Just Home from Afghanistan NGD - Martin D-18 (2012)

[Steely Glen]

Back in January, I was in the middle of a long, dreary winter in Afghanistan, missing family, missing home, and (of course) missing my guitars. I was already thinking of my next guitar purchase upon return, which I posted a thread about HERE. I was looking for a traditional dreadnaught with a 1.75" nut and the forum consensus was to investigate the newly retooled Martin D-18. I did just that and decided to pull the trigger on one. I arrived home on April 24 to this new guitar, my first Martin:







A short review: I've been playing this guitar non-stop during the last two weeks of my post-deployment R&R. It's a very different animal than any of my Taylors (no surprises there...) with a lot of fundamental woodiness and growl. My Taylor 816ce Grand Symphony has almost as much volume as this dread and that A/B comparison surprised me a bit. But what really gets me is how different the two guitars sound. I'm loving that variety and have a deep appreciation for both already. It does make me realize why the discussion/debate can be polarizing, because there is a lot of difference.

This particular D-18 has a ton of low end thump, yet a projects a really clean voice. It's not shimmery like the Taylor; it's just clean. Even for a mahogany guitar, there's lots of natural sustain when strumming big major chords and yet the lead lines up the neck really sing out clearly. Coming from Taylors and Breedloves, this Martin Performance neck feels very comfortable. I don't feel like the neck is too chunky to play easily, yet it's not so thin that my left hand fatigues quickly. I've only put on Elixir PB Mediums but plan on a string experiment over the next several months to see which strings agree best to my ear.

My only disappointment is a rattle in the G string tuner, which is apparently a very common issue with the Martin-branded open back tuners and their press-in bushings. It's not a major issue, just an annoyance. I'll likely switch out the tuners at some point. It seems like Martin could address this issue and stop installing these faulty tuners on a lot of their moderately priced guitars.

All in all, the new D-18 is a real winner and I'm glad it's my introduction to the Martin line. I'm already researching an OM.....

[jpd]

Holy Moly >welcome home and welcome to the wonderful world of Martin!!!!!

[tnvol]

Welcome home and congrats on the new guitar!

[MBE]

Now that's a great welcome home present!

[nopicknick]

Glad you are home safe.......welcome back and great guitar too!

[ahorsewithnonam]

Thank you for your service. We all owe you. Wish the guitar was free to you. Should be.

[MGap]

Welcome back home. Nice homecoming present to yourself Steely Glen.

Hmm... Those boots look familiar.

[Richgj3]

Congratulations and welcome home. A good family friend just got back from Kandahar after a year. She was State Dept security. Thanks for your service and enjoy that D18. I love mine.

Rich

[Teleman52]

Congratulations, you deserve it!

[Davis Webb]

Welcome home. That is all that matters. Like Ed Vestiers said of mountaineering, getting to the top is optional, getting home is not!~

Enjoy and thanks for doing a hard job.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Congrats and thanks for your service.

[noledog]

From one flyboy in the Marines way back when, to another in the Air Force now, let me first say I appreciate your sacrifice and service S-Glen.
Congrats on a fine instrument. I've played and crooned over the new D18's, very nice. The P-neck is awesome and it's on my new fav; the HD28e Retro that I'm gassing for. You have a nice stable there my friend and wish you many years of playing, peace and more guitars!

Semper Fi,

eric

[Dru Edwards]

Welcome home, Glen! Congrats on the new D-18 but a bigger congrats to being with the family again.

[DRodgers]

Thank you for your service and congrats on a great guitar!

[jp2558]

Originally Posted by drodgers

thank you for your service and congrats on a great guitar!

+1,000,000