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  #31  
Old 08-08-2014, 05:16 AM
bitraker bitraker is offline
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Quote:
Gorquin

Can these be had for less than the advertised price seeing as they supposedly offer a heavy discount?
I got mine used for $1,100.00 off the wall - google the GC used section national search - and yes, all ebony, there is striping in the fretboard

the gold tuners are great - far better than the open-geared ones on my D-18, which are the 18's only weak spot IMHO

seriously, if you want a great 000 but don't want to break the bank, the 000-MMV is it

also, this is not an entry-level Martin

Last edited by bitraker; 08-08-2014 at 05:25 AM.
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  #32  
Old 08-08-2014, 05:19 AM
bitraker bitraker is offline
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Quote:
JasonEDH

MMV = 2005, the first year GC ordered the Customs from Martin. The 2013+ MMVs are made w Richlite fretboards, I believe.
Thank you.
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  #33  
Old 08-09-2014, 12:44 PM
Gorquin Gorquin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonEDH View Post
MMV = 2005, the first year GC ordered the Customs from Martin. The 2013+ MMVs are made w Richlite fretboards, I believe.
Does anyone have any documentation pro or con on the Richlite fretboards and if true how about the bridge?

I'm curious to know if they made that change.
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  #34  
Old 11-08-2015, 08:42 PM
Wickdawg Wickdawg is offline
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I just got a 000 MMV today. I went in there looking for something else, specifically some of the Taylor models. Then i picked upo the 000 and didn't want to put it down. I went and played some of the other Taylor's and Martin's, but the 000 sounded better than any other acoustic (under $5,000) in there except for the Taylor 712e 12 Fret.

If money was no factor, that 12 fret would have been mine, but it wasn't worth twice the price. I think other than those beautiful $10,000+ Taylor's with the beveled edges, the 12 Fret is the only Taylor that I personally feel sounds better than high end Martin's. Maybe one day, I'll grab one of those 12 frets.

Be that as it may, I can confirm that the 000 MMV I purchased has an ebony fretboard, not the richlite that some of the other Martins have.

Guitar Center is having an insane sell, I suspect due to their recent financial isssues. I got it for $1,310 marked down from $1,699.

I never thought I would be a Martin guy, but this 000 has me thinking that I might be one.

Furthermore, I was really eyeing the OM28 but the 000 I ended up purchasing actually sounded better. I guess it's one of those things that being that they're all handmade, you can get lucky and get that one guitar that sounds and plays better than other high end models.

In on my high right now, so we'll see how I feel a week, month, etc. from now, but there was no way I was gonna leave the store without that guitar and I couldn't be happier.

Last edited by Wickdawg; 11-08-2015 at 09:18 PM.
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  #35  
Old 11-08-2015, 09:16 PM
Wickdawg Wickdawg is offline
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I also like the case quite a bit. Fits perfectly and I'm digging the green interior.

"

Last edited by Wickdawg; 11-10-2015 at 12:08 AM.
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  #36  
Old 11-09-2015, 08:52 AM
slowesthand slowesthand is offline
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congrats on the new ooo Wickdog, they are sweet. Seems like most GCs are out of the mmv models now, where did you get yours?
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  #37  
Old 11-09-2015, 09:34 AM
iknowjohnny iknowjohnny is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wickdawg View Post

Be that as it may, I can confirm that the 000 MMV I purchased has an ebony fretboard, not the richlite that some of the other Martins have.
As i have said a few times, i talked to a martin rep about this and he told me the MMV's started with ebony, switched to richlite, then switched back to ebony. And the date they switched back i believe he said was 2012. So no new MMV is going to have richlite. I posted this fact a couple months ago so if you do a search with my username you should be able to find the post that gives the exact time of the switchback to ebony.

I too found it to sound better than much more expensive martins. i was quite surprised but I could not find a martin on the wall at any of the 3 GC's i searched that i felt sounded as good except....get ready for this.....the 15 series ! And thats what i bought. On a side note, I may be selling the 000-15M tho after i get my eastman because to my ear no martin i played including the MMV or 15 sounds as good as the eastman i'm looking at. As crazy as that may seem especially to martin fan boys, i can't deny how amazing some of those eastmans are irregardless of price or country of origin.
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  #38  
Old 11-09-2015, 04:15 PM
oldcountry oldcountry is offline
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iknowjohnny, could I enquire what model of Eastman you've looked at and thought sounded better than the Martins you've played? I had a similar experience - couldn't believe it when I played Eastman E6OM, E10OM andE20OM next to a Martin HD28 and slightly preferred the Eastmans sound (and I usually like a Martin type sound), sadly the 1 3/4"necks were just too chunky for me so I had to pass them by.
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  #39  
Old 11-09-2015, 11:50 PM
Wickdawg Wickdawg is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slowesthand View Post
congrats on the new ooo Wickdog, they are sweet. Seems like most GCs are out of the mmv models now, where did you get yours?
There were 2 at the Sherman Oaks location. I played both and then went to the Hollywood location. They had 1 there and that was the magic one for me. I actually went back and forth twice to try all the ones available.

