Martin Guitars to Introduce HD-35 Nancy Wilson “Heart” Signature Edition at NAMM this July

(Martin | Posted 2006-06-10)

After more than 30 years as guitarist, songwriter and singer for Heart, Nancy Wilson knows fine acoustic guitars. Much of the credit for the beauty and tone of the Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition guitar goes to Wilson herself, who collaborated closely with Martin on the design. A rare combination of premium solid tonewoods gives the HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition distinctive tonal character. The top of beautiful Engelmann spruce – a tree that grows in the Northwest, where Heart got its start – combines with forward-shifted scalloped braces for full, powerful tone. The sides and the three-piece back wings are East Indian rosewood, while the center wedge is “heart” bubinga, a beautiful and unusually hard African tonewood that provides outstanding projection.

A Pisces fish Yin Yang design is inlaid in rare pink heart abalone, mother of pearl and red composite beneath the Old Style “C.F. Martin” decal on the polished black ebony headplate, and a winged heart insignia in red composite and mother of pearl at the 12th fret honors Wilson’s band. Small abalone dot markers at the other positions lead to Nancy Wilson’s signature in mother of pearl between the 19th and 20th frets.

The big sound of Nancy Wilson’s namesake dreadnought comes from her being an acoustic player in a rock and roll world. Nancy began playing in folk-rock groups with her sister Ann while still in junior high. After playing solo at coffee houses during college, she rejoined Ann as a member of Heart and helped create its signature electric/acoustic sound. Heart’s 1976 debut album, “Dreamboat Annie,” yielded a hit single in the title song, and the band proved both a consistent hit maker and a role model for women in rock.

Delivered in a vintage-inspired Geib™ style, each Martin HD-35 Nancy Wilson Signature Edition guitar bears an interior label personally signed by Nancy Wilson and Martin Chairman C.F. Martin, IV, numbered in sequence with the total number of guitars in the edition. www.martinguitar.com.

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