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Old 04-10-2015, 08:34 AM
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drplayer drplayer is offline
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Default NGD - Martin Dreadnought Jr.

Got it yesterday from Sweetwater, and it was still perfectly tuned. Just had a few hours with it, but what a nice little guitar. If their production team can keep up with the inevitable demand--without any compromise to quality--the D Jr. will be a HUGE success for Martin! On to the details...

1. Fit and finish are great - It's a plain Jane guitar, but the workmanship is excellent and I like the hand-applied oil finish.

2. Set-up - The action is a tad high compared to where I generally like my acoustics set-up; but, it's very playable all up & down the neck. It has a ton of saddle, so dropping it down to where I like it will be a piece of cake. But again, it's fine where it is...just a matter of personal preference.

3. Gig Bag - I like it and feel it will provide ample protection. The Taylor gig bag might have a bit more padding, but not enough to squabble over.

4. Neck - The 1-3/4" width is just so nice to have. In addition to being an all solid wood guitar, the neck width was definitely a big factor in my purchasing decision. Neck profile is comfortable and nice to move around on with the satin finish.

5. Tone - Lovely sounding guitar, with ample volume for casual play. Very nicely balanced, with enough bass presence for my taste. No one is going to mistake this for a D-18, D-28, or the like; but, that would be an unreal expectation. It is outstanding for what it is meant to be, and to my ear, has more of everything compared to the GS Mini. Not a knock on the Mini's, but to me, they sound a bit constricted; whereas, the D Jr. has an openness & more overall presence to it.

6. Pick-Up - Played through my Fishman Loudbox Mini it sounded quite good. As with any pick-up system, it allows you to color the tone to your preferences. Of course, it also provides the extra boost in volume you may want in certain situations. It's an inexpensive system, and since I have a Fishman Matrix Infinity system laying around the house, I may opt to swap it out--but not out of necessity.

7. Playability - Again, the 1-3/4" nut is a winner, and along with the neck profile, 24" scale, and overall size of the guitar, it's super comfortable & just a pleasure to play. I think I'll have a lot of fun with this guitar...


The below pics are from Sweetwater (who gave me permission to share them). So, since they are of my actual guitar and are much better than I could take, I'm going to use them...















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Last edited by drplayer; 04-10-2015 at 12:19 PM.
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