Does it make sense to own both a Martin HD28 and OM28

[jdinco]

You realize you're asking a bunch of guitar nuts that love guitars if you should buy another guitar right? Start shopping !

[RP]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

You realize you're asking a bunch of guitar nuts that love guitars if you should buy another guitar right? Start shopping !

Yes, it does make sense.....

[DanR]

It makes sense to me. HD-28 for flatpicking and OM-28 for fingerpicking. I have owned both at the same time in the past. I eventually went with mahogany (000-18 then 00-18) for my fingerpicker but the HD-28 with the OM-28 are a great pair to cover many styles.

[tbirdman]

I pulled the trigger! These two HD28 and OM28 should cover most of the genres I want to play or will play. I'll keep the Taylor CE214CE DLX for my travels in my RV.

[Stringmaster]

For those who have both—if you needed a guitar to cover a lot of bases—light fingerpicking with bare fingers, to heavy strumming, to chopping out swing chords, which would you choose? I understand that the dread will be less responsive to a light touch, and that the OM would have less headroom, so it’s a compromise either way.

[Br1ck]

It doesn't have to make sense to me, it has to make sense to you. My order of acquisition would be hog/spruce dread, RW/ spruce dread, slope old hog/spruce Gibson, 000 RW/spruce, 00 15 12 fret, LG2

Your path should be different.

[tbirdman]

What's a hog? OM28 should fit well with my fingerpicking and the HD28 does well for other genres I'mearning.

[Rogerblair]

Hog = Mahogany.

Congratulations on your trigger pulling for the OM28. Mine is one of the best guitars I’ve ever owned (lots of guitars have come and gone).
Rb

[FrankHudson]

Originally Posted by Stringmaster

For those who have both—if you needed a guitar to cover a lot of bases—light fingerpicking with bare fingers, to heavy strumming, to chopping out swing chords, which would you choose? I understand that the dread will be less responsive to a light touch, and that the OM would have less headroom, so it’s a compromise either way.

I have not owned the two Martins in the thread title. I have had a mahogany/spruce Martin dread, and a non-Martin but traditional rosewood/spruce OM (I miss both, they were traded for other options). I currently have a Cort rosewood/spruce dread.

To my mind the spruce topped OM design as it's usually expressed has a lot of headroom, more than I ever need. I'm primarily a flat-pick cross-picker, but I do strum sometimes. My belief is that, speaking generally, a OM is an ideal all-rounder.

If anything, for aggressive strumming I would tend to shy away from a rosewood backed dread. I certainly do with mine. Overtones, sustain and resonance aren't what I'm looking for with most strumming parts. If I was playing with aggressive, testing the limits of an acoustic guitar's headroom strums, I'd think mahogany or maple b&s. But that's me, and I'm certain many guitars and guitarists have found happiness with aggressive strumming on a rosewood dreadnaught. And how the top is voiced and braced makes a considerable difference in how hard you can hit those strings, as much or more than top size.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

The biggest difference for me I that I use medium strings on my dread which are not my favorites for finger picking.

[tbirdman]

I use medium light on my HD28, but prefer the 11s on my Taylor

[Pdubs76]

After reading through this thread, I’m now thinking about getting rid of all my guitars and getting a D-28 and an OM-28. It just seems like the right thing to do.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Pdubs76

After reading through this thread, I’m now thinking about getting rid of all my guitars and getting a D-28 and an OM-28. It just seems like the right thing to do.

After that I would start looking at some hogs.

[Tannin]

^ Nearly the right thing to do. But you have to keep all the others too.

[Rad]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

I currently have in my stable a HD28, Taylor 214CE. Also have a Fender electric. I play a lot of fingerpicking, but as a beginning guitarist for little over a year, I play different genres including, classical, folk, CW, bluegrass etc. I flatpick, fingerpick and strum. I’m eyeing a new OM28.

The OP is doing great! After one year of playing I was still struggling with barre chords playing my entry level Yamaha acoustic