Stationed in Germany/Trying to buy Martin

[BuckRogers]

ALCON:

Thanks once again for all the info and help!

I am living near Ramstein Air Base but work on Landstuhl Army Post.

I now have a very clear way forward with both sampling some local Martin guitars and also how to buy one once I have decided.

I'll let you all know how it worked out once I complete a purchase in November.

I believe that I recently read somewhere that choosing a Martin guitar is an indecisive person's worst nightmare. I do not consider myself too indecisive but man, there are soooo many choices out there, it sure is not easy!

Thanks again!

[rsmillbern]

Originally Posted by BuckRogers

ALCON:

I believe that I recently read somewhere that choosing a Martin guitar is an indecisive person's worst nightmare. I do not consider myself too indecisive but man, there are soooo many choices out there, it sure is not easy!

Thanks again!

Yep, a while back I was trying to decide between a D28 and a D35. Over a couple weeks I think I spent 3-4 hours in the shop going back and forth...

[dneal]

Originally Posted by BuckRogers

ALCON:

Thanks once again for all the info and help!

I am living near Ramstein Air Base but work on Landstuhl Army Post.

I now have a very clear way forward with both sampling some local Martin guitars and also how to buy one once I have decided.

I'll let you all know how it worked out once I complete a purchase in November.

I believe that I recently read somewhere that choosing a Martin guitar is an indecisive person's worst nightmare. I do not consider myself too indecisive but man, there are soooo many choices out there, it sure is not easy!

Thanks again!

On a previous tour (mid 2000's), we lived on Ramstein and I worked at Rhein Ordnance Barracks. Although I really liked the K-Town area, my wife preferred Wiesbaden (our last tour). We still occasionally made trips to K-Town to see a movie or eat at Barbarossahof (on the east side of town on the way to Mehlingen).

[AHill]

Given your 20+ years in the Army, I'm assuming this isn't your first tour of Germany. Either way, the K-town area is probably the largest concentration of Americans outside the US. Make sure you take some time to tour other parts of Germany (and France). The US military cemeteries in Luxembourg are very solemn. Garmisch and Berchtesgarten are awesome. Take a river cruise down the Rhine. Berlin has a lot of history. Tour some of the old Roman ruins. Take your guitar with you on a Volksmarch and make new friends.

Enjoy your tour and even more than that, enjoy your guitar when you get it!

[Cuki79]

At 1h, they don't sell Martins (but Santa Cruz...)
Gitarren-Studio Neustadt, Weinstraße 531, 67434 Neustadt an der Weinstraße,
https://www.gitarren-studio-neustadt.de

You have to call 1st I think... It is not really a shop. Everytime I went it was closed...

At 1h30 Big shop
Rock Shop GmbH, Am Sandfeld 21, 76149 Karlsruhe
https://www.rockshop.de/

At 1h40 Guitar point
Guitar Point, Jahnstraße 5, 63477 Maintal
http://shop.guitarpoint.de/

At 1h30 another big shop
Session - The Music Store - Frankfurt, Hanauer Landstraße 338, 60314 Frankfurt am Main
https://www.session.de/

I've been to Session and Rockshop, I never had any vintage guitar. Check the websites.

Cuki

[BuckRogers]

Originally Posted by dneal

On a previous tour (mid 2000's), we lived on Ramstein and I worked at Rhein Ordnance Barracks. Although I really liked the K-Town area, my wife preferred Wiesbaden (our last tour). We still occasionally made trips to K-Town to see a movie or eat at Barbarossahof (on the east side of town on the way to Mehlingen).

My wife is prior enlisted Air Force Active Duty and was stationed there in '95 and '96. We married while she there and I was able to live in Wiesbaden for 8 months. Such an amazing city. We both just loved it (and over the last year we have traveled there four times to see Wagner's 4-part complete, full length Ring Series all in German--really great but even for this opera lover, it got old by the end of the 19 hours!)

[BuckRogers]

Originally Posted by AHill

Given your 20+ years in the Army, I'm assuming this isn't your first tour of Germany. Either way, the K-town area is probably the largest concentration of Americans outside the US. Make sure you take some time to tour other parts of Germany (and France). The US military cemeteries in Luxembourg are very solemn. Garmisch and Berchtesgarten are awesome. Take a river cruise down the Rhine. Berlin has a lot of history. Tour some of the old Roman ruins. Take your guitar with you on a Volksmarch and make new friends.

