Is there REALLY a "Martin" sound?

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

How can this be?

Bracing...

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

And if so, then how can that be?
It is a wood box.
With very few parts.
Most of them don't even move.
Almost every living or non-living thing can be copied or cloned.
And yet...
It is a wood box.

This is not a bashing brand thread at all.
I love Martins and am researching my first.

Based on my experience, YES. For example, I've never played a "bright" Martin. Whether it is a dreadnought or a OO, they exhibit boomy lows, only differenced tonally by their size

[Kitkatjoe]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

And if so, then how can that be?
It is a wood box.
With very few parts.
Most of them don't even move.
Almost every living or non-living thing can be copied or cloned.
And yet...
It is a wood box.

This is not a bashing brand thread at all.
I love Martins and am researching my first.

I’m never sure if post like this are for real or not. I would advise that you do research on Martin and decide this one. When you say Martin you’ve said it all.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

When I made my first "significant" purchase, (I was about nineteen at the time) I could not afford a Martin or Gibson, even if I could have made up my mind of which I was more interested in owning. A music store owner told me that a Guild would sound halfway between a Martin and a Gibson, and he had one that sounded good that was half the price - so I bought a 1969 Guild D-35.

Back in the mid-'70's there was a Martin sound and a Gibson sound. Ovation started in that time frame, with easy playing and onboard electronics but they never sounded the same as a solid wood guitar.

Now it seems as if it is Martin and Taylor, and everybody else occupies the middle ground, though some are closer to Martin and some closer to Taylor.

I have played many Martins that I really liked, but not so many on the Taylor side. So I would say, yes, there is a Martin sound.

Actually, Ovation started in the mid-60s

[TDavis]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...are&playnext=1

This clip of Stevie Winwood doing an acoustic version of the Blind Faith classic “Can’t Find My Way Home” on a vintage Martin gives me chillbumps each time I watch it. This is the “Martin Sound” that has captured me.

[L20A]

Originally Posted by Ozarkpicker

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...are&playnext=1

This clip of Stevie Winwood doing an acoustic version of the Blind Faith classic “Can’t Find My Way Home” on a vintage Martin gives me chillbumps each time I watch it. This is the “Martin Sound” that has captured me.

You may want to change the video you posted.

[TDavis]

Originally Posted by L20A

You may want to change the video you posted.

Whoops!! Thanks. Hope that’s better.

[whvick]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I would say "yes" but you would likely only notice under fairly ideal and intimate listening conditions. Most people could not pick out the brand in most blind listening tests. But put the guitar in my hands..... and I can tell immediately by playing feel almost every time. I long wished for a guitar that would sound like my Martin J-40 but played as nice as my Taylor 414. But they were two very different guitars. Not sure that I ever found it.....

[now off for my bowl of popcorn]

Yep. Same here. I wanted a guitar to sound like my Martin D-15 but play like my Taylor 414. After I had some work done and a good set up, the Martin played very good, but still not a Taylor play. So now my Grandson has the Martin, and I have a deep body auditorium from Indonesia that plays like the Taylor and has good bass.
I went to try a Taylor 327, but the bass must have gotten lost somewhere in shipping to the dealer. It just seemed it had no base. So the guitar I had hoped to give me the best of both was not as good as either.
I think I will just enjoy the Indonesian made Tacoma Orpheum and call it the best of both worlds.

[JohnW63]

folks will swear that there is a "Martin sound."

There must be or all those people wouldn't keep buying them, unless they hear with their eyes when they see the headstock. Which I am sure some do. " It says Martin, so it must be good, so I must like it. "

For me it mid scooped. It feels like it was designed to play bass runs and higher string riffs and the middle ground is not as important. I noticed the scoop because that is not my style. All the acoustic guitars I have tend to have nice even tone across the strings and down the fretboard.

[Mike McLenison]

They are the industry standard. They have that organic growl that reminds me of a Harley.

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by Tico

Of course all Martins don't sound the same, but IMO there is definitely a Martin sound - as there is a Gibson, Taylor, and a Guild sound.

I kinda think of it as a "family" of tone, in that often members of a human family have similarities since they share DNA.

Like the "family" of tone reference. Interestingly, somewhere in another post someone described the Guild sound as halfway between Martin and Gibson. I've thought of my 73 Guild D44M that way. The feel is closer to Gibson ; the sound is closer to Martin.

[cdkrugjr]

The issue with "The <brand> sound" isn't "<brand> sound" but rather with "The"

I can predict, in the general case, how a builder's instruments Might sound, but as has been said, "Some pieces of wood really want to be guitars . . . and other pieces of wood wanted to be a park bench, but someone made them into guitars."

[TiffanyGuitar]

Agree, there is a Martin sound. I am new to the Martin family with my 000-28. I have had my old Gibson dread since it was new in 1993. It was my only guitar for many, many years. I got a dread because, it seemed like that was what you got in the 1990s. I do love that guitar though. It has the "Gibson" sound, is a little unique due to the scale length, is broken in, and a really stable guitar. Maybe I got lucky, but the Gibson bad reputation from the 1990s doesn't apply to that one. My sons have told me I am never to get rid of it, and I wouldn't think of it.
In my mid -life, I discovered how much I really like the 000 body shape. It seems to be the perfect jack of all trades shape - comfort, finger style, strumming, blues, jazz, you name it. Anyway, the Martin has a certain richness or fullness to it that the Gibson doesn't have. Not that the Gibson sounds bad...it doesn't. Just different.
I have found that my three acoustics are very different and I like playing different tunes on them. The Baxendale (arguably my fav of the three) has a sort of rawness to it - it does everything well, but it does lack a certain sweetness that the Martin fills in very well. I think of the Baxendale as almost a rough and ready...not that I mean it is bad, it has a certain presence to it - like it has seen everything. Sort of like the boot camp gunny sergeant in the Army - throw anything at it and it can do it well, but it might be on the edge of yelling at you. The Gibson sound is somewhere in between the Baxendale and the Martin. It has the Gibson dread fullness - and being a 25/5 scale, it probably similar to a Martin D-18, with a little bit of the Gibson bass thump. The Martin is sweet, full, well rounded, has overtones, it can go raw, but you have to throw a lot at it.

[Scotso]

IF there is not a Martin sound, then the belief in it is one of the biggest scams of all time. I can name prob 20 boutique makers off the top of my head chasing it and trying to convince the world they have reproduced that iconic sound.

[Ghostpicker]

Is there a Stradivarius sound? Yes, it's just wood and strings but the magic is in how the maker brings them to life. Yes, there is a Martin sound.