Disappointed: 1969 Martin D28 Brazilian Rosewood

[GHS]

I think everyone should watch the episode "Adam ruins Art" from the Adam Ruins Everything series. What happens in the art world can be applicable to the music world too.

[bluesfreek]

Interesting thread regarding 60-70's Martins. I seem to recall people who bought Yamaha's or other brands like Yamaki and Takamine in the 70's saying for example...

"In 1975 I tried out a new $500 Martin against a $250 Japanese made Yamaki. Since the Yamaki (or Yamaha) sounded just as good or better I bought it"

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by LysolEverywhere

I found a 69 Martin D28 for sale today for 7500. Stopped by to play it. I dont think it sounds as good as my 2014 Martin HD28v. It was balanced but didnt have the volume I would have expected.

What am I missing? :\

Joe

Hi LE

Had a friend who purchased a 30 year old D-28 at a bargain, and I've heard better guitars off the shelf. While it's improved some over the past 20 odd years he's had it, I've still heard better Martin D-28s off the shelf.

Old doesn't guarantee stellar…

[markd]

I’ve owned three Brazilian guitars, two from Bourgeois and one from Santa Cruz. None of them stayed w me very long. I was in love w the idea of joining the Brazilian Club, tone/price ratio didn’t add up. Take a friend and have them randomly place guitars in your hands whilst blindfolded. Get down to the two best, and then take home the less expensive one. My 2 cents.

[merlin666]

Originally Posted by bluesfreek

Interesting thread regarding 60-70's Martins. I seem to recall people who bought Yamaha's or other brands like Yamaki and Takamine in the 70's saying for example...

"In 1975 I tried out a new $500 Martin against a $250 Japanese made Yamaki. Since the Yamaki (or Yamaha) sounded just as good or better I bought it"

That happened to me around 1977 ... three D18s in the store and none of them came even close to the blinged up Suzuki with "Jacaranda" back and sides. It was even a bit cheaper than the Martins so I took it home. I still have it and it's almost mint, but I don't think it has any resale value, whereas the Martins would probably fetch a pretty penny if they survived.

[Monsoon1]

Originally Posted by Bad Poppa

Frankly, I've seen this many times. A couple of guys in one of my "jam" groups have older Martins, and though they do sound nice, there are several new models that simply blow them away. Looking at the gains in technology and experience over the last 40-50 years, it makes sense that builders of all types are making better guitars for the money. $7500 can buy you a LOT of guitar.

IMHO, in some cases, I call it "the older we get, the better we were" syndrome.

I couldn't agree more with this.
Builders understand more than they did 50 years ago, and have better tools to work with as well.

[Tony Burns]

Originally Posted by LysolEverywhere

I found a 69 Martin D28 for sale today for 7500. Stopped by to play it. I dont think it sounds as good as my 2014 Martin HD28v. It was balanced but didnt have the volume I would have expected.

What am I missing? :\

Joe

im not positive but that price seems pretty high for a 69 D28 -
I remember a decent BR D-28 at elderly that was like 4 grand - a bit beat up but it had a neck reset , and played great -
You can get a decent BR guitar for around 3-4 easily in todays market -
Thou some luthiers builds are more used

[bluesfreek]

Originally Posted by merlin666

That happened to me around 1977 ... three D18s in the store and none of them came even close to the blinged up Suzuki with "Jacaranda" back and sides. It was even a bit cheaper than the Martins so I took it home. I still have it and it's almost mint, but I don't think it has any resale value, whereas the Martins would probably fetch a pretty penny if they survived.

The first "good" acoustic guitar I ever had was a 1977 Yamaki which my dad brought home for my birthday that year. It was basically a copy of a D41. I had that guitar for about 5 years and then gave it to a friend of mine who was moving away. Now I see some of those Japanese D41and D45 knockoffs from Tama, Yamaki, Suzuki and Morris commanding much more money now than they sold for 40 years ago.

[Slothead56]

Gosh, we are a desperate bunch...

This zombie started in 2014 and the OP hasn’t been active for almost two years.

Having said that I love my D18 and my D28VS.

[robj144]

I was about to answer the OP, but this thread is almost 5 years old.

[robj144]

Originally Posted by Tony Burns

im not positive but that price seems pretty high for a 69 D28 -
I remember a decent D-28 at elderly that was like 4 grand - a bit beat up but it had a neck reset , and played great -
You can get a decent BR guitar for around 3-4 easily in todays market -
Thou some luthiers builds are more used

TS hasn't logged in nearly two years...

[JimmerO]

Originally Posted by LysolEverywhere

I found a 69 Martin D28 for sale today for 7500. Stopped by to play it. I dont think it sounds as good as my 2014 Martin HD28v. It was balanced but didnt have the volume I would have expected.

What am I missing? :\

Joe

My Buddy and I got together a bunch of his nice guitars to compare including a 70s Martin D35, a Bedell Bahai with BRW, and my 2013 Martin HD28. When we were finished he turned to me and said "Guess I have to go and get me an HD28 like yours.

[383roller]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

The bracing position (on Dreadnaughts) was changed from 1 7/8" from the sound hole to the modern 1 1/2" position in the mid 1950's.

Bracing in the immediate post war period was not scalloped, but was lighter than what we consider Martin's straight bracing today. It became subtly, but progressively heavier until the early 1950's.

The move to the new factory in 1964 brought the change from hide glue to modern synthetic glues. Short drop-in saddles followed. By 1966/67 Martin could no longer source their 1/2" T-bar and made the transition from that to a 3/8" T-bar for a short time, then to the 3/8" square tube. They also switched to rosewood bridge plates.

I've left out a lot of details, but my point is that the changes were progressive. A 1959 Martin was not all that much different than a 1961 Martin, but a 1951 Martin was vastly different than a 1969 Martin.

The late 40's and early 50's guitars are among my favorite postwar Martins. I'm not generally enthused with the later ones.

We also now know that Martin used various species of spruce during the postwar years, at least through 1962. Contrary to what was previously assumed, some of that was red spruce, Engelmann, and German spruce. They kept shop records for some periods better than others. That throws more variability into the sound of the postwar guitars. It's just impossible to lump them all together.

This is very informative, when the X moved did the spot where the ends of the X move with it?

A stock 69 D28 should sound good, not sure it justifies a price like that. It may speak to someone out there.

[stringjunky]

Originally Posted by 383roller

This is very informative, when the X moved did the spot where the ends of the X move with it?

A stock 69 D28 should sound good, not sure it justifies a price like that. It may speak to someone out there.

Yes. If a guitar helps you play and sound how you want, it's a 'perfect' guitar... and just might be that '69.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by LysolEverywhere

I found a 69 Martin D28 for sale today for 7500. Stopped by to play it. I dont think it sounds as good as my 2014 Martin HD28v. It was balanced but didnt have the volume I would have expected.

What am I missing? :\

Joe

You're not missing a thing. Brazilian rosewood can sound excellent, but it can also sound clunky and ho-hum.

I'm just glad that you're smart enough to not let yourself be swayed by the mystique, and are actually relying on your own sensory input rather than all the breathless hype you've read.


whm