Martin presents Donohue Signature model

A versatile player like Pat Donohue needs a versatile guitar. So when asked by Martin to collaborate on a Custom Edition guitar that would bear his name, he – with some assistance from John Woodland of Willie’s American Guitars – came up with a unique new design that blends the OM shape, scale and 14-fret configuration with dreadnought body depth and an extra wide neck, plus appointments reminiscent of Martins from early in the 20th century. The Martin OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition is that design brought to life.

“I really like the OM design, but I also like bass resonance, so I went with a deeper body to get it, ” Pat explained. “Many of the appointments came from early Martins I’ve admired. I’m excited to combine all these elements in a guitar of my own.”

According to Martin, premium tonewoods are used on the OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition. The back and sides are East Indian rosewood for rich tone, while the top is rare Adirondack spruce to deliver power and clarity. Scalloped Adirondack spruce top braces enhance its balance and dynamic range. Evocative of Martins from the 1920s, the genuine mahogany modified V neck with diamond volute features a slotted headstock with square slots and Waverly brass tuners with small ivoroid keys. Another nod to the 1920s is the genuine ebony pyramid bridge with wide string spacing and a fossilized ivory saddle.

The appointments are similarly vintage inspired. Intricate multi-colored “parallelogram” wood marquetry encircles the top and compliments the abalone pearl rosette. The wood marquetry chevron backstrip looks spectacular against the rosewood. Bound with grained ivoroid and accented with black/white purfling, the East Indian rosewood headplate features the Martin torch inlay in abalone pearl: the back of the headstock displays the historic Martin pressure stamp. The grained ivoroid-bound ebony fingerboard bears snowflake position markers at the 5th fret, two slotted squares at the 7th fret and a Maltese cross at the 9th fret, plus Pat Donohue’s “PD” initials at the 12th fret.

The nut, bridge pins and end pin are crafted from genuine bone, with the latter two sporting abalone pearl dots. Aging toner on the top highlights the tortoise Delmar pickguard and grained ivoroid body binding. The guitar also features Martin’s polished gloss lacquer finish on the body, neck and headplate.

Delivered in a special Geib™ style extra deep hardshell case, each Martin OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition guitar bears an interior label personally signed by Pat Donohue and numbered in sequence. The OM-30DB Pat Donohue Custom Edition may be ordered with a 1935 style or other Martin sunburst top for an additional fee. A left-handed version is also available at no additional charge.