Martin D-18GE vs. Taylor 518e

[Mtn Man]

We had the chance to compare these two great guitars and couldn't resist filming it. Thought you guys might like to see the results. Please keep it civil and don't let this devolve into a brand war. We all have our preferences, but my personal opinion is that both of these guitars are fantastic, and I'm a dyed in the wool Martin guy. Also note that the Martin is seven years old and the Taylor is brand new.

The Martin D-18 Golden Era is a Dreadnought body style with mahogany back and sides and an Adirondack top. The Taylor 518e is a Grand Orchestra body style with mahogany back and sides and a Sitka top.

Martin D-18GE vs. Taylor 518e

[brencat]

Nice playing by your son.

For me, it's no contest... the Martin wins hands down. But I think it's time for a string change

[GibbyPrague]

Yeah, the Taylor sounded pretty thin after the Martin, but that would be expected as the GE is real cannon of a guitar. Plus the playing was skewed towards bluegrass which is a bit unfair on the Taylor.

It sounded like I expected it to. I like the Martin better but that's me. Your son does alright doesn't he? Looks like a young fella still, maybe a future for him in music.

[rmyAddison]

No surprises here, and the Grand Orchestra is Taylors largest guitar (had to look it up) so it's a fair "cutting heads" event, maybe some allowances for guitar age.

The GE sounds like a typical Martin dread, rich warm and woody, it sounds like a Martin. The Grand Orchestra is bright, nicely balanced, but not as rich and warm, not as much meat on the tone bone, it sounds like a Taylor.

Personally when I think Taylors their niche is plugged in, easy to pocket in a band mix with their upper midrange emphasis, great playability, and I think the very high percentage that are acoustic electrics bears this out.

To me Taylors are acoustics electrics first, acoustics second, Martin are the opposite, and both have their fans and their market.

For me personally, the older I get the more I love Martins, Taylors are for somebody else and may make them just as happy...............

[Judson]

Great playing! ... fun comparison ... but not a really valid test given the vast differences in the two guitars from tone woods to bracing to body size. Just two completely different instruments.


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[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by Blackville

Great playing! ... fun comparison ... but not a really valid test given the vast differences in the two guitars from tone woods to bracing to body size. Just two completely different instruments.


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Martins and Taylors are bookends, they do not compare well, never will, neither copies the other. But the GA is larger than a Martin dread in every measurement, and still.................

[Dru Edwards]

I really enjoyed that. I like the fact that you broke it up into 3 segments and switched between the guitars. Made it easier to compare the different styles. In all 3 segments, I preferred the Martin. It just seemed to have a little more depth and was such a sweet sounding guitar.

Did both guitars have the same strings?

[hovishead]

I definitely preferred the Martin in this test, but I've never felt that Taylor guitar suit bluegrass very well, despite Dan Crary choosing to play them.

[Mtn Man]

Originally Posted by brencat

Nice playing by your son.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by GibbyPrague

Yeah, the Taylor sounded pretty thin after the Martin, but that would be expected as the GE is real cannon of a guitar. Plus the playing was skewed towards bluegrass which is a bit unfair on the Taylor.

I think the Taylor held its own quite well considering. Nick's GE is a real beast. FWIW, we've compared it to a bunch of other "bluegrass cannons" as well, including some other GE's, and the only one that really held up was a Bourgeois Country Boy Deluxe, although I think Nick's was slightly louder.

Originally Posted by billybillly

It sounded like I expected it to. I like the Martin better but that's me. Your son does alright doesn't he? Looks like a young fella still, maybe a future for him in music.

Thanks, he's 12. He wants to play professionally one day. Unfortunately he's a flatpicker, which means "professional" is a relative term and usually includes a day job of some sort. We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

No surprises here, and the Grand Orchestra is Taylors largest guitar (had to look it up) so it's a fair "cutting heads" event, maybe some allowances for guitar age.

The GE sounds like a typical Martin dread, rich warm and woody, it sounds like a Martin. The Grand Orchestra is bright, nicely balanced, but not as rich and warm, not as much meat on the tone bone, it sounds like a Taylor.

