McGuinn's Signature Martin

[wmthor]

Has anyone owned or played a Martin HD7 Roger McGuinn signature model (7 String). If so, what are your impressions?

[Folkie]

I believe they have to be special-ordered. And they are obscenely expensive (in the $5000 range). I doubt there's much of a market for them, especially since the majority of fans are routinely disappointed when he plays his Martin 7-string for most of each show, as he is want to do. Personally, I've never been much of a fan of his 7-string: not nearly enough jangle with the G-string as the only one with an octave pair. I suppose it's good if you want to play melody lines along the G, while retaining the flexibility to do blues shuffles on the low strings, but other than that, I'd much rather hear his Martin 12'er or his Rics.

[Byrdfan1948]

The best guy I know to answer your question is Karl Valois. I assume Karl will add a comment since Karl owns every Byrds/Roger toy ever invented. Including both of the 7 string Martin models.

I have had the chance to play both of Karl's guitars, if only for a short while. My impressions were that they are nice, but really unnecessary guitars. Not that anyone is making this claim, but in no way ( for many reasons) should anyone try to fool themselves into thinking that they even closely replicate the rich full sound of a 12 string. Esp Martin's 12 string Limited Edition McGuinn which I own, as well as naturally Karl.

I agree with all of Folkie's comments regarding these guitars. In fact so much so I have passed the last few shows in my area that Roger has done simply because I have no interest at all in hearing him play it. It simply sounds like what it is...... And it does not sound like what I want to hear. Just my 2 cents.

[Folkie]

What do you think of the McGuinn Limited Edition Martin 12?

[Byrdfan1948]

Hi Folkie, Good question!!!! I didn't get my guitar new from Martin ( about $6900 as I recall) but I got my guitar second hand from Ebay for about $4400 about 10 years ago. It is number 10 out of I think only 65.

At first I was very disappointed, both in the sound from the guitar, and not happy with how it played...... I even had some conversations with Roger asking him about his..... Typically not much real help there, but at least he did say he thought his sounded fine.....

As time went on it became clear mine needed a neck reset. I got that done locally with a Martin approved luthier...... That turned out to be a disaster....... Shortly after I finally got the guitar back, the entire neck came away from the body............The guitar was a total mess. No way was I going to bring it back to the guy who made this mess, so I sent the guitar back to Martin to be repaired properly...... Since I was not the original owner it was not covered under their warrantee........However since I had gone to one of their recommended luthiers, and the result of his work put the guitar into it's current state, they were more than very fair with me. They basically totally restored the guitar better than new for a fraction of the actual cost of just the neck reset.

They were very interested in all my opinions of the guitar. So in the end not only did they do the neck reset properly and completely repaired the damage that had occurred, but also re fretted the guitar, changed the nut, relocated the bridge, and readjusted the truss rod which had run out of adjustment. When I got the guitar back it was mint!!! I mean maybe even better than mint. As it still is today...... Not a mark on it, and absolutely no trace of it's troubled past. No question it's better today than when it first left Martin as a baby.

Since that time the guitar has been fine. It's easy to play, sounds rich and full, and if anything sounds better and better over time. I love it. Having said all this I should add that once again Karl Valois comes to mind. As I mentioned in my other post he also has one of these McGuinn 12 string Martins, but he also recently picked up a new Taylor 12 for a fraction of the cost of the LE McGuinn Martin...... His Taylor guitar is to die for......... It plays like butter, and sounds like heaven, even smells great all at a fraction of the cost of the LE McGuinn 12 string Martin.

I hope this rambling response at least answered your question.

[kvalois]

Hi, everyone:

I think that Al is right. I own every McGuinn signature model- two Martins and the Ric!!!!
The McGuinn D7-- just as Roger told me personally-- is brighter, with more sparking treble sound. The HD 7 is a much prettier guitar-- abalone pearl, etc-- and the sound is warmer, more bass.

Both of these have been discontinued. In fact, when I e-mailed Roger several years ago that I had ordered the last HD 7, he was totally surprised. I even spoke with Martin's Dick Boak about everything and he let me know that I should hurry to order one!!!

If one is looking for a full 12-string chime, neither Martin 7 string really does the job. Only the G string is an octave. They both sound fuller than a 6-string. But, I still much prefer my Martin 12-string.

I am in the process of selling my Martin D 7-- I really don't need two 7-strings!!!!!

[beatbyrd]

Karl....... which Taylor 12 did you buy and how expensive was it? I'm looking to upgrade my current Taylor 12, which is an older low end one that I picked up used.

For a while, I toyed with the idea of getting a D-7 or HD-7, but rejected that. I figured that I could get a decent Takamine or Epiphone 12 and remove 5 octave strings if I needed the D-7 sound. There are also some inexpensive 'add a string' kits available that could turn a 6 string into 7.

[kvalois]

Hi, Tom:

Several years ago, I bought a new Taylor 355-- a jumbo!!!! And, to be truthful, almost everyone (including Al) believe that is SOUNDS better than my McGuinn 12-string. Of course, it is not as "pretty"!!!!!

My Taylor 355 has a nice bottom end (warm bass), while maintaining sparkling highs. There is great sustain, too!!!!


Karl

[idealassets]

OK, so Roger devised that great picking with the 2 finger picks added. It took me about a year to learn it, and I'm still working at it. But when a friend mentioned to me about getting an HD-7, I thought it was a horrible idea. But I like the sound of almost every Martin 12 string, and if you really want a chimey sound a Guild F412 or F512 is quite the machine for it. So now that I own a Ric 360-12 and 3 Guild 12 strings, the 7 string would be overkill, or underkill perhaps?

[sloop_john_b]

I think it's such a cool concept. I hate playing acoustic 12-strings. I would think of this like a 6-string with a tough of aded chime on the G.

[Byrdfan1948]

I guess for me I simply don't see what purpose a 7 string guitar plays. If you already have a 12 string and your considering a 7 string then why not simply remove the other 5 strings and save yourself a couple of thousand dollars, and one less guitar. In fact you can also just remove 4 strings and have an 8 string guitar. If you own two 12 strings you can then have your cake and eat it too.

[janglebox]

I think it's such a cool concept. I hate playing acoustic 12-strings. I would think of this like a 6-string with a tough of aded chime on the G.

That's exactly right, John. You need to approach the HD-7 as an enhanced 6-string, not a diminished 12-string.
The funny thing about the HD-7 is that after I use it awhile for rhythm work, I really miss that octave G when I go back to a regular 6-string.