Martin DR Centennial Adirondack VTS LE

[martingitdave]

In my exuberance to obtain my "dream guitar", I didn't foresee my rather strong trepidation in playing said "dream guitar", now my only 6 string, in many of the settings I play. (No need to pile on, I feel a little silly already.)

I attempted to solve this middling quandary by purchasing a lovely little Eastman E20D from Ted at LA Guitar sales, for a very fair price. And, the sound certainly was as advertised. Unfortunately, I have only played wide nut and wide string spacing guitars for the last 2 years, and I got used to them. While voluminous and rich, the Eastman was a bit anemic in the string spacing. Luckily for her, she has gone to a very nice local forum member (Numb Fingertips/James), with whom I had a pleasant exchange and mini jam session late last night after my band practice. He also let me play his prized vintage Guild spruce/mahogany guitar, which was lovely. The folks at our local fast food establishment listened approvingly.

Alas, I digress. After committing to the sale of the Eastman, I was at a loss of what to do next. Buy another Taylor? Well, the models with the 1-3/4" nut are all rather expensive. A 210e DLX with 1-3/4" nut would have been a good match. But, they don't exist. Roll the dice and buy another asian Martin clone? I suspect James won't want to buy another guitar from me in a month, seeing as he loves the Eastman. Other brands? Same issue. The models with the features I prefer are all higher end. Drat. I have become the dreaded "cork sniffer."

I wanted a relatively modest priced guitar that sounds like a good D28, with the wide neck and spacing, that doesn't scream "please steal me, I'm a precious little Martin D28 that my owner can't dream of replacing!" Did I find everything I was looking for?

Yup, sure looks like it.

[mkitman]

Great story! Can't wait to see the results... (although it's easier for me than for you!)

[martingitdave]

Pictures posted.

Initial 24 hour impressions:

1. It feels a lot like the D-18. It also reminds me of the Guitar Center exclusive guitars. Very plain Jane. About the same weight as the D-18 and lighter than the 28s.

2. The neck, frets, geometry, action, nut slots, setup is perfect. Totally spot on! The bolt on neck design has its advantages.

3. Have to wait till the staff leave for the day and then I'll give it a play. The little bit I did sounded like a D-28.

4. I suspect they took a stash of Adirondack and EIR that didn't visually make the cut for their high end instruments, and told the custom shop to make a batch of great sounding/affordable guitars with it.

5. Evidently they did just that. :-)

6. They included my 18:1 Grover tuners! Nice touch Martin!

7. Yet again, VTS works. This guitar sounds like it's at least a few years old. Looking forward to playing it in.

8. This satin finish looks an awful lot like some of the mid priced Larrivee.

9. I'm back to the precision of the setup. Neck angle is perfect.


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[numb fingertips]

Congratulations Dave and thanks for the great deal on the Eastman.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

Congratulations Dave and thanks for the great deal on the Eastman.

My pleasure. Glad it went to a nice guy.


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[Ken Olmstead]

If it sounds great then mission accomplished cause I never heard of anyone having their pile of rough cut lumber stolen at a gig! I'm teasing of course!

I'll look forward to the sound review cause it has all the right pieces in the right places (sans ebony fretboard of course )

[BrunoBlack]

Very nice NGD Dave. Congratulations.

[llew]

Glad it worked out for you David...I had a feeling it would. Looking forward to hearing your assessment of the "live" plugged in version! Enjoy that "plain Jane" great sounding Martin! I think Martin hit a home run with this model...

[Zissou Intern]

Nice guitar. Too bad the E20D didn't work for you, Dave. But then again, James is happy, so it's all good.

I was looking at a DR Centennial Adirondack VTS LE on the Elderly Instruments website a week or so back, and I could I think was, "It's a shame Martin doesn't make a DM Centennial Adirondack VTS LE." Then I realized that would probably be too much in house competition for the current D18.

[kcnbys]

Great looking guitar! Hope it's exactly what the doctor ordered - enjoy!

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Zissou Intern

Nice guitar. Too bad the E20D didn't work for you, Dave. But then again, James is happy, so it's all good.

I was looking at a DR Centennial Adirondack VTS LE on the Elderly Instruments website a week or so back, and I could I think was, "It's a shame Martin doesn't make a DM Centennial Adirondack VTS LE." Then I realized that would probably be too much in house competition for the current D18.

The D-18 would be plenty enough. One could think of the DR as a D-18 with rosewood, adi top, satin finish, and what I assume is a bolt on neck. If you like Mahogany, they new D-18 is a killer guitar for the money. Pretty, in an understated way, too.



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[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by llew

Glad it worked out for you David...I had a feeling it would. Looking forward to hearing your assessment of the "live" plugged in version! Enjoy that "plain Jane" great sounding Martin! I think Martin hit a home run with this model...

