Gibson J-45 vs Martin D-18 vs Martin D-28 (Comparison Video) (With A Question)

[dbar]

Hi there, first post! Thought I'd jump in and do a comparison vid of my three fav guitars which I love equally for their individual tonal qualities.....

So I restrung them all with free 80/20s and turned on my H2.....

Then I remembered why I'm not too fond of new strings.

I only usually ever restring my guitars when they either become dead or when the third string breaks (from too much bending)

It seems to my ear that the fresh out of the packet strings make my guitars lose a bit of their individualism.

The Gibson loses some of it's thumpy honky tonk tone while the Martins become much harder to tell apart than say when the strings are a month or so old.

And so therein lies my question......


Do fresh strings rob a guitar of a little of it's character in your opinion???

I'd be interested if you watch the vid with comment if possible and share your experiences with the variation you get in tone from your guitars when you first restring to after a month and onward.

Cheers.

[Earwitness]

Welcome to AGF! So glad you posted. I like strings a little older, too. I guess I liked the D-18 best, but that's typical for me.

[TBman]

For the first couple of days of new string life all you hear are strings. The only strings I've tried that don't do that are Martin Flexible Cores, Santa Cruz low tension and Silk & Steel.

[SalFromChatham]

What a fantastic first post friend... Welcome!

I own a D18, and I own a J45 and a J50.

I see your D18 is the pre-2012 straight braced version.

The good - they all sound fantastic. Your play makes it so.

My favorites? The J45 is YOU. You get fantastic tone. I also thought your D18 sounded stellar. This is not your conundrum, but if you could have just two of those three, make sure you keep the 45 and 28.

I think the 80/20s are awesome on the 45.

Me? I have Martin Titaniums on my J50 and have had them on a few months. The sound settled in after a few days, and has been pegged there since. The tone does not deviate. Martin Retros kind of follow this pattern too.

I contrast that with the DR Sunbeams I put on my J45 about two weeks ago. They settled in after a few days, and sounded amazing for a week, and now they have lost the thump and sound dull.

Regarding my D18, the best sounding strings on it are the Martin Acoustic PB mediums that came with it. I have been stringing the guitar with light since, for playability and ease, and sacrificed some tone. I am thinking perhaps the best compromise for me on that guitar are light-mediums.

[ChrisE]

I love my D-18 and my HD-28 but listening to this through my cell phone on a cheap pair of Bluetooth headphones, I like the Gibson best of the three you played.

[yell03]

All 3 guitars sound great and your playing definitely doesn't hurt.

I personally like a warmer string than 80/20s.

I just received my Gibson J45 and I had them set it up with Elixir Phosphor Bronze 92/8 before shipping it. I think it is a nice match.

I also restrung my Martin GPCRSGT with the same strings, they sound great right away IMHO.

I can see a D18 in my future.

[Goodallboy]

I played my friends 1966 D-18S this week. The strings were very, very old, tarnished and dead.

The guitar sounded like a great dark piano with the most lush bass I’ve heard in a guitar. Not a lot going on in the higher frequencies, but it was still a monster.

All this discussion about what brand of string for which guitar is great forum banter, and good for little else when you own a great guitar that sounds killer and you can’t even remember what strings you put on it.

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by dbar

Do fresh strings rob a guitar of a little of it's character?

Huh? Of course not.

[bobster7]

Yes I think they do rob the guitars of their individualistic character and cause differing instruments to sound somewhat homogeneous. They all sound a bit bright and brash due to the new strings and I hear a clash of string noise detracting from the notes played.

This is why I have to use Thomastik strings on all my guitars because they have a very short settle in period and their quality tone and feel is unmatched in my humble opinion. They also have great warmth without sacrificing clarity.

I really hate the sound of metallic string noise, its like fingers down a chalk board to me.

Having said all this the J-45 still sounds the best to my ears despite the new strings.

[noledog]

Man that good ole D-18 sounded warmest and best to me...however they all sounded good to your style of play. Them ol' pre 2012 D-18's tho don't get much as love these days, but there are some goodin's out there and you got one! I think a set of plain ol' Martin M540 PB's would sound a lil' warmer.
Nice comparison, thank you for sharin' this!

eric

[musicman1951]

There's a few things going on:

Do you like the string sound?
Which guitar do you prefer?
Which guitar with these strings do you prefer?

For solo guitar playing, these are not my favorite strings. They're too bright/metalic sounding for my ear. For many ears they would be just perfect.

I like the Gibson (with these strings) the best in the video. But we all have different ears and preferences. Some people loved the D-18 and I thought it came in 3rd for sound quality.

For me these strings would get better with a little age on them.

[L20A]

I'm a Martin fan all the way. Rosewood is my choice of wood for B&S.

With that said, with the strings used, and your playing style, that Gibson sounded very good to me. Best of the three.
The D-18 came in second and my go to choice for guitars the D-28 came in third place.

I like the sound of new strings.
The biggest reason is that I change strings when the old strings sound dead and listless.
The sound of the guitar is brought back to life with new strings.

For me, the strings start to decay with the first strum.
They keep going downhill until it's time to replace them.
Thus,
"Happiness is a new set of strings."

[rokdog49]

First off, at last a flat picker, thank you!
The Gibby sounded "decent" with those strings but my Pono, which has much of the vocal similarities of a J45 sounds way better with Retros or DR Sunbeams and dynamite with Martin Titaniums. I want that thump and wood not that ringy thing. I thought the 80-20's took that away completely. I can see why L20A liked them. He likely doesn't care for woody or thumpy.
I have used John Pearse 80-20's on my D18. They sounded sweet but somewhat thin to my ears. I found that to be my opinion about the sound of your D18. The D28 sounded good with the 80-20's.

[dbar]

Thanks guys for all your replies. I'm sorry I wrote one post then vanished, had some really crappy stuff to deal with over the past few months, but I won't bore you with it.

Enjoyed reading all of your replies.

[lar]

I like the J45 best but as an AJ owner, I'm biased.

Going beyond sound, how do they compare in terms of playability?