The “Dreadnought” is a type of acoustic guitar body developed by guitar manufacturer C.F. Martin & Company. The Dreadnought style has since been copied by other guitar manufacturers and is now a common style of guitar body. The dreadnought guitar body is larger than most other guitars that existed at the time of its creation, and thus results in a bolder and often louder tone. In 1916 the word ‘dreadnought’ referred to a large, all big-gun modern battleship of the type inaugurated by in 1906. The distinctive marks of a Dreadnought guitar are square shoulders and bottom. The neck is usually attached to the body at the 14th fret. Martin Dreadnought guitars are also known as “D-size” guitars, or, colloquially among musicians, as “dreads.” Martin Dreadnought guitars have model numbers consisting of “D-” followed by a number, such as “D-18” and “D-45”.
I'm Joost Nusselder, the founder of Neaera and a content marketer, dad, and love trying out new equipment with guitar at the heart of my passion, and together with my team, I've been creating in-depth blog articles since 2020 to help loyal readers with recording and guitar tips.
