Advice: hunting for a new Martin, but which one? - Page 2

kriso77 · #16 03-09-2021, 09:23 AM

The Martin 000-18 or 28 certainly makes sense to try out. That being said, I would also through a D-18 into the ring. It's my desert island guitar. The one I will strap to my back during a zombie apocalypse. It does fingerstyle, flatpicking and strumming perfectly. It will be a departure from the Gibson, but not so drastic that the tone feels thin.

rdf37 · #17 03-09-2021, 10:14 AM

Buy all of them lol.

Honestly, I love Martin, but I think you should not narrow yourself to one name.
Martin is putting out some great guitars with alot to choose from. Their new Road series line up are pretty nice for the money, but Yamaha and Alvarez and some of the Martin inspired saga guitar company brands are way up there in quality now (blueridge, Eastman, etc. etc.). BUt if it must be a martin you must first decide by your playing style and what you want out of the guitar. Body style is the first thing to consider...Concert...Jumbo....dread...oo or ooo. But if money or budget is not the deciding factor...save yourself the trouble and just start with the standard series as a central platform and look all direction lower and higher.
For me, I had similar decision a few years back but I always wanted a D-18. I chose the D-18 and never looked back.

Personally i do thing Mahogany back and sides will suit you better but only you can choose that. But with all you said in your post, if me is you with that mindset...here would be my choice

Martin 00-18

There it is settled lol

fazool · #18 03-09-2021, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRose

Hey Fazool,
I believe the 000-15 and 000-17 are long scale. The 18,21,28 are short- per my experience.
I thought the nut width tended towards 1&3/4 on both the 000 and the OM.
If I’m wrong it won’t be the first or last time.

it may have changed as well

dadio917 · #19 03-09-2021, 12:35 PM

Not being a big guy (used to be 5'10" but shrinking) i gave my Dread to my son, just not comfortable for me unless standing with a strap. The 00 is my favorite, sounds great and is most comfortable. My 000 sounds great but not as comfortable as the 00. The 0 is great for finger style but not as much base.

WouterGrover · #20 03-10-2021, 02:35 AM

All right, thanks everyone for thinking along with me. Really appreciate it.

So my takeaway is to definitely try out the Martin 0018/00018/D18 and the 0028/00028/OM-28. I still feel drawn to the D-28 because of history and sound, but since I want my next guitar to be an addition to my J185, instead of it being a similar guitar, it does make sense to seriously consider the other types. If I made a decision I'll let you know in the post!

EZYPIKINS · #21 03-10-2021, 04:07 AM

A fellow J-185 player I'd opt for the 000-28. I bought a 000-15 and keep finding myself putting it down in favor of the 185's tone. I have played an OM- 28 and they sound gorgeous. Only reason I would opt for the 000 over the OM is that the scale would be closer to what you are used to. But if you can at all afford it go for the 28 series.

jp2558 · #22 03-10-2021, 07:53 AM

M-36. Martin's best kept secret.

brencat · #23 03-10-2021, 08:10 AM

Welcome to the AGF!

I see you are overseas in the Netherlands, which may limit the availability of certain guitars and models. However, I would recommend you check out TFOA (The Fellowship of Acoustics) who seems to have good inventory of the major brands and does a nice job with their product demos. I believe they will ship anywhere in Europe without issue.

The comment you made about the Gibson requiring a strong hand is common with production/factory built guitars, including Martins. This is because they build to a spec rather than optimizing and tap tuning each top based on each individual piece of wood. A small shop that makes 1500 acoustics per year or less like Collings, Santa Cruz, Bourgeois etc can do that. But a factory like Martin that makes 100k guitars per year cannot.

I would strongly advise you check out some boutique brands if you can if you want better playability and more responsiveness with less input effort.

Picker1 · #24 03-10-2021, 11:33 AM

Start with a D18 or D28 and make changes from there. Bigger, smaller, scale length, wood combinations, trim level, cost. Just narrow it down

dyna · #25 03-10-2021, 11:51 AM

Look at the Custom 0-15m with 1 3/4" nut.
Specified by Westside distribution in Great Britain.

More or less the same models of 0-15 and 00-15 are also sold by
LA guitar Sales, but they are not allowed to export new Martins to Europe.

Br1ck · #26 03-10-2021, 04:12 PM

It amazes me the delicacy a finger stylist can get from a D 18. I'd take a look at my musical direction. Fingerstyle would have me looking OM or 000. I think a 00 28 could also work. Really, in EU, you might have to take what you can find right now. There are bluegrassers that play OMs, it's the old play anything on anything argument.

Pura Vida · #27 03-11-2021, 02:04 AM

If you're set on Martin, then the 000-18 sounds like a good counterpart for your J-185. It's a versatile guitar with great tone for the music styles you mentioned.

PS - I enjoy Conor Oberst, The Tallest Man On Earth, etc.

pegleghowell · #28 03-11-2021, 04:20 AM

000 18 or 000 28(reimagined or EC).Can`t go wrong,try to check out both you may prefer the rosewood over the mahogany or vice versa.

SpruceTop · #29 03-11-2021, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WouterGrover

Hi everyone,

In this lockdown I could really use your help and expertise while picking a new guitar! Sorry for the long post, but let me try to explain..

For a long time now I feel an urge to add a Martin guitar to my collection. I have several reasons to do so, among others the rich sound, but also the history of the guitar company and the beautiful minimalistic looks. The fact that countless guitar players, both amateur and professional, enjoyed Martin guitars throughout the years also adds to this.

Wanting to buy another guitar also comes from a vague feeling that I'm missing something, currently not having the right guitar for my style of playing and music preference. For example, the last several years this got more focused on playing solo without a band, more fingerpicking/picking-strumming and simply having another music preference. Less rockmusic, more modern folk, singer-songwriter music (e.g. influenced by artists such as Ben Howard, Tallest Man on Earth, Coner Oberst).

Years ago, when I played for just a few years or so, I bought my first serious acoustic; a Gibson J-185 EC (maple, 2006). Maybe a bit over the top for a relative beginner, but that was the guitar that I wanted back then, largely based on looks and the ability to plug in. It's quite a big guitar with a big sounds, great for chords. To get the most out of the guitar it asks for a lot of power when playing.

Because of my attachment to the Gibson I won't part with it, and therefore I'm searching for an addition to this guitar that better suits my current needs and preferences. Looking for a Martin with a rich and full bodied sound that goes well with fingerpicking and strumming/picking combinations, that doesn't ask too much power when playing (like the jumbo does), so one that also work when playing a bit more subtle but still has a deep and beautiful sound.

Obviously I will test several guitars before buying de definite one, but while I'm in lockdown I want to take this time to do research and trying to figure out what I want. I started looking at the Martin D-28, but then also the OM-28 got my attention. Again, my apologies for the long message, but I could really use your experiences, expertise and opinion about this. So thanks all for taking this time!

Reimagined Martin HD-28