Martin concerns ?

[rstanl2]

Thanks guys in advance, I’ve never owned a Martin ,but I want to . There are countless posts about neck resets, and other problems with this iconic guitar. Binding separation.
Should I be concerned? Should I buy new over used? Your thoughts please

[SlopeD]

when you're buying one, just make sure there's lots of saddle and the action is reasonable. I've bought a couple new ones in the last year and they've been great, great neck sets, no binding issues. I have seen some in store with bad neck angles.

[llew]

Any guitar can have problems...does't necessarily mean they will. With proper care they should last a lifetime. The older Martin's can develop the need for a neck reset/refret and I've had that done once along with having the back binding pop at the waist of my old D-28. Both were easy fixes for my luthier/tech. Buying old verses new is totally your choice. Some folks like the idea of Martin's warranty but it's never stopped me from purchasing a used Martin. It goes without saying (but I will) that buying used will get you more bang for your buck. Do your homework and ask questions. Play the guitar in question first if you can. If not make sure the online dealer has a liberal return policy. You'll end up paying the shipping both ways but you won't be stuck with a guitar you don't like. Find a store that has some selection and play as many as you can. It may take different stores but they build a lot of different models. You owe it to yourself to try as many as you can to make an informed decision.
Best of luck!

[charles Tauber]

You shouldn't be concerned, but you should inspect any new or used instrument that you buy to look for specific things. Those things include the following:

1. a good neck angle
2. a working adjustable truss rod, if it has an adjustable rod
3. the bridge is "fully" glued to the top - some manufacturers purposely leave the edges unglued and is normal for those manufacturers
4. there are no cracks in the bridge between bridge pins or at the front edge of the saddle
5. that there is sufficient saddle height/break angle to allow adjustment of the action
6. that the saddle is not too high/too heavily cantilevered
7. that the saddle fits snuggly in the saddle slot and is not leaning
8. no seams/joints are open/come loose
9. there are no cracks/splits in wooden parts - top, back, sides, fingerboard
10. the finish shows no overt signs of defects
11. fret work is good - frets are level, no obvious wear, fret ends don't stick out
12. the fingerboard is flat/straight: sight down the fingerboard from nut to sound hole to ensure there are no bumps or dips in the surface
13. if there are electronics/transducers, ensure they work adequately
14. the top does not show excessive deformation, the fingerboard diving into the sound hole, depression between sound hole and bridge, bellying between bridge and butt

I'm sure there are other things to look for, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

Specifically for Martin, if you buy new, and are in North America, you get their warranty: if used or outside of North America, you don't. Martin uses tapered bridge pins in non tapered bridge pin holes. The holes should be reamed to match the taper of the pins and seated properly. Some owners have that done aftermarket, others don't. The risk of not doing it is premature wear of the bridge plate. Your choice.

[TJNies]

You need to do due diligence on any brand of guitar (or any other purchase for that matter).
If buying used, you will want to check for binding separation from the last few years. If I am correct they changed glue in 2016 to fix the problem; others may clarify.

Neck resets will happen at some point in its life. If due to a manufacturing issue it usually occurs in the first year or two. After that, it may be decades away from requiring a reset. I had a 1974 D-28 that was perfect as long as I owned it.

Good luck - your chances of finding an excellent model are far greater than the dogs you may encounter.

[zoopeda]

Neck resets are almost inevitable, like new brakes or tires on a car, although fortunately usually takes decades before the first (and often only) neck reset is needed. It’s $500. But it’s part of owning a guitar with a dovetail neck joint. If action is good, and there’s plenty of saddle, there’s no reason to think it won’t go a very long time before you need one.

The binding issue is a result of binding shrinkage caused by a compound in a new glue they used a couple of years ago. My understanding is this problem affects guitars made between approximately 2012 and 2016 or 17. When the glue from that period caused binding to shrink, it would separate years later at the waist.

In general, MOST warranty type problems occur within the first few years. If you find a five or ten year old Martin with no issues and plenty of saddle, there’s no reason to think suddenly the binding will pop off or it will need a neck reset in a year.

[bufflehead]

I own three Martins, and have never had a warranty issue, or needed a neck reset, or a bridge reglued, et cetera.

On a day-to-day basis, it would never occur to me to get on AGF and start a thread called, "My Martin is having no problems." But the fellow having a problem, as we've recently read, wants to bellow about it. But, really, for every one of them, there are 999 of us having the guitar experience of a lifetime.

It's unrealistic to think that a guitar will never need maintenance, and yet, somehow, when a Martin needs to spend time in the shop, some folks think that's news.

[llew]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

It's unrealistic to think that a guitar will never need maintenance, and yet, somehow, when a Martin needs to spend time in the shop, some folks think that's news.

