Martin / D28E Ex. Noel Gallagher / 1963 / Natural / Guitar
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Contrary to what you might think when you see the picture, this Martin is 100% as it left the factory! At the end of the 1950s, Martin noticed their competitors achieving great success in the electric guitars market, so the Nazareth brand decided to look into the subject. But since Martin’s engineers have always been very conservative and their production methods for their acoustic guitars were already well established, they decided to simply add two pickups to their three flagship models, thus creating the 00-18E, D-18E and D-28E.
Each of them was similar to its purely acoustic counterpart, with the not-very-discreet addition of two DeArmond pickups, a three-position toggle switch, and four buttons arranged in line along the top. The problem with the concept was that the idea was not effective from any point of view. In terms of acoustics, adding the pickups to the top dampened the vibrations. And when plugged into an amp, the generous bass notes of the dreadnought had the unfortunate tendency to immediately generate feedback. Add to that the fact that these guitars were much more expensive than their acoustic counterparts, and it is easy to understand why Martin stopped these series in 1963, which means this D-28E comes from the last year of production.
Of course, there is the superb Brazilian rosewood body that adorns all the D-28s of that era. And the particular and individual sound of those series has finally found an audience among lo-fi fans looking for an instrument from off the beaten track. This series had its greatest moment of glory in 1993, when Kurt Cobain played a D-18E at Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged concert. Except for a refretting job, this D-28E has the particularity of never having been modified (while the electronics of many vintage guitars have been updated).
And of course, it belonged to Noel Gallagher. The British legend used this Martin for inspiration before releasing it into the wild, where its round voice had no trouble winning over others.
Matts Guitar Shop, France 
In a milieu where desirable objects are generally locked away in a safe or behind glass, Matthieu Lucas’ collection is a refreshing exception to the rule.
He represents a new generation of guitar lovers, for whom music comes first and the sound is more important than the serial number. Like any fine collection, Matthieu Lucas’ one has a speciality: he tracks down instruments that have belonged to artists, from Jeff Buckley’s Telecaster to Tal Farlow’s Gibson, not to mention Spot - one of the few sunbursts to be found in France and which belonged to a certain Joe Bonamassa.
Through perseverance, Matthieu managed to open doors that are generally kept well shut and gained access to instruments that were not even supposed to be sold. And true to the principle that the love of music comes first, Matthieu is not the type to prevent a guitarist from enjoying his or her prized jewels.
Out of that desire to share, he finally created the Matt’s Guitar Shop showroom, a special place for selling and trading that gives Paris back its reputation for excellence in the area of beautiful guitars. Inspired and inspiring instruments, which continue to bring beautiful notes to the ears of music lovers.
