Martin 000-28EC - Thoughts, reviews, etc... - Page 2

pegleghowell · #16 02-25-2018, 08:12 AM

28EC is a great guitar.The sound improves dramatically if you put a bit of black stickytape over the signature

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drplayer · #17 02-25-2018, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pegleghowell

28EC is a great guitar.The sound improves dramatically if you put a bit of black stickytape over the signature

.

I actually find the signature tasteful and inspiring. Of all the Clapton models, the standard 000-28EC is his go-to acoustic guitar of choice, and has been since its introduction. If it's good 'nuf for Eric, it's darn-sure good 'nuf for me!

RP · #18 02-25-2018, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drplayer

I actually find the signature tasteful and inspiring. Of all the Clapton models, the standard 000-28EC is his go-to acoustic guitar of choice, and has been since its introduction. If it's good 'nuf for Eric, it's darn-sure good 'nuf for me!

I agree.....

Jskiles · #19 02-25-2018, 09:23 AM

I bought a 2003 000-28ec from Norman's Rare Guitars as my first nice guitar. I fell in love with it when I first picked it up and I still am. The tone and playability are amazing. I will never get rid of it. I should confess that I also still agree with the spray painted declaration, "Clapton is God."

Goodallboy · #20 02-25-2018, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drplayer

I actually find the signature tasteful and inspiring. Of all the Clapton models, the standard 000-28EC is his go-to acoustic guitar of choice, and has been since its introduction. If it's good 'nuf for Eric, it's darn-sure good 'nuf for me!

......ditto.

Petty1818 · #21 02-25-2018, 11:17 AM

I have probably tried more of these guitars than any other Martin model. I have yet to find one that I would buy. I am not sure what it is but they always just sound flat and dead to me. I really love the look and feel but tonally they always disappoint. Maybe the body shape just isn't for me.

zmf · #22 02-25-2018, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have probably tried more of these guitars than any other Martin model. I have yet to find one that I would buy. I am not sure what it is but they always just sound flat and dead to me.

Same with me. And that includes a 000-42EC. Not sure why impressions of this model differ as much as they do. I actively sought them out way back with Clapton did his Unplugged show. Maybe my expectations were too high (?)

I wanted that loose, short-scale feel, with notes jumping off the fretboard, but they felt stiff and tone wasn't lively enough when fingerpicked with bare fingers. Guess I was expecting something along the lines of a light-weight, short-scale Santa Cruz.

Maybe I just didn't find the right one for me.

pegleghowell · #23 03-09-2018, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drplayer

I actually find the signature tasteful and inspiring. Of all the Clapton models, the standard 000-28EC is his go-to acoustic guitar of choice, and has been since its introduction. If it's good 'nuf for Eric, it's darn-sure good 'nuf for me!

Totally agree.The signature does not bother me in the slightest.

Woolbury · #24 03-09-2018, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have probably tried more of these guitars than any other Martin model. I have yet to find one that I would buy. I am not sure what it is but they always just sound flat and dead to me. I really love the look and feel but tonally they always disappoint. Maybe the body shape just isn't for me.

Ive picked up and played every one I could get my hands on and never connected with this guitar. My Collings 000 is my baby, so I know the size and style fits me, just never hit good EC I guess. My cousin has a Martin 000 he string with silk and steel, I loved the sound and playability of that guitar. I was in a shop that had a used Martin, it played beautifully, I thought it was a 000, but found it was 0000. Could've played that all day. I do own a Martin M36, when I bought it the shop had 2 of them. One was a dog, but mine just sparkled. I totally agree with the variability statements made, I've definitely found it to be the case.

TJNies · #25 03-10-2018, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have probably tried more of these guitars than any other Martin model. I have yet to find one that I would buy. I am not sure what it is but they always just sound flat and dead to me. I really love the look and feel but tonally they always disappoint. Maybe the body shape just isn't for me.

