[gfirob]

So I have always been a Martin guy and I just thought Gibsons were crappy sounding guitars. My main guitar is a rosewood Martin OM. A couple of years ago I came across a 1957 National 1155, which is made with a Gibson-built J45 body and a National neck and I thought it was an inexpensive way into a vintage Gibson, so I bought it.

What I found was that the absence of a lot of the overtones in a Martin made the Gibson a better guitar to sing with in many cases. Its bass is a very big thump and its overall resonances are really very nice, just very different from a Martin.

So I am happy to have it in my collection and I play it quite often. I think all Martin fans ought to have a Gibson in their back pocket—but—you have to unwind your Martin expectations or you will think it is just a crappy guitar.