What is your favorite OM ?

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

Body size is the same. The differences are in the # of frets and scale lengths. OOO's are 12 or 14 fret with 24.9" scale. OM's are 14 fret with 25.4" scale.

Historically, Martin 000-12 frets were always long scale. The 0-12 and 00-12 frets were short scale.

I have more than a few... (too many)
Mahogany:
1936 000-18 (Adirondack/Mahogany- holy grail)
000-18NB (Norman Blake, Italian/Mahogany, 12 fret, short-scale on an 000-14 body)
Borges OM-18GG (Adirondack/Golden Grain Mahogany traditional OM)

Rosewood:
000-28NB (Norman Blake, Adirondack/EIR, 12 fret, short-scale on an 000-14 body)
Sexauer 000-12c (Italian/Cocobolo 12 fret, long-scale)
OM-28 Authentic 1931 (Torrified Adirondack/Madagascar)
Pre-War Guitar Company OM-28 (Torrified Adirondack/Brazilian)
Franklin OM-28 (German/Brazilian)
Franklin OM-42 (German/Brazilian)

[Wade Hampton]

I have a Larrivee OM-03W in Engelmann spruce and black walnut that’s as much OM as I will ever need. It’s a great guitar.


whm

[tadol]

There’s never gonna be agreement on this, because the OM body size is kinda the goldilocks guitar size. With the right choice of materials and build details, you can get an OM that sounds like whatever you really want. It can be close to a very nice dread, it can be an amazing finger-style instrument, it can have the attack of a gypsy jazz guitar, or it can resonate for ages. If you go bigger, or smaller, it makes it far more difficult to achieve the range of response, or the tonal characteristics, that can be reasonably well accommodated in an OM size. So “favorite” isn’t gonna reveal much more than what kind of tone and response you really like in a guitar, and with a little effort, you can find that in an OM -

[gmel555]

I've got three 000's with 24.9" scales. One all-hog 12 fret, one 14 fret Adi over EIR, one 14 fret Italian over EIR. Guess that tells you my preference.

[stevo58]

I bought an OM-21 many years ago and it absolutely killed my GAS. It’s been 15 years and I still feel no urge to get anything else. Although there is a 000-28NB for sale locally that has sorely tempted me. They are rare over here.

Steven

[ben]

Collings OM1A JL w/ 1 3/4" traditional neck; prior to that it was a Collings OM1SB and before that a Collings OM2HA. There's a pattern here, although I can't imagine what will knock the JL out of this top spot. I love this guitar to death.

I also have a Larrivee OM-40R that is on permanent loan to my dad so that I have something to play when I'm visiting. I don't think there's a better guitar for the money and could live happily with that as my only guitar if I had to (but am lucky that I don't have to).

[Joe Beamish]

I’ve played two OMs that I really, really loved.

One was a Collins OM1A which I couldn’t afford to buy at the time. The other was a Santa Cruz a year or two later, which is now my main guitar.

I’ve played probably 30 or 40 OMs by those brands and Martin, and a few others, including other OM1As and other Santa Cruz OMs in various models. Many were good, but the mentioned above two stuck out. The brand logo on the headstock doesn’t tell me much, neither does the model. Each guitar is different, and I have to play it to know.