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  #46  
Old 07-30-2020, 06:19 AM
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dnf777 dnf777 is offline
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My Tweedy was my first Martin, and it has sat out on a stand in the bedroom for all the years Ive had it. Remains very enjoyable to play, never needed re-set-up. In all honesty, I have come to wish it was standard depth, all other specs the same.

One thing I can attribute to it, is my acceptance of Richlite for the fingerboard. Perfectly maintenance free and no issues whatsoever.

I saw this is a Lazarus thread, recently revived, but I think its a good thing to re-eval new models over the years. And this keeps the comments together on a timeline, rather than heaping more threads onto a humongous pile!

Bottom line on OO-DB at 8 years: THUMBS UP!
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  #47  
Old 07-30-2020, 09:15 AM
pdx pdx is offline
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My Jeff Tweedy found me on my birthday last December. It was 4 years old and had some marks from a previous life, but it sounded rather tight, boxy and a touch lackluster. I’m a bit hard headed though and I thought I could coax it back to life. After just over 8 months of owning the guitar, it is an incredible sounding guitar. I had Martin Retro 13’s on it to wake it up, then I switched to 12’s. Sometimes I feel it doesn’t have the sparkle I want, then I realize I just need to rotate the guitar slightly to hear it in all its glory. I think it is the guitar I reach for the most. While I prefer a fatter D, the 1 3/4 and V do work wonderfully together.

I read somewhere once that when buying an all solid wood guitar, the first time you play it will be the worst it will ever sound. I’ve had a few guitars go from obnoxious to outstanding with some honest playing and some patience.
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1968 Martin D-28
1975 Martin D-18
1976 Martin 000-18
1989 Martin 000-16M
2015 Martin 00-DB Jeff Tweedy
2012 Gibson J-45 Custom
2017 Gibson J-35
1971 Alvarez K. Yairi Classical
1970 Lou J Mancuso nylon string hybrid
Harmony Sovereign H1260
30's MayBell Model 6
Nash MW-500
1998 Yamaha LS-10
2003 Tacoma EKK9
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  #48  
Old 07-30-2020, 10:00 AM
db22 db22 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post
db22, I’ve played a few of those Jeff Tweedy models, and while I think they’re excellent guitars and perfect for some players, I prefer the standard depth for Double O’s rather than the deeper bodies on this and the Martin “Women In Music” model from a few years earlier.

Before coming to this last page of posts from today, I skimmed through some of the posts from when this thread got started back a few years ago. One person claimed that the deeper body gives the Tweedy model more “punch” and projection, but I have never found that to be true, whether with deep body OM’s or this Jeff Tweedy model.

What the deeper sides give you is more bass response and possibly a louder instrument, but they’re actually less projective, and less capable of cutting through a group of other instruments being played at the same time.

Guitarists often confuse projection with loudness, but they’re two different things. They’re related, but having a lot of low end overtones actually makes guitars less likely to cut through.

Which is why Martin D-35’s are so vanishingly rare in bluegrass bands. D-35’s are plenty loud up close, but they don’t project nearly as well through the clatter and clamor of a bluegrass band as a D-18 or an HD-28 will. D-35’s have too many overtones spreading over the audible spectrum for them to be heard well in a crowd, however deafeningly loud they might be when you stand right in front of one.

You’ll find the same sort of thing with a deep body Double O, even though it’s not as bass heavy as a D-35. So it might cut through marginally better, but still won’t be as projective as a Double O with the normal body depth.

Which I do know about from personal experience, because I’m a big fan of 12 fret Double O’s, and have owned several over the years. They’re little but mighty, and quite often surprise other musicians with how powerful they are.

Short version: when you deepen the sides of a Double O or Triple O or OM, you’ll get more bass response and possibly more loudness in the immediate area around the guitar. But you actually diminish the projective qualities of the guitar to a noticeable degree.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller
Wade, many thanks for your enlightening post. As I have gotten older and arthritis has put a crimp in my ability to stand with a guitar, smaller and lighter instruments have become more appealing. From dreads to OMs, now down to a OO, I've traded for fewer, smaller, nicer guitars, pretty much without regret. It was good to learn something of the theory of acoustic guitar function, loudness versus projection.
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  #49  
Old 07-30-2020, 05:41 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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db - I’m glad I was able to give you some food for thought.


whm
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  #50  
Old 09-12-2022, 02:14 PM
Gibcaster000 Gibcaster000 is offline
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I realize this thread is pretty old at this point, but thought I'd share my experience with this guitar in case it was useful to someone else down the road.

Mine is from the first production batch, which would make it about 10 years old I believe. I've played it a TON in the 3 years I've had it, and it was already pretty well broken in when it came to me (and had the battle scars to show for it). I HATED the mod V neck and wider string spacing when I first got it, but the tone kept me playing it and now I find I really love this configuration.

To my ear, the deep body definitely softens some of the "punch" I've experienced playing other all-hog guitars. But not in a bad way, it just sounds fuller and has more bass than all of the 00- or 000-15's I have played (those always sounded a little thin for my taste). I suspect the very substantial neck probably contributes something to the overall sound as well.

I can't speak to how it would hold up at a jam or in a full string ensemble, but it is really wonderful for performing solo and accompanying vocals. I play a lot of fingerstyle blues/ragtime and Norman Blake/Doc Watson type flatpicking and I love it for those purposes. It has blended well with a second guitar whenever I've played with buddies, and I can imagine it blending really well with a mandolin. If I ever get a chance to hear how it holds up going toe to toe with a banjo I will update this post

Last edited by Gibcaster000; 09-12-2022 at 02:28 PM.
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