Who Makes Martins Better than Martin?

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by AHill

I'm curious that Collings is on the list. A recent thread compared Collings to Santa Cruz and the general feeling was Collings had more of a modern, almost Taylor kind of sound to them. The consensus was they are superb guitars, but just different in sound than Martins.

I don't know that anyone builds a Martin like Martin. That doesn't mean that there aren't guitars that players prefer. I own a '72 D35. My stepson owns a 2002 D35. Two diferent vintages. Two different sounds. But either way, nothing else captures the D35 sound.

Collings are great guitars. They tend to be more articulate and have better harmonic intonation than the Martin D28's... But definitely not Taylor-like in any. Collings have much more fundamental projection while Taylors are known for more harmonic projection (if that makes sense?). But the Martin harmonic intonation thing is what gives Martins the characteristic "Martin sound", which is probably why I gravitate to the D35, having better "tonal alignment", though the mids are a bit scooped on this model. Martin's reimagined series has set out to be more Taylor-like, shifting the bracing and bringing those harmonics into more tonal alignment like Taylors (who have IMO gone overboard in that direction with their V-bracing). The new Martins sound great, but not like classic Martins (IMO).

If you'd like to play a lot of Martin-like dreads 1st hand come to Chicago for a day or two. We have CME, Guitar Works (Evanston) and Music Gallery (Highwood) that have a slew of boutique guitars to try, including Santa Cruz, Goodall, H&D, Bourgeois and more. It would be really hard to come here and not find something you want.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

I don't know that anyone builds a Martin like Martin. That doesn't mean that there aren't guitars that players prefer. I own a '72 D35. My stepson owns a 2002 D35. Two diferent vintages. Two different sounds. But either way, nothing else captures the D35 sound.

Collings are great guitars. They tend to be more articulate and have better harmonic intonation than the Martin D28's... But definitely not Taylor-like in any. Collings have much more fundamental projection while Taylors are known for more harmonic projection (if that makes sense?). But the Martin harmonic intonation thing is what gives Martins the characteristic "Martin sound", which is probably why I gravitate to the D35, having better "tonal alignment", though the mids are a bit scooped on this model. Martin's reimagined series has set out to be more Taylor-like, shifting the bracing and bringing those harmonics into more tonal alignment like Taylors (who have IMO gone overboard in that direction with their V-bracing). The new Martins sound great, but not like classic Martins (IMO).

If you'd like to play a lot of Martin-like dreads 1st hand come to Chicago for a day or two. We have CME, Guitar Works (Evanston) and Music Gallery (Highwood) that have a slew of boutique guitars to try, including Santa Cruz, Goodall, H&D, Bourgeois and more. It would be really hard to come here and not find something you want.

Agree 100%

sm