Thanks for the advice along the way!

As for amplification, I just finished my first Trance install. The clamps are coming tomorrow, so I am using the temp placement tape for the sensor. The verdict on the pickup? Believe the hype. On a clean bridge plate, this pickup is pretty amazing. For comparison, I have the K&K active pre phase system in the D28A 37.

The K&Ks sound very good. They are natural and warm, and hefty with the bottom end. And, most of us like this tone a lot. It doesn't matter if it sounds exactly like your guitar. It just sounds like a really good guitar. The difference with the Trance is that there appears to be no coloring of the sound.

I can turn the volume off and play. Then gradually raise the volume and it sounds exactly like the guitar. It has a microphone spatial quality.

With temp tape, I had to boost the bass to get it where I like it. Which, is more bass than the guitar actually produces. My understanding is that once I use the permanent tape the bass and resonance will increase. That would be just fine with me. I found the tone wheel to be very sensitive in the first part of the rotation. I also confirmed tonight, with this very accurate pickup, that the new S600 has a little more of a mid heavy voice than my Line 6 L2t. The line 6 mixer was flat EQ and sounded great. I had to roll back mids on the Carvin to about 9 o'clock to get a similar sound.

The other difference with the Trance is that my A/B testing tonight shows the Trance is better at controlling feedback. This is the main problem I've been having in band rehearsal. All that volume in a rental practice space is feedback city. I simulated the same kind of roaring feed back with the K&K, then switched to the Trance. No feedback. I had to boost the body Rez on the Line 6 to 100% to get it to start to feedback. I couldn't set the modeling past 10% on the K&K without feedback.

SpruceTop and Maury have been singing the praises of Trance. I think they're onto something. Trance Audio needs more advertising. It's a great product.

Now, the downside to the Trance is that the install is a pain in the rear. Having to make the template, locate the sensors with temp tape, setup the preamp outside the guitar, string it up, test for balance, unstring, move all the wiring back into the guitar, install the preamp run the wires, and restring the guitar. That's just to get the testing phase done. Then, you have to repeat the lens mounting with the permanent tape, once you've convinced yourself you have it right.

I can install a K&K in 20-30 minutes with restringing. This took me 1.5 hours and I still have to do the permanent install. With curing time, this is a 3 day process. That's not doable for most and totally intimidating for people who can already do K&Ks in less than an hour.

As far as cost, they price of admission seems high. But for the quality you're getting, I'd say the price is reasonably fair, when you consider the extra money spent on a K&K preamp system. For comparison, the K&K pre phase system in my D28 cost about $170 with a volume wheel and phase switch. This system costs $300 for the same features.

Some unsolicited feedback:

If Gary wants to sell more of these things, he needs to get the install time and possibly the price down. Maybe find a plastic jig design like K&K that speeds up install by locating the lens on the jig with putty. You could move the lead wires to the sides of the lens to facilitate this kind of install. Also, the adhesive curing time should be about an hour instead of overnight. There must be an accelerant out there.

So, boys and girls, if you have a clean new guitar with an unspoiled bridge plate, and you want a truly professional grade pickup system with feedback resistance and the most natural sound Dave's ever heard, buy the Trance. Seriously. Also, don't be deterred by some direct recording videos, all pickups sound bad that way. We play through speakers for a reason.

If you chose to go this route, send your guitar to someone who knows how to do it. It's not the difficulty, it's the amount of time and frustrating steps involved. I'm about 2/3 done. Phew!

Luckily, the guitar sounds very good unplugged. So, I'll be keeping it. It will be my go anywhere instrument. And, wherever I take it I'll be able to plug in and go.

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[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Ken Olmstead

If it sounds great then mission accomplished cause I never heard of anyone having their pile of rough cut lumber stolen at a gig! I'm teasing of course!

I'll look forward to the sound review cause it has all the right pieces in the right places (sans ebony fretboard of course )

Thanks! Ebony would be a very nice touch. But, I guess you have to stop somewhere when trying to keep it to a modest price point. I will have no problem taking this anywhere. No one will want to steal it until they hear it, but I'll have gotten away on foot by then. :-)

By the way folks, mine sounds just like this.

https://youtu.be/KrhPRDf2lBA


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[PiousDevil]

My local shop has one of these. The temptation is unbearable, to finally own an adirondack/rosewood Martin Dread. Unbearable, I tells ya!

[llew]

My DRC has a McIntyre Feather GF-30 passive bridge plate transducer. Most of my guitars have this with a JJB-330 and K&K Mini thrown in the mix. Glad the Trance is working for you. But more glad the DRC is to your liking...enjoy!