Martin 00015m vs Gibson Parlor rosewood AG

[wbeaver]

Ok, I know these are two very different guitars but want a recommendation as a complement to my J45. Looking for a smaller body than my dread and also wondering which is a better fingerpicker bc the j45 handles my strumming needs well. Big price difference. Just looking for opinions

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by wbeaver

Ok, I know these are two very different guitars but want a recommendation as a complement to my J45. Looking for a smaller body than my dread and also wondering which is a better fingerpicker bc the j45 handles my strumming needs well. Big price difference. Just looking for opinions

I can’t comment on the Gibson, but I’d recommend you add to your short list of considerations the 000-15SM. Great mahogany tone for finger and flat pick. The 12 fret body adds to that.

[BoneDigger]

Not sure on the Gibson, but the 00015m is a fabulous guitar!

[catfish]

I own both J-45 and 000-15M and love them, but a rosewood parlor which I never played will have a very different tone from 000-15M.
Did you play 000-15M in person?
Not everyone love the tone of 000-15M. Should be tried first.

[M19]

Just bought a Gibson AG-Rosewood from a forum member this week!

Although the outer dimensions are similar to a 00, it is a thin body (3-3/4" vs. 4" on the Martin 00) so although it has good sustain, it is not as resonant. Spruce top so it handles the flat pick well. 1-23/32" nut width and 2-3/16" at the saddle. Very comfortable to hold and play, though it's taking me some time to get used the neck-pressure on the palm-side index first knuckle.

I don't have a 000-15, but a Taylor all mahogany GC. It is much mellower and woodier (is that a word?). The Gibson is a better strummer IMO.

[Wade Hampton]

wbeaver, the rosewood version of the Gibson "Parlor" model is the closest thing to the Martin 000-28 in the Gibson product line. That body shape first came out about 12 or 15 years ago as the CJ-165, and I came very close to buying one. I was impressed with one that our local Gibson dealer had, so I asked a couple of my most knowledgeable guitar-playing friends to go down to the store with me for a second look.

On that same visit I took along my 000-42 and my Larrivée OM-03W to compare them side by side with the Gibson.

With all three of us sitting and playing all three of those guitars against each other, it was remarkable how similar the CJ-165 was, well within the same tonal ballpark as the other two. I concluded that most of what it did was already covered by my 000-42. Very balanced, very warm-sounding, but noticeably louder.

Anyway, I talked myself out of buying it that day, but kind of wish I hadn't.

The Martin 000-15M is a great guitar, but with a hardwood top it's more tonally limited: you won't be able to pull as many different tone colors out of it. Hardwood tops generally aren't as loud as spruce tops, either, and take longer to break in and come into their full voice.

So if I was in the same position you're in now, I would want to play both guitars first. But if the two of them follow in the same paths as previous examples of those instruments that I've played, I would buy the Gibson rosewood parlor. Provided that you find a good-sounding one, it's going to be the more versatile musical instrument of the two.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[wbeaver]

Saw a good deal on an 00015m, going to play it and see if it's the one!