Thompson D-MA Custom

A great mahogany-and-spruce dreadnought with simple, but unusual appointments.

February 26, 2025

To fans of high-end contemporary flattops, Oregon’s Preston Thompson Guitars needs little introduction. A top choice for players seeking vintage-style tone, the guitars are inspired by classic American instruments, yet the company’s interpretations often feature creative ways of combining appointments and woods in ways that wouldn’t be found on more traditional guitars. Thompson recently sent us a slightly customized version of its mahogany-and-spruce D-MA dreadnought, and in this video, Peghead Nation Contemporary Flatpicking Guitar instructor Grant Gordy and I demonstrate the instrument in the Peghead Nation video studio.

A standard Thompson D-MA is essentially a D-18-style guitar. Our demo guitar stuck with this theme by being built with mahogany back and sides and an Adirondack spruce top. The guitar also includes pre-war style scalloped advanced X-bracing, and the familiar choice of ebony for the fingerboard and bridge. However, as soon as you open the case, it’s clear that this is not a D-18 clone: Instead of the traditional black-and-white purfling and rosette, the guitar features a “rope” design with alternating pieces of dark and light wood. Although this is a simple modification, it has a big impact on the guitar’s appearance and vibe. “Rope” marquetry was used on many vintage guitars, but standard-model Martin dreadnoughts were never among them, making the Thompson appear contemporary, but with a nod to guitars of the past. The guitar was also upgraded with wooden fingerboard dots, a figured ebony peghead overlay, snakewood buttons on its Waverly tuning machines, and a slightly darkened top finish.

Our demo D-MA Custom was an incredibly lightweight guitar, which everyone who picked it up commented on. The guitar’s tonal character delivered what I’d expect from a lightly built instrument: It was super responsive through a range of attack, offering tonal complexity when played softly, yet delivering muscular dreadnought tones when Grant began digging into the strings with his heavy flatpick. The guitar’s neck had a width of 1¾ inches at the nut, which may feel a bit wider than what some dreadnought players are used to, but is within the range of vintage examples. With its Soft V profile, the neck felt like a compromise between vintage and more contemporary shapes.

We’ve had the chance to check out several Thompson’s that departed from traditional appearance in small, but significant ways, and the D-MA Custom follows this approach. Grant and I both felt that the guitar offered fabulous mahogany dreadnought tone, and if you haven’t played a Thompson, I’d recommend finding one at a dealer near you!