Personally when I think Taylors their niche is plugged in, easy to pocket in a band mix with their upper midrange emphasis, great playability, and I think the very high percentage that are acoustic electrics bears this out.

To me Taylors are acoustics electrics first, acoustics second, Martin are the opposite, and both have their fans and their market.

For me personally, the older I get the more I love Martins, Taylors are for somebody else and may make them just as happy...............

This particular Taylor has been touted for its bass response and that's primarily what we were testing here. That's why Daley's Reel was played entirely on the bass strings, and the other two songs were done in Drop D. I think the GE really shone on the faster tunes. The responsiveness of that Adi top is nice when you're burning through a fiddle tune at breakneck speed.

Originally Posted by Blackville

Great playing! ... fun comparison ... but not a really valid test given the vast differences in the two guitars from tone woods to bracing to body size. Just two completely different instruments.

There's been a lot of talk about this particular guitar and how well it compares to Martin. I wanted to put it to the test.

One major advantage the GE has (besides the age) is the Adi top. You can really hear the focused punch of the GE, and the extra volume. It also has a nice thick bottom end due to the way it's braced, I think, so it's the best of both worlds which is what we love about it. Obviously the GE is going to cut through better in a bluegrass jam, but which would be better in the studio? I'm also curious how the 518e would sound with an Adi top, and how it would compare to a new D-18 with a Sitka top.

[Mtn Man]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I really enjoyed that. I like the fact that you broke it up into 3 segments and switched between the guitars. Made it easier to compare the different styles. In all 3 segments, I preferred the Martin. It just seemed to have a little more depth and was such a sweet sounding guitar.

Thanks! I was just going to post two separate videos but I decided to take the time to break them up. I definitely thing that makes them easier to compare.

Did both guitars have the same strings?

Not sure what was on the Taylor but they almost look like 80/20's in the video. The GE had medium gauge Elixir PB's on it, and they had a little age on them.

Originally Posted by hovishead

I definitely preferred the Martin in this test, but I've never felt that Taylor guitar suit bluegrass very well, despite Dan Crary choosing to play them.

We think this Taylor is an exception, at least in terms of the tone, projection, and bass response. Maybe it was unfair to compare it to Nick's GE, which has destroyed pretty much every guitar we've compared it to including other Martins and some models by well known custom builders who will remain unnamed.

[BlakeGiants]

A 7 year old guitar with an Adi top and PB strings vs a brand new guitar with Sitka and 80/20s....

The Martin fans will hear the Martin as: "warmer" with "more bottom end"

The Taylor fans will hear the Taylor as "more balanced" with "better clarity".

Also one guitar has s street price of $3400 and one a street price of $2650.

Two totally different guitars. Both awesome.

[lodi_55]

Thanks for posting this. A fair comparison would include different musical styles and would absolutely include finger-style where many feel Taylor shines.

Not sure what you expected with bluegrass only!

BTW, a very nice version of Tennessee Waltz (which I think was won easily by the Taylor).

Mike

[JLed79]

Great playing and a nice comparo. I have to go with Rich on this one. To each their own. Taylor and Martin are both very comfortable in their own skin and do not try to emulate each other.
I honestly liked the sound of both guitars, but I prefer the Taylor here. Thanks for posting this.

[Mtn Man]

Nick plays at fingerstyle but he's really a flatpicker. We'll try to include some fingerstyle if we ever do another one of these. Don't be surprised if the GE still does well, though. We've found it to be very responsive to fingerpicking, which surprised us.

Also, this comparison was done primarily to see if Taylor had finally made a guitar that could compete with a Martin on Martin's terms, i.e., could a hardcore Martin-loving flatpicker be happy with it. There are thousands of examples of Taylors being played in other styles and we wanted to do something a little different with this comparison. It's very hard to find good video of Taylors being flatpicked.

Thanks for the comments and I really do like hearing from Taylor fans. I think the 518e held its own very well here.