NGD: Martin D-28 Marquis (pics added to post #1):

[jrb715]

Originally Posted by brencat

Collings voices all of their instruments to be loud, and with a 'hot' midrange. The tone is in your face all the time, not mellow or warm. They excel at flatpicking and fingerstyle, but are not the best strummers (too articulate) and for vocal accompaniment... well, it seems you just got run over . Of course, the Adi top is going to be sharp, crisp, and bell like. But even with a more mellow top like Sitka or German, your typical Collings will never have the warmer and more vintage voicing of a Martin.

If you want a guitar for vocal accompaniment, I think you need to play some Gibsons.

As a fellow Collings owner, and singer, this certainly isn't the case for me--at least with the Collings range other than the dreads. I do find the dreads too much for my voice and for my music: though there certainly are vocalists that play the dreads. But I'm singing 50% of the time with a Collings OM2G, 25% of the time with a Collings (Gibsonesque) CJ35G, and 25% of the time with my HD28. I suppose this has a lot to do with how one plays accompaniment (I don't do a lot of chord pumping), the kinds of music you sing (I sing a lot of country, Americana and rearranged country/pop material), and your vocal range. No doubt the Martin I have works just fine for me: but for much of the material I sing, the two Collings work better--or at least, because of the nature of their mids, give me room for more striking, and sometimes just simpler, arrangements.

There's a whole bunch of vocalists among the artists featured on the Collings website including Chris Smither, Jim Lauderdale, Michael Martin Murphy, Lyle Lovett, Ruth Moody and on and on.

[JBCROTTY]

[QUOTE=martingitdave;5009377]I hope I can finally stop this guitar acquisition nonsense.

Yeah, right.

[martingitdave]

[QUOTE=JBCROTTY;5012230]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I hope I can finally stop this guitar acquisition nonsense.

Yeah, right. [emoji38]

I know... I didn't even last a day.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[crikey]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Anyone have recent experience with the new Martin D28 Marquis? I've got the option to exchange it for that model tomorrow.

Marquis series are great guitars and widely loved. But they are loud imo, and for me, hard to tame un-PA'd for singer/songwriter stuff. My voice just isn't strong enough to keep up. They can cut through in bluegrass though.

The best I've found (for me) for playing singer/songwriter stuff un-electrified is sitka topped and/or all-mahogany OMs. Might would be different if I had Tom Jones' voice, but alas...

[martingitdave]

Picked up the Marquis. Played for about a hour. Very robust tone. Put a little money back in my pocket. I'll need to take it for a minor setup and have a LR Baggs Lyric installed. The Lyric is on order. (Realized I now prefer the the active systems.)

The tone is similar to my HD28e Retro but quite a bit louder, maybe more bass, more mids for sure. But, it is far more scooped than the Collings. So far singing with it was good, at least according to the wife.

Compared to the '37 Authentic, it has slightly less overtones and more focused bass. But, in exchange, I get an adjustable truss rod, a fully Pleked neck, and $1400. I'm set for a while. I also feel better about drilling this for a pickup versus the '37A. I suspect that as the top ages, it will only get better.

Other than the '37A, this is the nicest sounding Martin dread I've had the pleasure to play.

I am leading a community song circle tonight. Should be fun.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[pjroberts]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Picked up the Marquis. Played for about a hour. Very robust tone. Put a little money back in my pocket. I'll need to take it for a setup and have a Baggd Lyric installed. The Lyric is on order. (Realized I now prefer the the active systems.)

How does the Marquis compare to the 37 Authentic you tried? Tone wise and neck are my biggest interest, but any observations would be great:-) Still want to try the Collings ... the local guys have many dreads, tho not this model. Looks like the 3 is distinguished by trim aesthetics? Also interested in trying their DS 12-fret.

Look forward to the Marquis NGD.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by pjroberts

How does the Marquis compare to the 37 Authentic you tried? Tone wise and neck are my biggest interest, but any observations would be great:-) Still want to try the Collings ... the local guys have many dreads, tho not this model. Looks like the 3 is distinguished by trim aesthetics? Also interested in trying their DS 12-fret.

