Apples to apples, Taylors to Martins
- Thread starter HapiCmpur
- Start date
Zetajazz44
New member
I play bluegrass so I see a lot of Martin guitars... Although I'm not a guitar player I thought I'd chime in on this one anyways...
What you get from a Martin is projection... You can be at a festival and say a group of 3 guitar players are playing, only one of them is a Martin. Standing close to the group you can hear all the guitars fine... Then start backing up from the group...The others fade away. At about 50 feet, you'll still hear the Martin loud and clear, the others look like they are playing 'air-guitar'.
I traveled to the guitar store 2 weeks ago with a fellow friend/bluegrasser who wanted a new guitar. We stayed in the store all day, for over 8 hours and he played almost everything in the store; Martin, Taylor, Gibson...etc. Again, I know this is an apples/oranges comparison, but the Gibsons has nothing for the Martin... The Taylors were Ok, but there's just something about a Martin..."It's Fingerpickin' Good!"...
He ended up buying the Martin HD-28LSV. http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?p=m&m=HD-28LSV
The same holds true about what I said earlier in regards to projection... My friend and an employee there in the store, sitting side by side, my friend playing the HD-28LSV and the other guy playing the a Taylor, I walked to the other end of the store, and you could still hear the Martin...not the Taylor... The LSV though, has an enlarged soundhole which helps it too...
In regards to playability: There have been several people played the Martin he bought and all have commented how easy it played... Even the country players who are used to the lower string action... I'll also say that when you go to the store to pick out one, play different guitars of the same model... My friend played at least 6 of the HD-28LSV's and they all had a little different sound and played a bit different... In the end, he chose playability over sound... There was one that sounded better to him, but he said didn't play as easy... He chose the easy playing one...
You also said you were looking for something to keep for the rest of your life... I'd say that the Martin's value will increase more over time than the Taylors... If you ever did want to sell it, trade it, I'd bet in 20 years the Martin will bring more... Price a 60's model Martin, if you can find one, and you'll see what I mean...
What you get from a Martin is projection... You can be at a festival and say a group of 3 guitar players are playing, only one of them is a Martin. Standing close to the group you can hear all the guitars fine... Then start backing up from the group...The others fade away. At about 50 feet, you'll still hear the Martin loud and clear, the others look like they are playing 'air-guitar'.
I traveled to the guitar store 2 weeks ago with a fellow friend/bluegrasser who wanted a new guitar. We stayed in the store all day, for over 8 hours and he played almost everything in the store; Martin, Taylor, Gibson...etc. Again, I know this is an apples/oranges comparison, but the Gibsons has nothing for the Martin... The Taylors were Ok, but there's just something about a Martin..."It's Fingerpickin' Good!"...
He ended up buying the Martin HD-28LSV. http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?p=m&m=HD-28LSVThe same holds true about what I said earlier in regards to projection... My friend and an employee there in the store, sitting side by side, my friend playing the HD-28LSV and the other guy playing the a Taylor, I walked to the other end of the store, and you could still hear the Martin...not the Taylor... The LSV though, has an enlarged soundhole which helps it too...
In regards to playability: There have been several people played the Martin he bought and all have commented how easy it played... Even the country players who are used to the lower string action... I'll also say that when you go to the store to pick out one, play different guitars of the same model... My friend played at least 6 of the HD-28LSV's and they all had a little different sound and played a bit different... In the end, he chose playability over sound... There was one that sounded better to him, but he said didn't play as easy... He chose the easy playing one...
You also said you were looking for something to keep for the rest of your life... I'd say that the Martin's value will increase more over time than the Taylors... If you ever did want to sell it, trade it, I'd bet in 20 years the Martin will bring more... Price a 60's model Martin, if you can find one, and you'll see what I mean...
therage!
Wicked Machine
I've never been a big Taylor fan. I've played a friends 614ce quite a bit and it's a good guitar but it doesn't seem to project that much volume. I got me a Taylor 420K that's about 10 years old and I like it much better than any Taylor I've played so far. It's all Koa and the thing really projects and has incredible Bass.
Treeline
New member
Look at Bourgeois and Huss & Dalton as well!
I found my guitar (Old Moustache bridge Taylor 815C) woke RIGHT UP when I put DR meduims on. Tore the hell out of my hand, though. These days I'm playing lights and have been experimenting with mixed weight strings. But those DRs were killer.
I found my guitar (Old Moustache bridge Taylor 815C) woke RIGHT UP when I put DR meduims on. Tore the hell out of my hand, though. These days I'm playing lights and have been experimenting with mixed weight strings. But those DRs were killer.