Is the Martin D18 GE really that good
 

i usually buy remote guitars at good prices based upon Internet research and names that carry some form of integrity with them.
I have my decent profits and are now in a position To buy D 18 golden era or a Larrivee Lv09e. I’m busy with the Gibson j185 deal but i’ll only be able to really play the Gibson as the other two options are remote .
My question is are all the reviews of the D18 golden Era actually true or is it Martin hype and I should be open to more options in this price range.
A disclaimer, I’m getting the D18 at a great price

Well...As with all things acoustic guitars...

The Martin D18 Golden Era is a really really terrific model. They are very well made with very high quality woods, and are very consistent in their overall tone quality.

That said, like ANY other guitar that's made be it large factory, small boutique factory, or solo luthier, they all vary to some degree in their voice...their tone, volume and response.

Still, if you can get it for a "great" price, I don't think that you can go wrong on any Martin Golden Era model guitar.


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

I have never heard a bad sounding one and I have never played a bad sounding one. They are very consistent in tone. If you like the tone of Martin dreadnoughts
with red spruce tops paired with Honduran mahogany backs and sides and scalloped top bracing, you will like it. They sound great flat picked, finger picked, and strummed.

I have zero idea why Martin stopped making them. They are now only available as Custom Shop models with the same specs. If you find a great deal on one used in great condition, it is a good choice.

I've owned several variations of the D-18 (2012 and newer) and a nice old 1962 model that I ended up selling. The one that stuck? A D-18GE. Hands down the best D-18 to be had other than the Authentic 1937 model or an actual pre war Martin IMO. They do use the Mod-V neck which some people don't care for but I find very comfortable. It can shout with a flatpack or whisper when finger picked with bare flesh. It does so much well. A true standout and I wonder why Martin discontinued them as well?

Martin stopped making them because:

(a) they wanted to streamline their product offerings and offer most of the vintage-inspired tonal and visual hallmarks of the V/GE/Marquis guitars in their refresh of the standard series models

and

(b) they wanted to create a new series configuration between the price points of the standard and authentic series models with less emphasis on true-to-vintage specs and more emphasis on non-traditional appointments

I totally get that and I can see the need from a business standpoint to do so but the V/GE/Marquis models were/are some of Martin's finest production guitars...short of their Authentic's. Overall I think they did a good Job revamping the Standard Series (missed a couple of things IMO) but those Vintage/Golden Era/Marquis models were a cut above.

I've owned 2 Martin D18 GE's. They are just fantastic--Martin through and through. They are just super fun to play! They were so underpriced for what you got a few years back, IMO.

Wouldn't mind one in my stable especially a 000-18GE. So much good things written about the GE. I think you are on a good thing. Good luck

The 000-18GE is more like a small dread than a 000/OM?

Plus one, agreed.........I have a OM-18V in my stable, what a guitar, never part with it. I hear the GE's are slightly better.

Petrivoges, it was a Martin D-18GE that got me interested in finding a Martin D-18 for myself. At that time I couldn't afford that one in the store - it was probably four or five years later before the stars aligned and I had the money and found a used Martin Custom D-18 with an Adirondack top that was worth spending it on. Duff was correct that any all-solid wood guitars will vary in tone, somewhat, between one instrument and another. As a general rule, though, those Golden Era D-18GE models do tend to be fine-sounding guitars.

One caveat with them, though, is the neck profile; you may or may not like it. Truthfully, I prefer the modern low profile neck profile and the Custom Shop D-18 I bought used has it. (I also ordered it for the Custom Shop 00-21 I've since received.) But some players like a more substantial neck than I do, and more power to them.

Just be aware of that going into any negotiations for this guitar, particularly if it's going to be long distance transaction.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

And there’s a third reasoning right there as well — Martin easily could have felt the GE/Marquis series were cannibalizing sales from their Authentic series models and wanted to make the latter their sole focus for guitars with top-to-bottom vintage specs.

That's a good possibility. And given the quality of the former I'd likely have focused on those based on the pricing factor alone. Sadly, I owned a D-18GE, CS HD-28V, and a D-28 Marquis and let them slip away before I really knew what I had?
I believe Martin will continue to produce great guitars way into the future. At whatever level/price point the buyer is after. I see these original Vintage/Golden Era/Marquis guitars following in the footsteps of their Pre-War counterparts.

Fred Greene (Martin Guitar’s Vice President of Product Management) and Tim Teel (Martin’s Director of Instrument Design) heavily implied that to be the case in this recent interview with the Fretboard Journal. Well worth the listen, interesting guys for sure.

https://www.fretboardjournal.com/pod...artin-guitars/

The GE is a great guitar, but the Martin Authentics are in a class of their own.