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Old 01-17-2019, 10:23 PM
ataylor ataylor is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jcamp View Post
I’m gonna be a bit of a wet blanket. First I think the Martin craftsmanship is great as well as their consistency, I do however believe that the standard martins rely a lot on their name. Sound wise I believe that you cane get just as good or better sound from other brands for the same price. I did play one standard d18 that was truly great but I played several after that was just so so and sounded more on par with $800 China guitars. If u have the time/funds I’d suggest you look into their higher up guitars. I played one D18 that vibrated the chair I was setting on. I don’t remember the model it was it was in the $3k range.
All that being said the D18 in general is a fine guitar that sounds good and maintains a good resell value if that is something u care about. I personally chose a mahogany Gibson j45 over the martin tho that’s why I tend to suggest that folks shop around trying different guitars
I’ll be a warm blanket just to offer another perspective.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I’d had my eye on the D-18 for at least six years. I already owned two really great guitars — a Taylor dreadnought and a Fairbanks slope-shoulder patterned after a late 30s J-35. I thought it would be cool to add a Martin flavor to my Taylor and Gibsonesque guitars.

As I mentioned, I played lots of D-18s. Never once was I underwhelmed. Had the circumstances been right, I’d have been happy to bring any of them home with me.

I didn’t only play the standard series D-18s. I played a number of Martins. I played several examples of a number of classic dreadnoughts, from the D-28 to the HD-28V to the D-35. Tried some non-dreadnought shapes too, like the 000-18 and the OM-28. I also played a D-18 Authentic or two.

I didn’t just play Martins. I played several Collings D1 and D1A models. Played a couple Huss & Dalton TD-M guitars. Pretty sure I played a Bourgeois, and I played a couple luthier-built mahogany dreadnoughts as well. On the other side of the cost spectrum, I played an Eastman or two, several Larrivees, and even a handful of Yamahas (which I think are fantastic at their price point).

When it was all said and done, the D-18 was the one, regardless of price. It had the look, feel, and tone I was looking for in a classic dreadnought. Martin did it right when they refreshed the D-18, and though it’s not a cheap guitar, I think it’s still a bang-for-buck guitar considering the cost of models it favorably compares with.

I realize that my experience is just that — my experience. I know that guitars can vary from one to the next, and I know personal preferences for aesthetics, playability, and sound come into play pretty quickly when auditioning guitars, especially if for keeps.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, I highly recommend the D-18.

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