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Old 10-15-2009, 09:07 AM
sunvalleylaw sunvalleylaw is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Hailey, ID
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmyAddison View Post
Jack,

A mortise/tenon neck versus dovetail and hybrid X scallop braces versus standard X braces is enough to me personally to not call them the same basic specs, and the 28 series get a wood upgrade over the 16.

It is amazing to me how much a difference all those bracing styles make to models having the signature Martins sound but still their own voicing.

So, two things, no they do not sound the same, and absolutely some folks may prefer the 16 over the 28. With the scalloped braces the 16 could indeed be more "lively", but to me they are also less complex than the 28's.

I don't like new D-28's, I love them with some years on them. I feel those standard braces make the new guitars tight, they need some break-in time, and in general scalloped braced Martins to me have a better new sound fresh from the factory. But down the road standard braces produce a more balanced sound which some folks want, I still prefer forward shifted scalloped braces and that thump your chest bass as long as it is tight and clean.

The D-28 is a little more guitar than the D-16R but only you can decide which sound you prefer. I would say the 28 is more evenly balanced, and the 16R has a little more growl, equal in volume, and a less complex sound (harmonics and overtones).

There are also Adi tops 16's which are neat little guitars, food for thought.

Thanks Rich. I am querying this topic over on my "Shopping for sound of HD28V" thread. I tend to like Adi top guitar Martins and like the large sound hole D16R I played once. But the D16RGT that was in the local store (that has since closed) did not have some low end complexity or just a certain something as compared to the D28 and HD28V, and frankly, I liked the Larrivee D-03R he had in stock better than that D-16RGT. I have heard others, though, that seemed better. It seemed to me those D-16RGTs could maybe vary in sound a bit. But back to this question, I do not think D-16Rs and D-28s necessarily sound the same. At least the ones I had access to.
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