Martin

[TelePaul]

Hey I've been an electric player for the past five years, and recently i decided it was time to go acoustic. After checking out some nice guitars, including some Taylors and a very impressive Walden, i decided on a Martin D 15 Dread. I can't get over how sweet it sounds and looks. It has a great bright feel but the bass is so full in it too and it has a beautiful tone. I think everyone should own one of these guitars.

[HapiCmpur]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

i decided on a Martin D 15 Dread.
I think everyone should own one of these guitars.

That's mighty generous of you. When may I expect delivery?

[gummblefish]

i own several martins. Two D28's (one 1973 and the other 68) a 0-18 (1962) and a DM-12 (twelve string). Martins are great guitars, i love my D28's. I am not exclusively a martin player though. I have many other makes for different times and styles. Most older martins suffer from the same cracks because of the type of bracing that martin use. There value holds well though, and treated well you will get many years out of it.

[ermghoti]

D16 GTE, dread with a cutaway and a pickup. Awesome, just over a grand. A bargain, IMO.

[TelePaul]

Originally Posted by HapiCmpur

That's mighty generous of you. When may I expect delivery?

Hey man I worked a crappy job for this...Although i suppose it may bother someone that my first aocustic is a Martin and im still a teenager.

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by ermghoti

D16 GTE, dread with a cutaway and a pickup. Awesome, just over a grand. A bargain, IMO.

I have the D-16 GT without the electronics or cutaway, it plays like a charm. Its rare that I have to tweek the tuning whenever I get it out of the case-just amazing!

[Track Rat]

Yup. Martins are cool. I have a 74 D-41 and a 55 000-18. The top on the 000-18 is as flat as pool table and is in constant use. Not bad for a 51 year old guitar.

[YeshuasFan]

Hey man I worked a crappy job for this...Although i suppose it may bother someone that my first aocustic is a Martin and im still a teenager.

I would be surprised if anyone in this forum would be bothered. Enjoy your guitar and make some music. But beware of developing GAS [Gear Acquisition Syndrome].

[kahuna]

Originally Posted by ermghoti

D16 GTE, dread with a cutaway and a pickup. Awesome, just over a grand. A bargain, IMO.

I agree. Mine sounds better every time I play. I have the 12 string version too J1216 GT.

The 12 is my favorite guitar.

[guitar junkie]

my problem with Martin guitars is that my tastes run into the 40 series

Sam Ash used to have this one great Jumbo guitar it was like a 41 model or something... really liked that sucker but for the money my Gretsch has had to do.

i used to have one of the black plastic ones though, while it was not a bad guitar it lacked a lot of soul... i got it at GC for $300 because the bridge had pulled up, while still under warranty they did not want to bother getting it fixed. repair took a few weeks but it did not cost me anything to have it done...

but any way i returned it a little later than i should have been able to and got my Gretsch 6012 acoustic.... the store was happy though, since the guitar came back to them fixed it was worth more than what they sold it to me for.

[Chris Shaeffer]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

Hey man I worked a crappy job for this...Although i suppose it may bother someone that my first aocustic is a Martin and im still a teenager.

Not at all, bro!! Good choice and way to spend that hard earned money WELL.

My first guitar- the one I learned on- was a crappy Les Paul studio copy that wouldn't stay in tune for more than 10 minutes and sounded like crap. Good enough to learn on, though, and only cost around $200. The amp I bought was a cheap but good work horse: Peavey Classic Chorus 212, 75 watts per channel, true stereo chorus, etc. - $400.

My second guitar was a Gibson Les Paul Custom, white, with a Kahler trem. I still have it (though it has faded to cream instead of white) and it is still my main guitar. I love it and I could never have afforded it if I waited until I was out on my own, paying bills, and whatnot. $1100 new, blemished (paint damaged where the headstock sat on the stand at the store), and to this day it remains the best $1100 I've ever spent. Even though I worked at a fast food joint for a year to save up that much.

I still have the Peavey, too. The distortion channel is pretty crappy, but the clean channel is very useable- and fed by a Fulltone OCD or SansAmp it does the job just *fine* for distorted tones. Not a bad $400 spent almost 18 years ago. I just rented it to a Hawaiian band I know, as well, for their west coast tour. Took it like the work horse that it is and the very discerning lead guitarist was quite happy with it.