Like the old Eagles song..."Give us dirty laundry!"

[CoffeeFan]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

Neck resets are almost inevitable...

I have to disagree.

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and have never had to have a neck reset.

Sure, it happens, but to say it's inevitable, I think, is a bit much...

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

It's unrealistic to think that a guitar will never need maintenance...

Guitars do, indeed, need some maintenance. How much maintenance, and what maintenance, in part, has to do with its design and construction. For example, if a neck reset is necessary on a glued-in dovetail joint, it requires a $500+ repair and might be in the shop for months in a queue. If a neck with a turnkey neck adjustment requires a neck reset, the owner of the instrument turns a key to make the adjustment and then goes back to playing.

, and yet, somehow, when a Martin needs to spend time in the shop, some folks think that's news.

It's only news if the same repair needs to be done on many different instruments, indicating a potential design or quality control issue. If many people have bindings detaching, that's a problem. If numerous new guitars need neck resets, that's a problem. The recurring problems are news.

A while back, thousands of Ford car and truck owners were having perforation rust issues with their few-year-old vehicles. A class action law suit forced Ford to deal with what was obviously a quality or design issue. Until then, Ford wasn't willing to deal with it and identify these repeated "one-off" problems as an issue. I can't help but feel the same way about Martin neck resets. I guess, people have accepted that it is part of ownership, particularly now that Martin does not include neck resets in they warranty coverage. That's like Ford owners saying they love their Fords, but its a fact of ownership that the bodies will rust-through in a few years.

[lowrider]

With the 40% discount offered by our excellent sponsors, I can't see any reason to by a used Martin unless there is a specific instrument you want. The used price is going to be right around the 60% price, so why take a chance on someone else's problems. With the Martins that I have played, I find them to be very consistent. I have no problem ordering a guitar from Maury's and having it arrive at my house the next day, brand new, vs buying a used one online and wondering what it's going to be like when it arrives.

[Jaden]

I would just make sure you have a top notch Martin authorized repair tech nearby that you can take your new Martin to should it require an early (within the first year or two) neck reset, otherwise sending it back to the factory for service will result in having to wait a long time for its return. I had a new 000-18 fold up on me within the first 6 months - neck angle was probably not ideal from the start, but lightly built factory made on the edge of implosion = high performance tone, but akin to all those ‘67 Boss Mustang rental cars that got wrapped around telephone polls when they were unleashed on the streets of New York in black ice conditions.

[budglo]

Originally Posted by lowrider

With the 40% discount offered by our excellent sponsors, I can't see any reason to by a used Martin unless there is a specific instrument you want. The used price is going to be right around the 60% price, so why take a chance on someone else's problems. With the Martins that I have played, I find them to be very consistent. I have no problem ordering a guitar from Maury's and having it arrive at my house the next day, brand new, vs buying a used one online and wondering what it's going to be like when it arrives.

I’ve been on both ends of this. A brand new guitar is no guarantee that it will be the bees knees. I’ve had great and I’ve had underwhelming . Some have even bought a new one that was close to needing a neck reset. The positive is you do have a warranty .

I have also bought an amazing 47 year old D35 with no issues except intonation because of a misplaced bridge . 80 dollars later problem fixed. 800-900 dollars cheaper than a new one too. Buying a used one isn’t a guarantee that you are inheriting someone else’s problem . You just have to know what you are looking at.
YMMV.

[L20A]

Perhaps more Martin guitars get neck re-sets is because they are worth it.
Many less expensive guitars need the same work but are not worth the cost.

On the other hand, I have a 1981 Martin D-35 and the neck is as straight as it was when new.

Guitars have to be maintained and protected in order to stay playable.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by CoffeeFan

I have to disagree.

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and have never had to have a neck reset.

Sure, it happens, but to say it's inevitable, I think, is a bit much...

How many 40 year old Martins do you have? I don’t know the exact stats on that timeframe, but I’d guess more than half of 60s and 70s Martins got or needed a neck reset by now. Certainly, The vast majority of surviving prewar Martins have had a neck reset at some point. They really are inevitable, but for some it’s in 20 years, and for others it’s in 75 years. And that rare Martin goes 100 and never needs it.

This is Martins position as well, which is why their warranty doesn’t cover routine neck resets (just those that happen due to craftsmanship issues right out of the gate). But if you call them in 20 years and try to get a warranty covered neck set, they’ll tell you the same thing.

It’s true that really heavily built guitar might not ever need them, but over decades, in my experience, the gradual collapse of the guitar under string tension eventually leads to a neck reset. Maybe one, maybe two, in a century, based on what we know about Martin guitars over the past 100 years.