The M-36 is a thinner bodied 0000 guitar and with less low end compared to a J-40 or a D-28. The J-40 has the same 0000 body shape / size plus the depth of a dreadnought. But the pinched waist gives it more tonal definition than a boomy dreadnought. It is a really nice guitar, and baffling that it has not been more popular.
The J-40 that I recently sold was with me for 26 years, and held its own nicely as a fingerstyle guitar, and flat picked at bluegrass jams. It sounded awesome, especially as it aged. The only reason it sold was my recent fretting hand dislike of 1-11/16" MLO necks. Had I ordered it with a wider 1-7/8" or even a 1-3/4" soft V-carve neck, it would still be here.
I've only played a few OM-28's so don't have any real useful comments. Nothing negative about the OM, just not much useful information to add. The only thing I can say is that it will be a slightly smaller and more comfortable body to hold -- if you don't like the depth and width of dreadnought guitars. The J-40 and the D-28 both have the same lower bout width and fit dreadnought cases.
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