Review: Martin D-28 Modern Deluxe

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by IndyHD28

One point made by OneManz in his written review of the MDs is that with the VTS top, carbon fiber bridgeplate, and LM pins, the Modern Deluxe guitars are more resistant to humidity than plain wood guitars. I’ve noticed this at my home where it is a constant 60%+ even with the A/C running full blast.

This is true. My new MD is more stable with the humidity fluctuations in Chicago than my other guitars, including Martins.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by vintageom

I thought the reimagined HD-28 was the replacement of the HD-28V? The new HD-28 is priced well below the old HD-28V. The differences are:

HD-28V had Grained Ivoroid binding, no aging toner on the top, different, cheaper tuners and 1 11/16" nut width with perhaps different string spacing up the neck.

The NOS HD-28Vs are discontinued and are sitting unsold at various dealers around the country right now. The new reimagined version HD-28 does a good job replacing the HD-28V at a much lower price.

When you compare the old HD-28 pricing to the Modern Deluxe pricing, it makes the price gap narrower. Compare the reimagined HD-28 to the Modern Deluxe, then decide if the upgrades of the Modern Deluxe bridge the price/value gap for you.

Yes...the reimagined HD-28 took on the specs of the HD-28v. Here’s a UMGF thread on the topic:
https://umgf.com/is-the-hd28v-destin...d-t190482.html

[martingitdave]

I’ve had another few weeks with this guitar and I’m still enjoying it. Recently, I got fitted for new hearing devices. And, as predicted, everything sounds different. Fortunately, music sounds better, including guitars. One fortunate side effect is that I like the sound of my K&K installs better than ever. It has me rethinking the HFN for this guitar. I feel like there is definitely too much stuff inside of it.

[martingitdave]

I've had a few more gigs and jams under my belt with the D-28 MD. It's really performing well. Sometimes guitars can be hot/cold depending on the situation. What's nice about this model is the dynamic range of the instrument. In addition to sounding (mostly) broken in from the start, there aren't any missing registers. And, it can really sustain and sing from quiet to loud without breaking up with a heavy right hand. If there are any criticisms with the tone, it would be that it's more lively on the top end then some of the other recent traditional/vintage Martin designs. I happen to like it. One consideration is that I ditched the liquid metal pins for some basic plastic pins from Martin and Stewmac. I prefer the neutral sounding plastic. As I break the guitar in, it is starting to compete with my Marquis in terms of power. And, the neck is more comfortable to play.

You might want to give one of these a play next time you see one in the wild.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I've had a few more gigs and jams under my belt with the D-28 MD. It's really performing well. Sometimes guitars can be hot/cold depending on the situation. What's nice about this model is the dynamic range of the instrument. In addition to sounding (mostly) broken in from the start, there aren't any missing registers. And, it can really sustain and sing from quiet to loud without breaking up with a heavy right hand. If there are any criticisms with the tone, it would be that it's more lively on the top end then some of the other recent traditional/vintage Martin designs. I happen to like it. One consideration is that I ditched the liquid metal pins for some basic plastic pins from Martin and Stewmac. I prefer the neutral sounding plastic. As I break the guitar in, it is starting to compete with my Marquis in terms of power. And, the neck is more comfortable to play.

You might want to give one of these a play next time you see one in the wild.

Every Modern Deluxe I've tried sounds great. I tried the D-18MD, D-28MD and OM-28 MD.

All of them sounded more 'mature' than the similar counterparts; D-18, D28 and OM-28. The Modern Deluxes I tried were all very light weight and exhibited great projection with the same right hand attack.

I am delighted you are loving this guitar. I can't remember the last time a new guitar has sustained and continued to acquit itself as much as your D-28MD. The fact that it competes in the league of your D-28 Marquis is quite a testament. Congrats Dave! Love the updates my friend. :-)

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Groberts

Every Modern Deluxe I've tried sounds great. I tried the D-18MD, D-28MD and OM-28 MD.

All of them sounded more 'mature' than the similar counterparts; D-18, D28 and OM-28. The Modern Deluxes I tried were all very light weight and exhibited great projection with the same right hand attack.

I am delighted you are loving this guitar. I can't remember the last time a new guitar has sustained and continued to acquit itself as much as your D-28MD. The fact that it competes in the league of your D-28 Marquis is quite a testament. Congrats Dave! Love the updates my friend. :-)

Thank you! It's interesting what you can bond with when you listen with your ears and feel with your hands. Too many times I've been lured in with specifications that I think I "need" or will prefer, only to give up on a guitar in a few months. That's listening with your eyes. :-)

I was tempted to go check out a very fancy custom guitar recently based on the specifications. But, I went home and played my guitar and though "um... what else is this other guitar supposed to bring to the table that I don't have here?"

I'm not going to suggest it's the world's best guitar. But, I wasn't expecting to like it. And, I'm glad I gave it a chance.

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Thank you! It's interesting what you can bond with when you listen with your ears and feel with your hands. Too many times I've been lured in with specifications that I think I "need" or will prefer, only to give up on a guitar in a few months. That's listening with your eyes. :-)

I was tempted to go check out a very fancy custom guitar recently based on the specifications. But, I went home and played my guitar and though "um... what else is this other guitar supposed to bring to the table that I don't have here?"

