Wow! So many great suggestions. Thanks, everyone.
I think sending to Martin is right out. I’m sure they would do an excellent job but the problem is that it would come back like a new Martin. I originally bought this guitar because we had formed a working bluegrass band and I needed a bluegrass guitar. It was available and sounded magnificent. Up to that time I played a Gibson. I much preferred the Gibson necks. But I needed the Martin sound so I made do with the neck. Even when I take it to a certified Martin repair shop for a setup, it comes back with Martin factory specs. I sometimes think these people don’t actually play guitars.
Some well-known Martins have had their necks modified or replaced. Merle Travis famously had his Martin neck replaced by Paul Bigsby. There are Soundies of Merle playing his Martin before the operation and you don’t see him playing his signature thumbstyle stuff, he’s just strumming along to the vocal. It’s only after the neck replacement that you see him doing the more elaborate stuff on his Martin.
The D-18 that Earl Scruggs played with the Foggy Mountain Boys on the gospel and Carter-style numbers had its neck drastically altered. Earl was a banjo player and couldn’t get around the big Martin neck. He had it carved down to a useful size and had a truss rod installed. You can see the truss rod cover on the headstock in some of the old Flatt & Scruggs videos. My local friend, banjoist Randy Escobedo, has played that guitar and knows its history.
I also suspect that the guitars Tommy Emanuel has made for him have narrower necks. Players like Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins famously played classical guitars with wide necks but they are in a whole different class of player (CGP) and their technique was different and way more advanced than Travis.
I’ve been using a 2005 Martin HD-28CW for twelve years or more now and it does a fine job with all the bluegrass stuff. It has a much nicer neck shape than the old D-41.
The D-41 needs a neck-set and a re-fret even if no other repairs are attempted. So the neck and frets are coming off in any case. I wouldn’t think removing the fretboard entirely and narrowing it for a new neck is a huge addition to the work already needed. Of course new binding would be needed.
I’m not opposed to a bolt-on neck. Some of the most fabulous guitars made have bolt-on necks (e.g., Kennedy & Bourgeois). If it were made bolt-on, I’d like to preserve the original neck block if only for the original Martin serial number. I know where the truss rod hole needs to be but I don’t know where the bolt holes would need to be. That probably varies by maker.
I don’t want the Bigsby headstock on the new neck. That would be fun but pretentious IMO. I’d like the new neck to retain the general appearance of the original, so reusing the original fretboard and headstock overlay seems logical. I’m not smart enough to know whether that is practical or not.
I’m definitely not opposed to driving to Lansing or to Lawrence, I have cousins in Olathe, KS, who keep asking us to visit. And, I have a daughter in Minneapolis so St. Paul is not only close but we’d get many nice visits with family and friends as well.
I’m also not worried about shipping the guitar, especially during warmer weather. I still have the CaseXtreme Clam case which will ensure its safety in all but the most violent of mishaps.
While figuring out the approach for the neck is perhaps the most interesting for discussion, my biggest worry is about the repairs to the body. When I took it to the guy in Des Moines, we verified that there are cracks and loose braces that need attention. The only thing that justifies having any of this work done is to restore the guitar’s tonal qualities. In its prime, this thing sounded like an organ. It was unbelievable. The only Martin I’ve ever heard that sounded better was a D-45 prototype owned by
Jaime Brockett. His was the most remarkable sounding guitar I’ve ever heard and we both agreed that my D-41 was a close second. What I most want is to have the guitar’s sound restored (even if I can no longer hear it as well). This seems more delicate to me than the neck thing.