Happy late summer to you and yours Zorro.
Officially, the first ’34 D Model was June 2008. That was when we began to use the ’34 D designation. Like the Tony Rice professional Model, we had made prior one off guitars with similar specifications before arriving at the official model name. I will venture that the seller is accurate in their 2008 model being “among the first” We can verify if it is “The Prototype” by referencing its serial number and comparing it to our records.
The concept of the ’34 D (The build year of Tony Rice’s iconic D-28) was not to merely copy the kinds of woods and cosmetics, but to build the instrument from woods that were actually existent in the 1930’s. In addition we used the glues, finishes and non-force techniques that Martin employed when building the originals nearly 90 years ago!
Fun stuff this luthery!
Al the best, Richard