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square shoulder gibson hummingbird vs martin hd28

Desolationrow

By Desolationrow
in Gibson Acoustic

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blindboygrunt

blindboygrunt

Posted
Posted

I think it kinda depends on the type of music you play.

I have a hd35 and a j45.

J45 is a better strummer as the martin gets a bit muddy with overtones. But fingerpicked (which is mostly what i do) both are gorgeous , but the gibson lends itself to a old time classic blues or country sound very well.

Martin takes a lighter touch but some songs , in conjunction with my voice , work better with the longer sustain and ringing of that guitar , and some songs that particular guitar , i feel , gets in the way of the vocals.

 

Completely depends on your attack , light strummer , heavy strummer , hard pick , no pick , string choice , your particular god given vocal dynamic.

 

No one guitar is better than another . and a fantastic guitar in one mans lap doesnt mean it will be fantastic in another mans. Unless they are twins or something and styles are identical.

 

We'd need to hear you doing a song and then a more educated choice could be made . rather than the 'i have a blah blah and its brilliant you should buy one of those. Written by someone who you have no knowledge of talent or style .....

 

Doubt any of that was of use in your choice :)

 

But keep us informed of your shopping journey and what you learn.

ponty

ponty

Posted
Posted

Like trying to compare a baseball bat to a cricket bat.

 

But, never the less you can compare them, and conclude which is best for the purpose that you require.

Jalex

Jalex

Posted
Posted

thanks for the answers, i only strum,no picks, this is a video with a guitar of a friend.sorry for the lyrics im spanish

thanks

 

Nice job. Looks like your friends guitar is a Martin DRS1 which is an all sapele guitar very mellow sounding similar to my Martin D-15M. The HD-28 is a louder more powerful guitar with more overtones. Of course many singer songwriters have and still do use HD-28's. I think a nice Hummingbird would be an excellent choice it really lends itself to vocal accompaniment. I also wouldn't rule out a J-45.

E-minor7

E-minor7

Posted
Posted

Ouh, , , you're asking a team of rocket-scientists to talk about rockets.

 

Not that we will disagree (because we probably won't), but all those nuances, D-row.

 

Both squares, yes, but then it stops.

 

M = Long scale, rosewood back and sides.

 

HB = Short scale, mahogany.

 

And there you have the keys. Plus of course the looks - serious classic purist vs serious irresistible show.

 

Now spend the weekend on the Tube, , , and the coming weeks-months chasing the 2 down in real life.

 

The difference will be obvious, even for your grandma, , , but the finer nuances in the differences will be rocket-science. . .

J-200 Koa

J-200 Koa

Posted
Posted

"it's not the destination, but the journey"

 

I would offer that regardless what you choose, your tastes

will change over time as will your playing. What is perfect

today will seem less perfect tomorrow. Find what you like

and enjoy it. You will find something better down the road

and enjoy it even more. The journey never ends.

tpbiii

tpbiii

Posted
Posted

Well, you certainly ask a question where there is a lot of data.

 

A lot of good comments have been made. I'll add a slightly different perspective -- history and genre.

 

The 1935 D-28 -- the guitar that the modern HD-28 copied to a great degree -- totally changed the world acoustic string band music. A good one is powerful and it has an unbalanced tone that emphasizes the midrange. That is why it -- in its various forms - it pretty much dominates bluegrass music. That whole genre was built around that sound, so the match is just about perfect. It is not that the HD-28 is not more flexible as that, but in terms of who uses it and for what, that is an elephant in the room.

 

We play bluegrass and folk revival music -- in addition to other stuff. We have both D-28s (old) and a Hummingbird (old). The Hummingbird is so different from the the Martins that it simply would never have occurred to me to take it to a bluegrass session. It is not a really strong guitar in an HD-28 sense, and it is much more balanced. It was developed at the beginning of the folk revival (1960) and it is a great strumming guitar -- it also iconically entered the folk/rock/blues picture at the end of the 1960s (think Mick Jagger), but that was mostly plugged in. When my wife and I recently decided to go back to our 1960s folk roots and play songs for our grandson, we chose the Hummingbird -- we were strumming and playing just with the one guitar, which is something we almost never do now. It was not the only choice -- we have lots of old guitars, but this one was our choice as the best for us for that particular application.

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This is just one data point, but it is I think part of the story.

 

Best,

 

-Tom

MissouriPicker

MissouriPicker

Posted
Posted

I've got a bird and an HD28. I play the same music with both, as well as the rest of my guitars. I do play "the bird" more than the HD28. The Hummingbird seems to fit my moods better with its warmth. I'd likely get the Hummingbird, BUT, there's not a thing in the world wrong with an HD28. Depends on "you.".........BTW, I liked your video. Nice and gentle. Good stuff.

E-minor7

E-minor7

Posted
Posted

.

thanks a lot for the help guys! tomorrow i'll go to the shop for test! decisions..

 

How many shops within reach ? - keep us informed as you roll.

 

Have fun

 

 

 

flatbaroque

flatbaroque

Posted
Posted

Listening to the original poster playing (enjoyed the song by the way), I think BBG has a good point in giving the Martin a boost.Would suit the pickless touch- ie less attack required.

That said I think it comes down to the individual guitars you get to try.I don't use a pick much and the J-45 suits me well.

Rambler

Rambler

Posted
Posted

I owned both once upon a time. Objectively, the Martin was a better instrument, I admit that I preferred playing the Bird. Id say if you want chugging chords ala Stones and Mellencamp, the Bird is your animal. THE HD28 is a more versatile instrument, takes more of a touch to get the best out of it.

E-minor7

E-minor7

Posted
Posted

 

Reality - let's face it - is that you need both.

 

Those 2 and a little bowl of rice, some tea and once a month a bottle of rum with a chick.

 

Nothing more to require. .

 

 

 

duluthdan

duluthdan

Posted
Posted

 

Reality - let's face it - is that you need both.

 

Those 2 and a little bowl of rice, some tea and once a month a bottle of rum with a chick.

 

Nothing more to require. .

True this....

DenverSteve

DenverSteve

Posted
Posted

thanks a lot for the help guys! tomorrow i'll go to the shop for test! decisions..

 

That's all you can do. There is no right or best guitar for a purpose. Most solo acoustic pros use one guitar on stage for ALL their songs at least until they get big. For me it's about finding a guitar that works for you. I'll pull out one guitar to work with for the day/evening/session and rarely take more than one to a gig. That means that the one guitar has to do it all. I could easily do it with either of those guitars.

MissouriPicker

MissouriPicker

Posted
Posted

 

Reality - let's face it - is that you need both.

 

Those 2 and a little bowl of rice, some tea and once a month a bottle of rum with a chick.

 

Nothing more to require. .

 

I can pretty much agree with these sentiments, aside from adding a good-looking gal who preferably plays guitar also (guitar playing is not mandatory).

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