Enjoy your tour and even more than that, enjoy your guitar when you get it!

Besides living with my wife in Wiesbaden for 8 months in 95/95, this is actually my first time being stationed in Germany. I have been stationed in Korea two different times (2001/2006), deployed to Afghan once in 2006 and Iraq twice (2009 and then again in 2010) and PCS'd 9 times officially. It took me this long to finally get Germany as we have wanted to come here since I joined up in the summer of 1996!

We have completed 8 Volkmarches so far (love them) and have traveled to 8 different countries with 3 new ones on the books in the next 8 months. Really loving it and taking advantage of it as I will retire out of here in 3 years.

[Mayfair]

So glad I found this thread! It answered many of the same questions I have. I'm prior USAF/Army and recently accepted a federal position at Patch Barracks/Stuttgart. I was stationed in the U.K. (among other places overseas) while active-duty, but never Germany. We're excited!

[bufflehead]

check out the 000-15m. you can pick one up for $1,500 new, and they're wonderful all-mahogany guitars.
and thank you for your service.

[Mayfair]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

check out the 000-15m. you can pick one up for $1,500 new, and they're wonderful all-mahogany guitars.
and thank you for your service.

This thread is a few years old, but I am curious as to what he got. I'll be crossing the pond to Ireland to pick up a custom Avalon build in the near future.

[gitarro]

Americans stationed for a few years in Germany may also try some indigenous German individual luthiers or shops that make good guitars in their own right such as Stevens or Lakewood guitars or luthiers like Poljakoff and Voss will have been featured in previous threads on this forum. Since they are in Germany they may as well try out these guitars which they will not get as much opportunity to do back in the states. It also seems to me to be somewhat of a waste to go all the way to Germany and only want to check out a guitar that is made back home and that can be easily bought back home instead of seeing what is available in Germany but YMMV.

[guitarxan]

Originally Posted by fatt-dad

are you sure you want a dread? go for it, I mean if you do, but for sofa, campfire, home, kids, etc., there's a bit more intimacy in a smaller-body guitar. My first Martin was a dread. My second, third and fourth Martins were OMs. I'm 6'-5" and can handle the overall larger size and bigger waist, but why? I'm not a bluegrasser and my chords/singing/fingerpicking are just great on the OM. Plus it's easy to lounge with!



f-d



(steering you towards an OM-28, obviously.)

First off, thanks for your service. I agree with f-d... As a two Martin owner, Dred and OM, the OM is better for your mission statement. There are lots of OM-28’s and 18’s out there.

Don’t get me wrong I love my DC-Aura. But for lounging around on the couch and sing alongs the my OMC-35 gets the call!

[Mayfair]

Originally Posted by gitarro

Americans stationed for a few years in Germany may also try some indigenous German individual luthiers or shops that make good guitars in their own right such as Stevens or Lakewood guitars or luthiers like Poljakoff and Voss will have been featured in previous threads on this forum. Since they are in Germany they may as well try out these guitars which they will not get as much opportunity to do back in the states. It also seems to me to be somewhat of a waste to go all the way to Germany and only want to check out a guitar that is made back home and that can be easily bought back home instead of seeing what is available in Germany but YMMV.

A Lakewood M32 is on my short list and I hope to find one there.

[Mycroft]

That would be my question too. What sort of interesting guitars might be available there in the EU that are not (or hard to get ) on this side of the pond. Include some from Great Britain, since they are technically still in the EU.

What is your budget? I was mightily impressed with a Brookes...

[Steadfastly]

If you are absolutely stuck on Martin, I would suggest a D-18. However, being in Europe you can likely more easily find an Alvarez Masterworks MD-60 or an MD-70. These sound similar to a Martin D-18 and D-28, respectively and will save you several hundred dollars. As far as materials and workmanship, they are also the same IMO. I own an MD-60 but wanted a D-18. It sounds so close to the D-18 I tried, it killed the gas for the Martin and IMHO, looks nicer too.