NUGD- Martin CS-GP-14

[jdobrick]

A few weeks ago, I acquired this guitar from forum member Galapogos17. First I have to say he was a fantastic seller and really took the time to talk to me about the instrument to make sure it would be a good fit. The guitar was everything he said it would be and its condition is basically flawless. I'm also blown away by his studio which is putting out some excellent recordings- http://www.honeytonemusic.com

I started learning guitar last fall and my main acoustic guitar has been a McPherson Sable. As I have been taking lessons and learning more about the guitar I felt like I needed a Martin. No particular reason other than as I learn about the guitar, I have come to see Martin as pretty special American company and I wanted to own a little bit of this Americana.

So what Martin to get? Obvious choices for a first Martin seemed to be a D-18 or D-28. When I started shopping however, I found the Dreadnought body size a bit larger than I like so I decided I wanted something larger than the Sable but not too much larger. I also decided to look for something a little out of the ordinary. Enter the CS-GP-14, a 2014 Custom Shop series in the Grand Performance body size.

One Man's Guitar has a review online. His reviews are far more educated and informative than anything I can say so I will focus mostly on what I like about the instrument

In no particular order:

- The scale length and string geometry are basically the same as the Sable. I know one day I'll pick up a 12 fret instrument but right now I like being able to switch between the two guitars easily. Maybe I just need more guitars to make switching between them a non-issue. Even the neck profile of the Martin is fairly similar to the McPherson. The Sable's neck is smoother than the Martin, the Martin's neck feels just slightly sticky to me.

- In terms of owning a Martin, this guitar hits all the high notes for me. Only fifty were made. There is a bit of flash to the guitar but the reconstituted stone used in the inlays I find eye catching while remaining tasteful. The woods in the guitar are all quite striking in to my eye, especially the back of the guitar which is Guatemalan rosewood with a cocobolo center wedge.

- The sound of the guitar is what I was hoping for. Bass is deeper than the McPherson (the Martin body is longer, doesn't have a cutaway, and the body itself is .5in deeper). Of course no surprise, compared to the Sable, the Martin sounds more like a wood guitar. The Sable has, to my ears, a very complex crystalline tone. The Martin has a warmer/richer sound. They sound different to me but both sound very good.

Without making this a big discussion of carbon vs. wood guitars. I think I enjoy playing the Martin a bit more than the Sable mostly because it makes me feel good to play something with such craftsmanship. On the other hand, in terms of practicality, the Sable wins by miles. Living in a NYC apartment with radiant heat I've put a room humidifier in my small music room and even dumping four gallons of water into the air a day, I can't get the humidity above the low 30s. The Sable hangs on the wall and when I have my weekend guitar lessons, the Sable goes right into a gig bag and out into the winter weather. The Martin lives in its case with humidipacks until it comes out for playing. Very much reminds me of the contrast between the tactile enjoyment of the nice vinyl hi-fi setup I had before my daughter was born and simplicity of streaming HD audio today.

Last thing I have learned, is that my mobile phone isn't up to the task of taking pictures of guitars without too much glare and reflection so these few pictures aren't very good- oh well.

[marty bradbury]

Sweet guitar! Enjoy!

[Galapogos17]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review and for your kind words. I’m so glad the guitar worked out for you. I look forward to hearing what you do with it.