My point is you get what you pay for. That Martin will last you forever if you take good care of it and it will improve with age, too. Excellent choice for spending the moeny earned at a crappy job. It'll still be worth it 20 years from now, long after the crappy job is a faded memory.

Take care,
Chris

[Light]

As far as I'm concerned, the Martin style 15 guitars (D15, OOO15, etc.) are the best value in the guitar market today. They are all solid wood, and while they may not be have the most fine detail work, they are solidly built guitars which are FAR better made than most guitars in the price bracket.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[c7sus]

77 D35L and 85 D45L-Custom here.

Right on, kid. You have good taste in guitar tone.

After you get used to the 15 try a D28VR. You'll love it.

[gordone]

Got my first Martin in 1992 when I was 15 - a D16H. This is nothing at all like the current 16-series, it has sitka top, mahogany B&S, rosewood bridge/fingerboard, forward-shifted scalloped bracing, herringbone rosette (ala a HD28!) and tortoise-shell body binding. Structurally, it's pretty much a D18V.

In 1996, I inherited a 1956 00-18.

I also own a Santa Cruz, a Larrivee, a Taylor, and a Guild, so no blind brand loyalty here!

Enjoy your new guitar!

[Jahn]

I'm not certain why I've never gotten a Martin. Guilds and Taylors, and now just Guilds. But Martin...it just seems like I want to wait until I find that "dream" Martin (and be able to afford it) before going there. It's like I'm Not Worthy...

[djhead]

Originally Posted by TelePaul

Hey man I worked a crappy job for this...Although i suppose it may bother someone that my first aocustic is a Martin and im still a teenager.

It bothers me. I work a good job and STILL can't afford that shit. Be wise, paddawan, marry ye not an only child of a rich german family

[TelePaul]

I really appreciate the comments, and I have the feeling that this won't be the last Martin I buy. I should have said that I basically had a choice between going to Canada for two weeks with some college friends and getting flat out wasted every night; or spending a decent amount of money on a beautiful guitar. I know I made the right choice, and like you guys say, if i look after it it'll last me a lifetime. So thanks for being happy for me.

[mandocaster]

78 D19 for me. Martins are the shit. And I mean that in a good way.

[freshmattyp]

I got one of the D15's when they first came out, and it's a sweet guitar. Mine records beautifully, without a lot of the boominess you typically get from a dreadnought. I used to have a D16M that I never should have traded away. That guitar was near perfect.

[cephus]

Are the D15s the ones that have the dark wood top? Is it mahogany? Or is that in reference to a body style? That's the $799 one in the GC junk mail, right?

[LI_Slim]

I have a 00016C, circa 1970. C meaning classical. That's right, Martin makes nylon string guitars (I think there was a period of time during the 80s and 90s when they stopped making them for awhile). A great nylon string guitar for a non-classical player.

[Light]

Originally Posted by cephus

Are the D15s the ones that have the dark wood top? Is it mahogany? Or is that in reference to a body style? That's the $799 one in the GC junk mail, right?

Martins model numbers follow a very strict formula. The letter (D, O, OO, OOO, OM, etc.) refer to the shape of the body, and the number (15, 16, 18, 28, 35, etc.) refers to the style and bracing. They will sometimes add modifiers to those basic numbers (GT for gloss top, or E for electronics, etc.).

So, a D15 is a drednaught with style 15 appointments, which includes a solid mahogany top, no binding, and limited inlay (the rosette is a decal). It has Martin's "A-Frame" bracing, which is much lighter than the traditional X bracing ("A-Frame" bracing DOES have an X brace, but there are a lot of other things which are different).

I've been told they are making a D15 sith a sitka top, but I can't find it on the Martin website, and I haven't seen one (but then, I haven't been looking very hard, or really at all).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[KonradG]

I'm more of a taylor man myself, but i tend to go upstream as far as tastes. i think that martin has a very nice sound, dont get me wrong, thats a fact, not an opinion. but i think that a taylor has just as full of a sound, especially recorded. i plan on spending my grand or two on a taylor.

[LI_Slim]

for about 2k i went with a Breedlove. They don't have the Martins' huge bottom but wonderfully balanced, especially if you need built in electronics

[perceive]

This is where personal taste comes in .. I have a martin D18 on lay buy at the moment ..I bought it cos it is wonderfully warm... but no so bright as a Taylor... which suits me (hey man, can I wear clothes other than black... hell no... and all that!)..

Next thing for me is to find a really nice nylon string... mmm......