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Does anyone ACTUALLY know the soundhole size on Tony's D-28? I've heard 4 3/16", 4 3/8" and 4 1/2".

it is just taken to the middle ring. The larger sound hole will take the bass away. The history of this is he got the guitar from Clarance white who opened the hole because it was wore so bad and he wanted it to look round
So the diameter of the hole should be 4 in minus .1 outer spacing minus .085 inner rosette so
4 + .2 + .165 = 4.365
that will get you close
the the inner ring of the rosette is the center D28 rosette and outer rosette ring

http://www.martinguitar.com/component/k ... l?Itemid=6

The actual guitar has a slightly wider hole as it was worked into the center rosette. The Tony Rice guitar is actually the Clarence White.

Thanks, I've done quite a bit of research on this guitar but nowhere could I fine the exact hole dimension. Maybe I should take a quick trip over to Reidsville and ask him:)

If you are looking for the actual dimension of Tony's original that is the only way you would get the exact number.
I think it would be more like 4 1/2 since he has it into the rosette.

I've read it's 4 9/16"........but I can't recall who I read state this so take it with a grain of salt.

Dreadnaughts have a lot of bass and can be "boomy". A larger sound hole will likely raise the frequency of the main air resonance and it will likely make the guitar louder as well. Some folks like it and some don't.

Also, increasing the size of the sound hole typically makes the guitar mic better when played into a microphone (at least a dreadnaught). That "boominess" can dominate the sound from a microphone.

I suspect that is one reason Tony likes this guitar as he plays ina mic a lot as well as records in a mic.

Every time I've seen him he was playing a Santa Cruz dread.

Every time I've seen him playing he was carrying a football

I too have researched the living crap out of this guitar! LOL And I've come away with one notion. That until you actually physically hold the guitar in your hands and measure it, it's all hearsay. I'm with John Hall, in that if you look at pictures of it, the soundhole goes right to the thick ring in the rosette. If you think about it in terms that it is in simplicity a D 28! So armed with that info, it seems that one could just enlarge the hole to the starting edge of the middle ring in the rosette. That would probably get as close as the original! Good thread guys! I love this guitar, and the story behind it! If you haven't read Tony's book Still Inside, you have to pick up a copy!

Atkin Guitars do a nice faithful reproduction guitar. They have a "clean" version and a "relic" version. Looks really good! I believe they're in England.