The M Word

[merseybeat1963]

But how did it sound? Growth rings and other formulaic observations aside, it all boils down to how the guitar plays and sounds. While I haven't found a Martin that appeals to me while I'm playing one, they are fine guitars. To say they haven't made a guitar worth playing in 70 years is a bit of hyperbole, no?

I didn't play it.

Nah..integrity in it's build matters too.

If it was on a decent D16 costing$1400-1600 "budget" guitar it's one thing, but this,a $3500 "Golden Era" is short changing the customer.

As it is, those thin acoustic guitar tops lowering in the winter ..raising in the summer are unstable enough as it is.

An across the board pretty average acoustic guitar they produce spitting them out off they're assembly line. Gruhn pretty much thinks the same thing.

"New" Martins have a certain "voice" in general its a conservative boring sound to me.

What a waste all that Brazilian used on those over built Martins though the 50's-68'

[brannon67]

If you want to cut through the debate, it's safe to say having a Martin AND Gibson in your stable gives you the best of both, and different worlds. They really have complimentary ranges and tone for players who love variation.

Thank you.

[EuroAussie]

Some of us here have interest in more than one brand and don't mind the discussion in these forums at all. If the forum owner has an issue, I'm certain they will deal with it.

 

Exactly, I second that.

[brannon67]

Thanks again guys.

[merseybeat1963]

My God, where is all this hostility coming from guys, Sorry, Didnt mean to piss in anyones cereal. God, Just Im not the only one on here talking about Martin guitars. Some of you grow up. And thank you guys who understand thats it not a peeing contest on here. I love Gibson guitars like the rest of you, and yes, I have a Martin guitar God forbid. I have Gibsons also. So yes, I will go to the Martin forum also, becasue its my right to do so, just like its your right or anyone elses right to be on here or wherever. We are all adults here, well at least some us are anyway.

 

Personally hope I haven't given you that impression.

I really believe in giving an honest opinion and not patronizing.

Some think because we buy they're things, we are part of the Martin,Taylor,Gibson..republican party.

I thank em for delivering a nice guitar and curse them when Ive paid for a dud.

I think most people believe that the acoustic guitar universe is just Taylor,Martin & Gibson...

And that is a con.

Fact is 9 out of 10 Huss & Dalton guitars will sound better than any Martin of the type when A/B 'ed..

A small 10 person co like H&D simply builds them lighter & by hand with more love.

 

I have more respect for Gibson..cause they make an L5 : )

(Though even that it is getting more and more machined.)

[Hall]

My God, where is all this hostility coming from guys, Sorry, Didnt mean to piss in anyones cereal. God, Just Im not the only one on here talking about Martin guitars. Some of you grow up. And thank you guys who understand thats it not a peeing contest on here. I love Gibson guitars like the rest of you, and yes, I have a Martin guitar God forbid. I have Gibsons also. So yes, I will go to the Martin forum also, becasue its my right to do so, just like its your right and my right or anyone elses right to be on here or wherever. We are all adults here, well at least some us are anyway.

 

Hey Brannon - I hope I didn't come over as Joe Hostile. I just saw some non blink humor in Bob's reply. I own two Martins and a Taylor (good God!) beside my Gibsons.

[brannon67]

Hey Brannon - I hope I didn't come over as Joe Hostile. I just saw some non blink humor in Bob's reply. I own two Martins and a Taylor (good God!) beside my Gibsons.

No, its all good my guitar playing(owning) brother.

[merseybeat1963]

Here's my crate as well

[rar]

My God, where is all this hostility coming from guys, Sorry, ...

And I'm sorry that you misinterpreted the posts and took offense. I was motivated not by hostility, but by a desire to be helpful, and I suspect the same is true for others who suggested moving the conversation elsewhere. Seriously!

