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Location: Phoenix AZ | Nobody cares, and you'll post a lot of negative comments, but so what. In case 2-3 of you might be interested, here's what I saw of interest at the Martin booth at NAMM. There's photos and specs of all these on their website.
1. $40,000. D28 reissue is nice, but not $36,000. nicer than a plain D28
2. Martin are finally starting to figure out how to make a decent looking sunburst. The Richie Sambora 6 and 12 strings looked very nice.
3. The black Johnny Cash model was very nice. One of my favorite sounding guitars there, not that you could really tell.
4. A nice 000-18 Kenny Sultan model. Great guitar for the bucks.
5. The $5000. uke is beautiful, but honestly the only reason to buy one would just be to say you did. For a fraction of that you could buy any number of ukes that sound far better, but not as pretty.
Dave |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I was really surprised by the number of non-traditional designs Martin now offers. |
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Location: East Tennessee | Dave,
Thanks for the update. I have three Martin guitars. I think they, along with Ovation, make great guitars. |
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Location: SoCal | It also appeared that they cleaned Clifford's p*ss off of their sign.... |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | If it's chemically similar to my brother's dog's, who pisses on my tires, it never really cleans off..... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | I thought you cleaned it off with yours, Paul. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Thanks Dave. I'm glad you share. |
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Location: south east Michigan | I wouldn't worry about the OFC piling on Martin. I think "we" are rather open minded to them. (If I may use the proverbial "we".)
Off topic??? Not in my opinion.
I mean it's not like it's a Taylor thread. |
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Location: Hicksville, NY | Originally posted by Gospel Guitar Guy:
I have three Martin guitars. I think they, along with Ovation, make great guitars. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have 4 Martins -- the HD-28 being the baby, and the DM, DX-1 and LXM as my entry level workhorse/beater models -- and all of them get along with my one and only Ovation guitar. :) |
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Location: Scotland | Dave, everthing in your post is right on the money. I'd add that Martin's recreations of thier "golden era" models are stunning and from a relatively high volume manufacturer are almost as good as small shop builders like Collings, Bougoise and Goodall. The vast majority of the rest of their line I'm sure must have ol' CF1 spinning in his grave.
No-one needs a round shoulder sunburst Martin D. Gibson got it right and Collings got it better. |
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Location: NJ | I have 2 martins and have sold a bunch over the years. I really only seem to like what I call the core models d 18 28 35 45 the oo and triple ooo
I see a ton of average sounding martins now. they use pressboard for tops and sure they are ecologically sound but they SOUND like crap. All the low end martins are horrible. really horrible. they play well and are built fine but have no soul.
edited to add that what Martin does understand is how to get the equity out of their brand and how to package artist instruments and bank on those individuals. they understand the value of case candy certificates and vibe. That is why you see 40K martins and not ovations. |
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Location: Midland, MI | The only thing that keeps me from buying a Martin is the price tag. The ones I could justify spending caish monies on have HPL tops and the ones that are built the way I would want one cost more than I paid for my first three cars...put together. I'd rather spend the coin on an Adams with a red top and a deep bowl (did they ever make those?) or that planets wood-top of Als or...even a Guild dread. ;) |
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Location: Scotland | The only thing that stops me buying a Martin (except that I don't need one) is that there are significantly better guitars out there for around the same money. Check out Bougoise, Santa Cruz, Collings, Goodall, Larivee |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I still don't like their sunbursts, way too dark. Maybe the Sambucca models are better. Overall they make good guitars. I'd buy any of their older ones. I agree with Temp, for a new guitar there are lots of better ones out there.
And Slipkid is right, no flames from me, it's not like it's a Taylor thread. |
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Location: SoCal | I've played exactly 2 Martins in my life that really wowed me.The first was an early 40's D-35 (I think it was early 40's) and the second, oddly enough, was a modern recreation of the first. Both were spectacular.
But for the money, there are a number of other guitars that I would buy first. This same comment could be applied to any Taylor I've ever played. |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by alpep:
edited to add that what Martin does understand is how to get the equity out of their brand ... Gee that sounds familiar!
Don't know dick about martins in general, I must admit.
(do we have a dick here? any dick?)
(don't answer that) |
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Location: Hiram, Georgia | Taylor? anyone mention Taylor? unbuckle your firehose and put the flames out! |
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Location: Alberta, Canada | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
I've played exactly 2 Martins in my life that really wowed me.The first was an early 40's D-35 (I think it was early 40's) and the second, oddly enough, was a modern recreation of the first. Both were spectacular.
But for the money, there are a number of other guitars that I would buy first. This same comment could be applied to any Taylor I've ever played. The D-35 was introduced in mid '60s. Perhaps you meant D-45. |
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Location: chicago | I own a 1943 Martin in great condition no truss rod with a perfect neck(family airloom)but I never play it because it just doesnt have that sound that I jones!OVATION
www.guitaroffire.com |
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Location: Hicksville, NY | Accidentally saw this slideshow, and checked it out ... really cool Martin photographs.
http://entertainment.webshots.com/slideshow/557101797cmFoKm?&track_... |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | WOW, thanks for sharing. That's amazing. Shot at the new visitor center and museum which I hope to visit soon. One could argue that a lot of them are way over priced but they seem to have no trouble selling them. I was told that orders were taken for ALL 50 of the D-28 Authentics ($40k list) by the end of the second day of the show. I guess some people invest in these like art. Dave |
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Location: south east Michigan | When BrianT and I did the Martin tour thing, we missed the opening of the new store / museum by about 2 months. It might be worth a trip back sometime. |
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Location: SoCal | Colt, I'm pretty certain that they were D35's. Maybe I had the year wrong....
Beautiful slide show. |
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Location: Central Florida | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Martin's recreations of thier "golden era" models are stunning and from a relatively high volume manufacturer are almost as good as small shop builders like Collings, Bougoise and Goodall. The vast majority of the rest of their line I'm sure must have ol' CF1 spinning in his grave. It sounds like you're suggesting the only guitars Martin builds these days that are worthwhile are the Golden Era, Authentic, and Marquis series reissues. If that's what you're saying, then I must soundly dissagree. I own two Standard Series Martins that are, IMHO, the two best sounding acoustic guitars I've ever had the privilege to own. |
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Location: Las Vegas, Nevada | Tupperware, guess I will join the 2 or 3, then. I spent a lot of time at NAMM in the Martin booth when I could get out of my booths. Not only did they have a new booth, but I felt they really put the emphasis on the high-end products and one-offs/customs they are masters at building. Tupperware, did you put your hands around the multi-layer bound neck of the CSN Gerry Tolman Tribute? Totally different profile, but I did not ask anyone about it. While I appreciate the Martin Artist stuff and understand why it exists, they are not my thing, rather I prefer the standard, foundation models. I also made several visits to the Ovation part of the Kaman booth. The 2007 Collector's is spectacular. |
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Off Topic - Flame me if you must. NAMM Martin Observations
