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Martin acoustic comparison
Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 8:01 am
by vintage_325_guy
Does anybody on here own either a Martin D-18 or D-28? If so, what is the comparison between the two? Is one a better bet than the other?
Info would be appreciated.
Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:56 pm
by teb
I have owned both and also a D-12/28 and in general, I'd say that the D-18 has a bit more twangy, bluegrass lead type of tone and the 28 has a somewhat more well-rounded, richer tone. But - and it's a BIG but, I would never buy a Martin without playing it first. All D-18's and all D-28's are not created equally. If you could have ten of each model sitting there to choose from you would find that out of that group there would probably be one or two that really sounded incredible, a couple that clearly seemed to be duds and the rest somewhere in the middle range.
Back when I was in the folk music business we had a D-12/35, a D-21 and a D-28 playing most of the time. The 12/35 was nice, but had a slotted head and tempermental tuners, the D-21 always sounded great and this particular D-28 (normally a great sounding guitar) was what I considered a dud. It had been special-ordered, sight unseen and would sound pretty good for two or three days after the guy put fresh strings on it and they were still quite bright. As soon as the initial brightness wore off, it seemed to take all the life out of it's sound.
I almost bought a D-41 back about 1973. It was new and something like $1,100 at the time. It was really hard to resist all that lovely inlay and I actually had it on hold for a while, but when push came to shove, the D-18 that happened to be hanging next to it on the store's wall (which was a good one - the D-18, not the wall) had much better, cleaner, clearer sound. I suppose the D-41 would have been a great investment, but it was frustrating to play this lovely instrument while trying to convince yourself that you weren't disappointed with the sound. I have since heard D-41's that are outstanding guitars, but that particular one was clearly not.
Martins are truly wonderful guitars in general, but if at all possible find a good quiet room and test-play them before you buy one.