 

Let me offer another analogy. Perhaps you are the sort of fellow who, when invited to dinner party by someone who works for Chevrolet, likes to spend the evening talking to other guests about Fords and how wonderful they are. Your motivation might be that it should make for a lively and informative discussion, thoroughly enjoyable for all who choose to participate. If so, I just hope you realize that hearing this conversation is not necessarily a pleasant experience for your host, even if (s)he agrees that Fords are wonderful. Especially if (s)he organized the party in hopes of an evening engaged in pleasant discussion of the virtues of Chevrolets, in which (s)he rightly takes considerable pride and believes to be wonderful. Saying "I would have stopped if only you'd complained, but you gave no sign!" seems to me to be a feeble defense for driving the conversation in the direction of Deerborn. You really should have known without having been told.

 

I just wanted to point out to you what you were doing is analogous -- I can assure you for a fact that conversations about the greatness of other margues cause pain to some Gibson employees who follow the forum (but are not allowed to post) -- in case you didn't realize it and would have acted differently had you but known. I do that on threads that I think are better suited to the AGF or UMGF every once in awhile, even though I'm sure that Ms. Manners would advise me to keep my fat trap shut. If you were conscious of the effects of your actions and nonetheless think those actions were perfectly appropriate, just ignore me and do continue, by all means.

 

-- Bob R

[Jerry K]

I didn't think there was any hostility. This is not a Hatfield and McCoy thing. Most of the people posting here own a Martin or three. That's quite natural if you like acoustic guitars. They are both nice guitars that have a different recipe and different sound and styling. I have a D-18 I've owned since 1971 as well as some newer ones. When I want to talk or read about Martins I go over to UMGF, where like many members here, I also have a login id.

[MorrisrownSal]

I don't separate my postings based on whether they are Martin, Taylor, or Gibson oriented. I am a member of several forums and I like talking guitars and music. Plus I like the different people. I don't think there is anything wrong talking Martins here, or Gibsons on the UMGF. I also would venture a guess that Gibson and Martin employees who play guitar probably like both brands and don't get their feelings hurt if someone sings the praises of one of their competitors.

 

With regard to the M sized Martins, I can see the OP wanting the opinion of Gibson slope-shoulder guys and gals. Their ears are probably like his, and can relate to his general Gibson leanings perhaps... so if any of them tried the M's, they might have useful POVs to share. That is different than going to the UMGF and asking how people like their D28s, where they would just get a cheerleading chorus. In other words, and forgive my long drawn-out writing, maybe the OP wanted opinions of M Martins from Gibby owners like him.

[57classic]

I didn't play it.

 

That's what I figured

[merseybeat1963]

That's what I figured

 

Custom Martins don't do all that much for me ...so at this point (of advanced age) I dont even bother with standard models and they're 1/2" off the fingerboard set ups.

[blindboygrunt]

guys guys !!

 

ixnay on the artinsmay

[flatbaroque]

guys guys !!

 

ixnay on the artinsmay

haha....just cause you are a closet Guild man!

[blindboygrunt]

haha....just cause you are a closet Guild man!

 

i like 'em all !

i welcome this type of discussion , after spending time here and getting to know a few who's opinion i'd value it would be the first place i'd come to to find out about other guitars . while yes it is a gibson site all that means is we have 'similar' tastes . i love my j45 but wouldnt take the gift of some other models . this place is for 'like' minded not 'single' minded

please lets not censor members in this sort of way , the guy who comes to the dinner party and talks about fords is just a boring fecker ...

[j45nick]

There's a really good balance on this forum. Probably 90% of the discussion is about Gibson guitars, people who play Gibsons, singing, songwriting, etc. The other 10% is about non-Gibson guitars, which may well interest a lot of people here.

 

I don't see any tendency to turn this into anything but the Gibson acoustic forum, and occasional questions about or comparisons with other brands of guitars can be pretty interesting.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Yggdrasil]

I have an M, specifically an M-30 JK. I don't talk about it here for the same reason I wouldn't go to a SF Giants-hosted fan forum if I felt the need to start a discussion about the joys and trials of being a Cubs fan.

-- Bob R

 

ditto; another Jorma M30 owner here...

 

if you're only looking to have one Martin, an M is an excellent choice.

