Martin Counterpunches

[Kitkatjoe]

Originally Posted by kcnbys

Exactly what I thought when reading the article. Seems to be a stretch to call this new Martin series "innovation". Maybe "souped up" is a better way to describe it? I do like the pearl headstock logo.

We read all about the magical powers Taylor displayed with there new innovations so Martin has powers also.😁

[David Eastwood]

“They’re really special and it’s real technology. It’s not just moving a couple of sticks around and calling it innovation.”

I'm sorry, but I just thought that was funny. Yes, it may have been a dig, but so what.

We do not all need to join the Society of the Perpetually Offended.

[Shuksan]

It's possible that "It’s not just moving a couple of sticks around and calling it innovation.” was just an unfortunate or inartful choice of words, but I think it's pretty blatantly obvious why people here took it as a reference to v-bracing. That sentence is clearly one way to sum up in a nutshell what Taylor did last year with the introduction of v-bracing. Why else would he choose those particular words to set Martin apart from their competition? What other competitors could be characterized that way? None that I know of.

[Wade Hampton]

Yes, but who cares?

Okay, a lot of you obviously care, but it's pretty silly. I doubt anyone at Taylor is frothing at the mouth and enraged by that comment, even if it was intended as a dig at Taylor.

They've got big shoulders. They can handle it.


whm

[TennesseeWalker]

As a Huss and Dalton afficianado -
I’m quite glad to see others doing their very best to catch up

[buddyhu]

I'm interested.

I'd like to try the neck, the CF bridge plate is interesting/appealing, and the CF truss rod sounds good. Some of the other talking points are fine...though they wouldn't necessarily inspire me to find a guitar to play/hear.

And yes...all of the release is all shaped by marketing concerns. (yawn).

[ahorsewithnonam]

Originally Posted by TennesseeWalker

As a Huss and Dalton afficianado -
I’m quite glad to see others doing their very best to catch up

I just spit out my Diet Coke!

Love it!

[llew]

Originally Posted by MChild62

The D18 Modern Deluxe is priced at $4,400 on the Martin site. Can any estimate the likely street price? And how soon will these models be available in shops to try in person?

The word I heard was 35% off of MSRP.

[ahorsewithnonam]

Originally Posted by alnico5

What can really be done to an acoustic guitar to make a drastic difference?

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paddy1951]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

I agree. Subtle changes to improve tone and reliability. How great is that!



Martin makes wonderful guitars. They don’t need to start over with some completely new bracing system that is now their new standard leaving all their previous customers holding the bag. And I agree, Taylor moved a couple of sticks around.

I agree with all that you have said except the notion of something new leaving previous customers holding the bag.

Nothing would ever improve if companies were too concerned about this. My HD 28 is nearly 20 years old but I am not bothered in the least by the current re-invented models. I don't feel like I was left holding the bad, at all.
I will bet there are many Taylor players that are just fine with their X braced guitars.

In the Martin vs Taylor battle, both companies are striving to sell guitars, lots of guitars. Since a quality acoustic guitar is a durable good (if taken care of) both companies need to create demand, ie. re-invention, V Bracing, etc. They need to create GAS.

There is no telling how either of these newest incarnations will be viewed 25 years from now.

[Wade Hampton]

After TennesseeWalker wrote:

Originally Posted by TennesseeWalker

As a Huss and Dalton afficianado -
I’m quite glad to see others doing their very best to catch up

Horse replied:

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

I just spit out my Diet Coke!

Love it!

I enjoy the humor, too, but let's note that it's much easier to implement structural changes in a small shop operation like Huss & Dalton than it is at a major factory like Martin. With a small shop set up it's easy to say: "Hey, let's try thus and such on this next guitar." Then, if it works, it's easy to say: "Let's do that from now on."

Whereas with a large scale operation, it costs a lot of money to implement changes. Martin can and does have their R&D luthiers build some prototypes and test proposed changes that way, but to then implement changes in production models costs them a great deal of money, especially if any of their tooling has to be changed.

Add to that the nearly mythic status that Martin guitars have for so many people, ANY change or group of changes is going to provoke endless online forum discussions just like this one!

In direct contrast, Huss & Dalton is much more under the radar, and if they try something new, nobody gets online and denounces them for being traitors to their heritage and "selling out."

No, nobody's been that harsh in this thread (so far,) but we've all seen incredible overreactions whenever Martin tries something different.

I say more power to them. Let's test these Martin Modern Deluxe models as we run across them in music stores, and let the instruments speak for themselves. They will succeed or fail in the marketplace based on their own merits.

Which is precisely as it should be.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ahorsewithnonam]

FYI, Head tennis makes frames with Liquid Metal. I’ll definitely try the bridge pins.

[Scott_19]

Originally Posted by ahorsewithnonam

FYI, Head tennis makes frames with Liquid Metal. I’ll definitely try the bridge pins.

This was back in like 2005, if anyone was wondering. They're all about graphene now.

[FOG01]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Maybe I'm a slow-witted outlier who lacks any deep insights on this, but when I read the article I didn't interpret the "moving a couple of sticks around and calling it innovation" comment as ANY kind of attack on Taylor or any other guitar company, much less a specific attack on Taylor's V bracing. I took it as a general comment, nothing more. From what I can tell, you all are reading more into that than was intended.

Vicarious outrage and indignation are easy to embrace, of course, but I don't see anything to get wound up about here. Seems like kind of a waste of energy and emotion to me.

The Martin Modern Deluxe guitars sound like they have an interesting combination of features. I look forward to getting a chance to play a few of them.


Wade Hampton Miller

Just to be clear, I have nothing but feigned indignation about the matter. I'm sure the guitars sound incredible in the right hands. The comment about moving sticks was meant to get people talking about Martin guitars. We're doing so, so congrats I guess.

As for what they are referring to.... c'mon now! We all know what they are referring to. They are referring to Taylor's recently moved V class sticks, which btw were in a 414ce I tried today and I actually thought sounded pretty good, just as good as many of the unmoved X stick model's I've tried.

I just think it's silly for Martin to think they need to resort to that. But hey, I still like their guitars either way so I wish them luck.

[tadol]

So its “ throw in a little carbon fiber and some new pieces of hardware “ and we’ll call it innovation? I think all these things have alot less to do with innovation or improvement of anything - its all just making it easier for machines to do the job with parts that can be sourced from an industrial supply catalog by a computer. Step one - make people think its about a “better” guitar -

whooppee - but if it gets your rocks off, have fun -