It was very close with one of them at Sherman Oaks. I can give you the serial of the one in Sherman Oaks if you would like to have your local GC ship that one to you.
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  #40  
Old 11-10-2015, 12:10 AM
iknowjohnny iknowjohnny is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldcountry View Post
iknowjohnny, could I enquire what model of Eastman you've looked at and thought sounded better than the Martins you've played? I had a similar experience - couldn't believe it when I played Eastman E6OM, E10OM andE20OM next to a Martin HD28 and slightly preferred the Eastmans sound (and I usually like a Martin type sound), sadly the 1 3/4"necks were just too chunky for me so I had to pass them by.
The E5SS, a custom order thats basically just a smaller body version of the E10SS which is like a J45 slope shoulder. The smaller 5 is like a B25 or LGO or whatever, one of those small body gibsons. I'm going to try the 10 when i get a chance and then make the decision as to which to get. They don't sound like gibsons tho, they sound to me at least like maybe 20% gibson and 80% martin. Thats just what I hear personally so don't take it as gospel. I also played some others that were also great but i preferred the slope models because they sound bigger in the lows which i think is the gibson part of the tone i hear. It's that shorter scale, which also make for easier play and that too is a reason i like them most. My hands are old and weak and they play easier. By the way, most eastmans are not 1-3/4, but it's said they tend to vary and are not consistent in that respect. They tend to be in between from what i've read. the ones i've played had necks i really liked, not too big or too small,
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  #41  
Old 11-10-2015, 12:13 AM
Wickdawg Wickdawg is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iknowjohnny View Post
As i have said a few times, i talked to a martin rep about this and he told me the MMV's started with ebony, switched to richlite, then switched back to ebony. And the date they switched back i believe he said was 2012. So no new MMV is going to have richlite. I posted this fact a couple months ago so if you do a search with my username you should be able to find the post that gives the exact time of the switchback to ebony.
I'm not doubting you. You were spot on. There were just still a few posts claiming that the newest ones had Richlite.
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  #42  
Old 11-10-2015, 06:48 AM
oldcountry oldcountry is offline
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Thanks very much iknowjohnny for the reply and information - I'll try to look out for an E5SS. Good to know the Eastman neck profiles are not consistent, I'll not give up on their OM models just yet.
What a beautiful looking guitar your 000 MMV is Wickdawg, congratulations. I would love to play one, the size looks perfect for me and all the positive comments on the sound make it seem very appealing, but, living in England, that chance is unlikely to come along....
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  #43  
Old 11-10-2015, 08:45 AM
iknowjohnny iknowjohnny is offline
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Originally Posted by Wickdawg View Post
I'm not doubting you. You were spot on. There were just still a few posts claiming that the newest ones had Richlite.
Several likely reasons: 1)-misinformation, 2)-doesn't know how to tell, 3)-leftover stock from the last year they used richlite.

I'm not telling you it's fact, the martin rep is. I'm just the middleman. But they DO often have old stock that has been in the store a few years. I bought a 3 year old LP a while ago from GC brand new. I looked at 4 of them at several GC's and all were ebony. However, if thats changed in the last 1.5-2 months since i looked at them then who knows. But since it's the end of the run i can't imagine why they would put richlite on the last few to be made.

On a side note, it's easy to tell if they are richlite or ebony if you see one at GC. Simply take one of the lower line martins that use only richlite and compare them. It's easy to tell because the richlite looks like smooth flat black plastic while even the smoothest ebony will show grain. very slight but it's easy to see when you compare to richlite.
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  #44  
Old 11-12-2015, 01:59 PM
Wickdawg Wickdawg is offline
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That's exactly what I did. I put this on hold for a few days because I wasn't even in the market for a new acoustic, but this one was just so magical, I had to put down a deposit to hold it.

It was marked as having ebony on the tag. So before I purchased it, I compared it to some lower end models marked as having richlite and there was a noticeable difference. Then I compared it to their $3k+ models and it matched up.

I played it again in the store and couldn't allow myself to leave the store without it.

To the compliments from others, thank you. The pic doesn't even do it justice. It's beautiful and even plays and sounds better than it looks.

I installed a strap button and I'm having my luthier lower the action just a hair. The action wasn't even that bad, but could stand to be lowered just slightly. Normally, I can do this myself. I've done it with a couple cheaper guitars I've had. But I don't wanna take any chances with this beauty as this is my first first Martin/Taylor/Gibson, etc. caliber acoustic.
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  #45  
Old 11-12-2015, 02:25 PM
TwoMartinMan TwoMartinMan is offline
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My first Martin was an MMV from 2005 (ebony fret board and bridge). Great guitar. Enjoy.
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