Martin Custom Shop OM28 and D28

[SMB Recordings]

Originally Posted by kydave

Nice playing & recording.

It seems like that would be an OM-18, though.

28=rosewood
18=mahogany

Believe it or not, the custom shop paperwork from Martin lists this guitar as an OM28. If I'm not mistaken, the numbers used in model names from Martin denote the type of "styling" used on the decorative parts of the instrument, like the rosette and back strip, etc. So this guitar has "28" type styling for all the decorative elements. A "45" style guitar is the most ornate and "18" the most simple. I think traditionally, yes, the 18 was always Mahogany with simple styling to match. But custom shop guitars can be a combination of anything you choose and it breaks away from the traditional Martin models. My OM 28 was custom built for a retailer that picked out the tonewood combinations and the type of styling, etc... so the woods can be independent from style. Sinker Mahogany is incredible and doesn't sound anything like traditional Mahogany I've had on other guitars.

If you like at the photos I posted earlier, you'll notice the sound hole rosette and back strip binding are exactly the same on both these guitars because they both have "28" style ornamentation.

[kydave]

Originally Posted by SMB Recordings

Believe it or not, the custom shop paperwork from Martin lists this guitar as an OM28. If I'm not mistaken, the numbers used in model names from Martin denote the type of "styling" used on the decorative parts of the instrument, like the rosette and back strip, etc. So this guitar has "28" type styling for all the decorative elements. A "45" style guitar is the most ornate and "18" the most simple. I think traditionally, yes, the 18 was always Mahogany with simple styling to match. But custom shop guitars can be a combination of anything you choose and it breaks away from the traditional Martin models. My OM 28 was custom built for a retailer that picked out the tonewood combinations and the type of styling, etc... so the woods can be independent from style. Sinker Mahogany is incredible and doesn't sound anything like traditional Mahogany I've had on other guitars.

If you like at the photos I posted earlier, you'll notice the sound hole rosette and back strip binding are exactly the same on both these guitars because they both have "28" style ornamentation.

Nope. Of course, Customs are their own world, but for general purposes, 28 is wood; rosewood. 18 is wood; mahogany (although in the old days pre-1917, the 18 was usually made with rosewood) in the modern (what I call 1930 on) era is the 18. Yes, there are trims associated with those numbers, too. But if you to advertise an OM-28, people would show up expecting to see rosewood.

On a custom shop order they start with something. That "something" is determined by the shop you order from and their Martin rep. The starting point can influence the price a great deal.

For instance, the spec sheet for my Custom Shop 00-28H years ago, started with an HD-28.

But since it is going to say "Custom" on the neck block no matter what, you can call it anything to the public.

However, if that guitar were mine I'd refer to it as a custom shop OM-18H or something along those lines. And a dang nice one!

Check out this 1987 Martin HD-18 Limited Edition.

HD-18 LE

[SMB Recordings]

Thanks for the clarification! Please forgive me as I am by no means an expert on anything Martin... I was just going off of the paperwork that came with the guitar (see below) and what I was told when I purchased it. When I bought it, the dealer listed it as an OM28... Quite frankly, I really didn't know that the model numbers meant anyway... once I checked out all the specs, it was what I wanted, so I went for it.

You'll see in the paperwork here... the base model they started with in this case was indeed a 000-28. Perhaps then they just swapped the rosewood for the Mahogany, but kept other specs the same? I assume the reason the dealer listed it as OM 28 is because it has the longer scale length neck and OM style pickguard which from my understanding are the 2 attributes that distinguish an "OM" from a "000". I was wrong in fact about some of the "styling". It has a "Style 45" rosette, but does have a "Style 28" Purfling with D-18 Strip on Either Side... haha... so I guess it's a little combination of everything...

So maybe just to keep life simple... I'll call this one my Custom Shop OM ;-). All I know is that I love this guitar... it plays great and sounds great and makes me happy. Thanks again... I love learning more info... Very nice HD-18 by the way...

[kydave]

That makes perfect sense.

Starting off with a 000-28 starts with a $3500 base price before "customization".

Starting off with the size and much of the trim you want decreases the custom jumps.

The OM-28 as a starting point would have added about $300 to the start price.

There is no OM-18V anymore or that might have been the starting point, although you'd be paying for every trim upcharge between the 18 and 28...

Building a custom can be an arcane art and the dealers who do a lot of it know the ropes.

Congrats on fine guitars and welcome to the forum!

Dave

[mikeguthro]

Strong distinctive playing and impressive guitar tones. Well done! It maybe be old ears but I found the volume levels a little overpowering.

[SMB Recordings]

Originally Posted by mikeguthro

Strong distinctive playing and impressive guitar tones. Well done! It maybe be old ears but I found the volume levels a little overpowering.

Thanks for listening! Your ears are not wrong at all. The overall volume levels of the mix are somewhat on par with the way most music is recorded these days... not necessarily a good thing. It's really just a by-product of everyone wanting to be louder than everyone else because the general public consumes music now (mostly digitally, one song at a time) and when you hear random songs on "shuffle"... the ones that are louder are unfortunately perceived often as being "better."

Anyways... I was trying to be conscious of that... Adjusting the overall level of the mix to be able to cut through the clutter a bit on YouTube (assuming most people will listen on their phones, mobile devices or small computer speakers, etc.)... I tried not to push it too loud... but yes, there's certainly room to bring it down... if I were mixing these tunes for anything other than the internet... yeah... I would have backed off a little more...

I do plan on making more of these recordings/videos in the near future... so I will take your advice and maybe not push the level so much...

Again, thanks for listening... I do appreciate it ;-)