2008 Henderson D-42, Brazilian Rosewood/Appalachian Spruce

If you’ve ever heard of Wayne Henderson, you already know the pedigree of this D-42. Let’s take at a look at this cadillac of Dreadnoughts, the 2008 Henderson D-42. It might be a few years old, but it looks like we just took it out of its original packaging; we were hard-pressed to find even the slightest scratch. As such, the 42-style appointments shine in pristeen glory: delicately-colored Abalone trim surrounds the body and outlines the fretboard extension, rings the soundhole, is inlaid into the Ebony fretboard itself in snowflakes and diamonds, then culminates in a sparkling display of Wayne’s name and a floral inlay on the Brazilian Rosewood headstock veneer.

If this guitar were any prettier, we’d rent it out for beauty pagents rather than sell it outright–but that would be a dishonor to the voice that lurks beneath the flawless surface. Its previous owner must have impeccable technique: for all that it appears to have been untouched, one strum of the strings reveals that the Appalachian Spruce top and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides have been consistently played and has opened up magnificently. As if that wasn’t enough to get your salivary glands going, Wayne’s D-42 has one more trick up his sleeve (or soundhole): this Dreadnought performs as beautifully for fingerpicking as it does with a flatpick. An anomaly, we know, not really what you expect, but where there’s a will there’s a Wayne. Given that he’s an absurdly talented fingerpicker, in addition to being a luthier, he was probably thinking of how to make this guitar sound the best when it’s down to just your fingers and the strings.

Once plucked, you’d better hold on for the ride: the voice is ferocious, with a well-defined low-end and treble notes to put a songbird to shame. We practically guarantee that whatever tune you decide to play on this Henderson D-42, you’ll never want to hear it from another guitar, again. Period.