Unfortunately, I have had the same experience. But I already love that body size!
Of course, each time was at GC, so it's possible they had dead strings or some other issue that didn't present them at their best.

tbeltrans · #26 03-10-2018, 01:50 PM

I have said this before in posts here...if I were to buy a new Martin, it would be a 000-28EC. I, too, don't care for the coloring. It reminds me of those "Coppertone tan" folks in the 1960s, with that fake odd colored tan. However, the 000-28EC's that I have played have been easy on the hands, comfortable to hold, and sounded quite good.

Tony

JoeCharter · #27 03-10-2018, 02:52 PM

One key difference for me is the full gloss neck and head plate. I think the EC is such a beautiful guitar in both natural and burst finishes.

Some prefer satin necks but I'm not one of them. Over the years, Martin reverted to satin necks as a cost cutting measure. Their higher end models still have glossy necks and head plates.

As for the signature model part, EC is one of very few I wouldn't mind having along with possibly SRV.

Like most musicians, I like playing a guitar that is associated with an artist that I like -- but buying the actual signature model is a bit on the tacky side for me.

The EC would be nicer with a signed label than the fingerboard inlay IMHO. More discrete and tasteful.

Wade Hampton · #28 03-10-2018, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have probably tried more of these guitars than any other Martin model. I have yet to find one that I would buy. I am not sure what it is but they always just sound flat and dead to me. I really love the look and feel but tonally they always disappoint. Maybe the body shape just isn't for me.

Petty, the key thing about playing Triple O guitars is adjusting your playing attack so that you can coax the tone out of them. I've been doing it so long now that I literally never think of it any longer, but it takes a bit of time to get used to the guitars so you can develop the necessary right hand technique for them.

Dreadnoughts and many other acoustic guitar body styles are so user-friendly that they don't require that sort player attack adjustment, but Triple O's most definitely do.

As for me, I love the various Clapton signature models that Martin has come out with over the years. My longtime stage guitar is a 000-42 that Scott Baxendale built for me a few years before Clapton did his Unplugged concert, and as it happens it's structurally identical to the guitars Clapton now endorses.

The one thing I dislike about the various Martin Clapton models, and the reason I've never owned one, is the V necks they have. I prefer a more modern neck profile. The other reason I've never bought a 000-28EC is that I already have the Baxendale 000-42, which is basically the same guitar but with a neck profile I find more comfortable!

Wade Hampton Miller

dfordtexas5 · #29 03-10-2018, 03:10 PM

I haven’t played a 000-28EC, but I have tried both the 2018 000-28 and OM-28. The 000 seemed to have significantly less volume and bass than the OM. Although both rosewood, the OM appears to have a better looking, darker set. That may have contributed to the difference but who knows.

Overall both were very nice guitars, and could have been even better after a set up and re-string.

I would have had a hard time buying that particular 000, especially with so many great options out there these days.

Wade Hampton · #30 03-10-2018, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfordtexas5

I haven’t played a 000-28EC, but I have tried both the 2018 000-28 and OM-28. The 000 seemed to have significantly less volume and bass than the OM. Although both rosewood, the OM appears to have a better looking, darker set. That may have contributed to the difference but who knows.

The OM does have a more dreadnought-like bass response, which is due to its longer scale length. The color of the rosewood will vary from one guitar to another, regardless of which model it is. It's not as though Martin has a "Save the darker rosewood for the OM's" policy. The darkness of the rosewood is also irrelevant to what sound it produces.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfordtexas5

Overall both were very nice guitars, and could have been even better after a set up and re-string.

I would have had a hard time buying that particular 000, especially with so many great options out there these days.

Well, it may be because you have a better right hand attack for the OM, or it might be that that particular Triple O was the lesser guitar. Or both.

That can happen. Something else that many players forget to do when sampling smaller guitars in music stores is to lift their forearms off the top when playing them. Dreadnoughts and other large-bodied guitars have bass response to burn, but Triple O's do not. So to hear them in their full glory it's really best to let the entire top vibrate, instead of killing part of the sound with an arm draped over the lower bout.

whm