If you had to list your favorite Bluegrass Dreadnought makers active today, we’d bet good money that Randy Lucas would be one of the highest on your list. This LD-28 that we’ve got in the shop is absolutely top of the class in terms of tone, playability, and sheer fun. Randy’s reputation has been built on years of repair and restoration, and as such his guitars are bombproof and dynamite-voiced–at the same time!This 2005 LD-28, in particular, has a tendency toward explosiveness: the low-end is crystal clear and articulate, with a low E and A string that each have great presence and are perfect for accentuating the bass lines of chords in Bluegrass accompaniment. Add to that trebles which pop like firecrackers and a middle register which is tight, controlled, and crisp, and you have an instrument which fully lives up to the title “Bluegrass Cannon.”Built with a dark-grained set of Brazilian Rosewood for the back and sides, this box is beautiful to behold, and with the expertly voiced Adirondack Spruce top, the LD-28 has huge potential for projection, but doesn’t top out easily. In short, with Brazilian richness and Adirondack attack, this Dreadnought has enough acoustic force to level a room of the fiercest banjos.That said, this Dreadnought also responds easily to fingerpicking, and with a thumbpick it can broadcast Doc Watson arrangements with the best of them. Traditionally-built contemporary Dreadnoughts which play like butter are few and far between: this LD-28 is on the short list of such Dreads, for sure.