[57classic]

Custom Martins don't do all that much for me ...so at this point (of advanced age) I dont even bother with standard models and they're 1/2" off the fingerboard set ups.

Mersey, I understand your position and certainly don't begrudge you from whatever point of view you like. I just think acoustic guitars really can't be judged by ingredients like a recipe. There are too many variables. A guitar being made using the finest materials and building methods is still no guarantee of near perfection in sound. Conversely, a more pedestrian guitar like a J45 or a D28, said with tongue firmly planted in cheek, may certainly be as good or better than a boutique guitar. You never know what they are unless you try them. Just my point of view.

[Markini]

Let's see. I like variety. My acoustic guitars

 

2010 Hummingbird TV

2003 Hummingbird Standard

2009 Hummingbird Pro

2007 Gibson CSM (think Garrison)

1967 Guild Classical

2013 Guild M-120E

2000 Yamaha Compass

2010 Takamine Classical

2010Taylor GS mini

2009 Taylor 110

2010 Martin 12 mim

2011 Martin D28

2010 Fender generic for slide

2009 Esteban (I know)

1976 Alvarez 5083? BRW

 

I like variety

[Jerry K]

I don't separate my postings based on whether they are Martin, Taylor, or Gibson oriented. I am a member of several forums and I like talking guitars and music. Plus I like the different people. I don't think there is anything wrong talking Martins here, or Gibsons on the UMGF. I also would venture a guess that Gibson and Martin employees who play guitar probably like both brands and don't get their feelings hurt if someone sings the praises of one of their competitors.

 

With regard to the M sized Martins, I can see the OP wanting the opinion of Gibson slope-shoulder guys and gals. Their ears are probably like his, and can relate to his general Gibson leanings perhaps... so if any of them tried the M's, they might have useful POVs to share. That is different than going to the UMGF and asking how people like their D28s, where they would just get a cheerleading chorus. In other words, and forgive my long drawn-out writing, maybe the OP wanted opinions of M Martins from Gibby owners like him.

 

The difficulty with this tortured logic is that everybody here who is also into Martin, including you, also posts on UMGF. Given that, it makes a whole lot of sense to post Martin queries on the Martin board. When someone else has the same question about Martin, they can search and find the discussion on the Martin board, not stuck in Gibson Acoustic. The thing is there are a whole lot of guitar brands but only one Gibson. If we start discussing all those other brands here, the Gibson posts will get lost. I suggest everything in its proper place.

 

Please note that no posts have been censored, no one has been flamed, and all posts suggesting Martin queries are best posted on UMGF have been unfailingly polite.

 

edit:

 

I do wish that they would create a bulletin board section called "Gibson Acoustic Community" or some such where all the OT posts could go, leaving this area to be analogous to the D-28 lounge.

[bobouz]

The difficulty with this tortured logic is that everybody here who is also into Martin, including you, also posts on UMGF.

Everybody minus at least one.

 

I like Martins, and have owned them since approx 1979,

the first being an incredibly sweet little 00-18.

 

Haven't posted on UMGF in years & never look at it anymore.

I only come to this forum, because here I can scratch both

my acoustic and electric itch in one convenient stop.

[Smurfbird]

When I ask people's opinions on this board about guitars other than Gibson, it's because I want a Gibson fan's view of how they compare. Not a hardcore Martin fan. There are degrees.

 

Just as I might want to ask a Martin board their opinion of a Gibson guitar they've owned or played. You get a different take and you can use the info as you see fit.

 

I hardly think asking a few questions about a variety of brands is the worst thing to happen to a board.

 

Like-minded not single-minded, as BBG eloquently put it.

[blindboygrunt]

i'm assuming that anyone who posts on here has a gibson / wants a gibson/ has owned a gibson .....

if you ask a question about martins on the umgf then you will get a reply from a martin fanatic .

i think its good to get a reply on here from a gibson fanatics' point of view about a martin.

an outsider's opinion .

[blindboygrunt]

ha! holy smoke