I'm not going to suggest it's the world's best guitar. But, I wasn't expecting to like it. And, I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Funny you mention revisiting the fancy custom guitar. I went to a shop in CA when I was on a vacation a couple of weeks ago. I played some very high-end acoustics: Bourgeois ($8K DB custom), Santa Cruz Dreads and OM's, Huss & Dalton TD-R Adi, Collings Cocobolo etc. They also had a Martin D-18 Standard, Ironically enough, I liked the D-18 as much if not more than most of those. And as great as a few of these guitars were, ( The Huss & Dalton TD-R w/Torrified Adi top was a stand-out), I went home and played my 2015 D-18, 2018 DC-18, 2018 HDC-28 and I liked all my guitars more. Those highly regarded guitars had some very special qualities but they were more "different and nice," but not really 'better.'

My take away is a good current manufacture Martin can be equally musical, satisfying and rewarding ...and more affordable.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by Groberts

Funny you mention revisiting the fancy custom guitar. I went to a shop in CA when I was on a vacation a couple of weeks ago. I played some very high-end acoustics: Bourgeois ($8K DB custom), Santa Cruz Dreads and OM's, Huss & Dalton TD-R Adi, Collings Cocobolo etc. They also had a Martin D-18 Standard, Ironically enough, I liked the D-18 as much if not more than most of those. And as great as a few of these guitars were, ( The Huss & Dalton TD-R w/Torrified Adi top was a stand-out), I went home and played my 2015 D-18, 2018 DC-18, 2018 HDC-28 and I liked all my guitars more. Those highly regarded guitars had some very special qualities but they were more "different and nice," but not really 'better.'

My take away is a good current manufacture Martin can be equally musical, satisfying and rewarding ...and more affordable.

Yep...that’s what I think every time I play my D-41. It’s not only a superb instrument...it’s also a major GAS killer.

[IndyHD28]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

Yep...that’s what I think every time I play my D-41. It’s not only a superb instrument...it’s also a major GAS killer.

Worth its weight in gold.....

I played a gorgeous custom D-41 Adi/Ambertone/Waverly at Reno’s a couple of weeks ago. It was marked down only because some inconsiderate demo player put some scratches on the pickguard and Mark won’t sell it as new even though it is still warrantable. I had made a trade+cash offer on another guitar and offered to take this one instead if he needed to move it but “unaged”, it was worth another $800-$1000 and he declined. Almost snagged it!

[daverenick]

The whole MD thing intrigues me. And I tend to agree with you that the primary sound difference, and worst flaw, in my experience of the 000-28 MD and 000-18 MD, is this useless addition, the CF bridge plate. I already have some vintage Martin dreads and wanted something smaller and brighter and with less frequency cross-over that produces the lush Martin sound. RE: the 000-28 MD: It was just loud. "Soulless" might be an apt expression for it. The D-18 is a favorite standard guitar for me. I prefer mahogany, especially to non-Brazilian rosewood. So I returned the 000-28 MD and got the 000-18 MD, sort of like a delusional doing the same thing a thousand times and getting the same result, thinking the next time will be different. I tried a lot of different strings but the guitar sounds like it's made of metal. VERY loud, and the zirconium alloy pins being shoved into carbon fiber (Kydex, in other words, used for holsters and body armor) likely create this harsh effect. I freely admit i am not an acoustic engineer, but vibrating metal strings transferring output through more metal to an extremely hard non porous synthetic....that is the sound that the guitar bouts are amplifying. It seems like a gimmick. Everything has to be made digital or "modernized" in some way these days for no fundamental reason beyond something new to sell to "modern minds". Like music LP's going through a zillion permutations to the streaming stuff we now use, always getting more expensive with continual sound degradation to the end-user, so you can listen to the same Bach or the Beatles and have to pay the piper with every new invention to hear the same old same old. Then, in this case, they serve it up with "mother of pearl" headstock inlays, which are really just abalone, and use evo frets to match the "gold " plated tuners, bake the top, and voila!....instant "upgrade"......but is it? I have owned 2 versions of the MD series and played several others for comparison. Oddly, the only thing I like is the weird neck profile. (Which required a major lowering of the action of course) The older Martins I have from the 60's are much easier to play, as is my 63 J-50 Gibson.
I still want a 000, So I guess I have to try the 37 Authentic, except that neck will probably be way to clunky for me. It's the only reason I didn't get the EC. The regular D-28 used to be a great guitar, maybe they still are with Indian rosewood and the weird Ebony they use these days. The prices have definitely become truly magnificent if nothing else. You seem happy with yours and I don't want to throw cold water on that as it's possible that they made an MD that doesn't sound like it's fashioned from aluminum...and I like those old tricone aluminum dobros, but not on a 000, at least so far.

I'd guess the dreadnought would have more depth as a bigger guitar but wonder if yours sounds phase-shifted.....like the space ship from the movie "Event Horizon" that went "somewhere else" and then returned an entirely different thing that still looked the same on the outside. Does the D-28 MD
have that "difference", and if so, do you like it's peculiar tonality? You seem too, sort of, but when you say it simply magnifies the inherent properties already there, I respectfully disagree. I believe it SUPPRESSES them and amplifies the metal to metal to Kydex sound, which is thin and "soulless" and tinny and cheap sounding, like a toy made to imitate areal guitar. Even the small touches of gaud are costume jewelry. The gold frets are copper, the tuners are god knows what, and I traded gold at the COMEX for decades, and the "mother of pearl" is abalone. I fell for the hype and bought one. There is nothing new here, its the same old marketing, and when asked about tone, people just throw stats at you about new features and specs, that add up to precisely nothing. This is a Ferrari with a child's plastic toy engine, a gimmick a hoax, an expensive lie. I'm aggravated because of the hassles and wait to sell an undesireable thing, and I am not throwing away more money until I settle up this mess. I thought I was smarter than this.