lot of finger-picking. Since I don't want to 'violate' the Marting or Mossman with mounting a pickup, the Mountain has become my main flat-top instrument for almost everything. Even with extra-light guage strings, it has great volume, with only marginally less bass that the Martin or Mossman. The Martin Thinline Bridge pickup is mounted without the internal pre-amp. I use an external pre-amp, though it works well direct into the amp. The best sounding amp is a 60's Fender Bandmaster w/4x10's; 70's Lab Series L5 & L3 amps the next best w/2x12's and 1x10 speakers.

The action is straight & works wonderfully with my preferance for low action. The inlay is not as brilliant as a true D-45 or the Mossman and may be synthetic; but it is clean & sharply done. I had to repair a bridge that was beginning to pull up off the soundboard with carpenter's glue. Guitars have a rough life in Australia with the very dry air. The tuners are no-name copies of Grovers and are straight cylinders, rather than slightly concave for the strings. However, they hold tuning well & I have not seen the need to change them.

This guitar has been my main flat-top for over 20 years and has held up very well. I use it live with several groups & even used it on a local broadway musical as my only instrument. A poorly done ebony strap button was above the heel when I bought it & I replaced it with a metal strap pin in the heel itself. It is now on its 2nd Martin Thinline bridge pickup - I wore the 1st one out!

I don't believe this guitar is made any longer. As it is very similar to a Martin, I have had great support from my local lutiers.

A super guitar, and a very, very good value. As only used ones are available, if you find one in good shape (or even repairable) grab it!

made in japan 1977, 20 frets, joins the body at 14th/15th fret,beautiful solid sitka spruce top, looks exactly like the top on a martin d45, and i mean exact.mahogany neck,solid rosewood back, back has a v strip like the martin d35 in mahogany its inlaid with abalone pearl either side of the strip, sides im not sure about as i cannot see noticible grain inside, it is rosewood all around sides but might be laminate ..not sure... back is definatly solid rosewood headstock is capped with rosewood, headstock is adorned with mountain logo in abalone and looks very similar to the cf martin logo on the martin d45.its a superb gloss finish..and is adorned with abalone pearl inlay exactly like the d45!..actually it has more as the center trip on the back is finished with it.and its fully bound and the abalone also encompasses the back just like the d45 if your wondering about the scale of this guitar just look at the measurements for the martin d45, i measured this guitar exactly..and took the spec of the d45, they exactly match ! even the sound hole,, and the neck and body exact ! whoever made this was an amazing luthier. the tuners look like schaller but no name on them, bridge is rosewood as is the fret board but both look very dark , fretboard has the same ablone pearl inlays as the martin d45, neck is fully bound,. dreadnought body,. my guitar has a hard case ,velvet lined origional. bridge pins are abalone pearl capped as is the end pin.

this is exellent for what i do...neil young stuff! or should i call him god ?sound is full great bass tone and it rings on as though one had played the strings in an open tuning , treble side is very sweet sounding..there is lots of color to the sound overall. its great for chords up and down the neck , and picking single notes is fine because of the sustain, i was amazed when i got the chance to buy this guitar the first string i plucked when i first picked it up was the d string i remember this because i was shocked by the sound of it, it said everything , i had never heard anything like it,theres nothing i dislike about this guitar. i bought it without playing another note , i just knew after hitting that first string.

action was slightly on the high side and has been adjusted by guitar tech, i could go lower but its fine as it is ,bookmatching on the back is spot on, im trying very hard to think of a fault on this guitar but cannot find one !.

this guitar would be ok to use out and about..stage work/studio work, although i would worry about it !the price in 1977 was over #1000 plus.. so i would worry about it being stolen ..lot of money back then !, use it live ..miked up, as it has no pickup fitted hardware is good and it holds its tuning well. the finish on the guitar looks deep and high gloss.there is an end pin with pearl inlay .thats the only strap button!. i could depend on this guitar if i was using it for gigging,but wont ! and if i did use it for gigs i would also have a backup , i consider that common practice .

i cannot even find the factory that made it ! i believe it was hand made by a fellow from the east, a celebrated japanese luthier named hayashi ? mayashi? not sure. the shop i bought it from no longer exists.

iv been playing guitar and various other instruments from 8 years old im in mid forties now..old git !...i own a fender strat plus model,lace sensors , also a 1980s tele,a washburn semi, old one , origional, all usa made, a guild d4 with fishman gear installed, an ovation 1970s,with alloy neck !, a yamaha sj180, a gordon smith sg, various classicals, this mountain acoustic sounds better than my guild d4 , i once done a comparison against a freinds gibson j200 and was very happy that it sounded just as good ! the mountain tends to ring out like an open tuning when playing a chord and the individual notes ring out with slightly longer sustain than that of the j200, although its a difficult thing to compare a guitar against a guitar and define it i might add that the mountain has a sweeter sound with more defined bass. think martin.there is something i would like to share with you ..read on ..this might be true and it might be wrong i dont know either way if the following is true..i have read this on the internet on two diffrent sites, the story goes that a san diego music company was buying the d45 tops and the other parts and woods direct from the martin company and unbeknown to martin was shipping them out to the luthier in japan ! i am aware that martin sued and won and the company involved in this exercise went bankrupt, i have asked martin about this but recieved no reply, its an interesting story and thats all it may be a story !.remember though that the top is exactly the same as the D45 exact as is the whole guitar apart from the D35 back and rosewood fretboard and bridge, the measurments are exactly the same everywhere as the d45 and i have measured everything ,nut, neck, body widths, sound hole. frets, down to the thou its exact.so the story i tell is interesting and might have some truth? wish i could post a picture ! cheers.