Look forward to the Marquis NGD.

Great Q. I just edited my post to add that comparison. I found the neck on the Marquis more comfortable up higher.

I just checked the intonation with my Peterson. It's DEAD on! Closer than my Taylor's and HD28e. That is pretty incredible. Consider me a Plek fan.

The only negatives I've noticed are:

1. The Martin branded relic tuners are no Waverlies. Heck, I like the Grover 18:1s better.

2. The pickguard is rather pedestrian. Pass the Grey Poupon, please.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[pjroberts]

Thanks Dave. My concern about the Authentic neck stems from similar experience with my OM-18 A 1933 -- almost too chunky higher up. However getting her back from a set up to improve upper neck playability this week, so that may squash that drawback. TBD. Tone on all Authentics has always been to-die-for, but it's hard to pay for that in neck trade-offs.

Congrats on the new Martin!

[martingitdave]

I installed the Baggs Lyric tonight. The install went great. Might be the cleanest install I've done yet. My initial impression of the sound is good. The default tone of the mic is very mid heavy. Very mid heavy. In fact, I was a little apprehensive, because it is boxy and nearly unusable in the default setting. I took the presence knob back to zero and went up a smidge. Then, I brought the mids on the mixer down and boosted the bass. The result is very usable. I'll play with it more. Compared to ES2 and Aura Plus, I'd say the Lyric result is about 80% after 10 minutes of fiddling.

Lastly, there was no degradation of tone that I can perceive from installing the Lyric.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[martingitdave]

I'm going to shift the position of the of the mic when I get home tonight. Evidently, I put it in the wrong location. So much for my installation self-accolades.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[brencat]

Originally Posted by pjroberts

Thanks Dave. My concern about the Authentic neck stems from similar experience with my OM-18 A 1933 -- almost too chunky higher up. However getting her back from a set up to improve upper neck playability this week, so that may squash that drawback. TBD. Tone on all Authentics has always been to-die-for, but it's hard to pay for that in neck trade-offs.

Congrats on the new Martin!

I found the D-28A '37 neck to be strange. In first position, it's actually quite normal, maybe even a touch small. But it quickly widens (tapers) and flattens depth wise further up past the 9th fret. Just about the opposite of what I like (I prefer a narrow taper and medium depth with nicely rounded shoulders). The D-28 Marquis neck is a rounded mod-v, almost identical to the neck of the discontinued 000-18GE.

@Dave -- Congrats on the Marquis! A fine guitar, and I'm glad you got to play it first and liked it.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by brencat

I found the D-28A '37 neck to be strange. In first position, it's actually quite normal, maybe even a touch small. But it quickly widens (tapers) and flattens depth wise further up past the 9th fret. Just about the opposite of what I like (I prefer a narrow taper and medium depth with nicely rounded shoulders). The D-28 Marquis neck is a rounded mod-v, almost identical to the neck of the discontinued 000-18GE.

@Dave -- Congrats on the Marquis! A fine guitar, and I'm glad you got to play it first and liked it.

Thank you! I'm really loving the guitar. The neck is a bit beefier than my last Martin. But, I actually like it. It's not better, but different.

I think this model fits me pretty well. There doesn't seem to be anything missing. It has vintage tone and looks with some modern conveniences.

I ordered some Grover Sta-tites to replace the Martin tuners. I'll be installing those tonight.

I still need to workout the pickup situation. Going to give the Lyric a little more attention. Otherwise, I'll call it a day and order a Trance M or K&K.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[crikey]

Congrats!!

[martingitdave]

Thanks Crikey! Ive had a lot of guitars that I have enjoyed over the years. I wish I had bought this one a long time ago. So far, I've had two acoustic music gatherings. It's absolutely a blast to have such a powerful guitar. I can play it finger style softly, or dig it and keep up with the banjos. When I pick it up at home, I just fills my music room. I love the big focused bass, fat trebles and more present mid range. It is the guitar equivalent of "more cowbell" for me.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[GeneralDreedle]

That's an interesting story of your return and new purchase. I was lusting after couple of collings, but when I played the hd 28 vts, It had everything,