I have a new guitar coming... anybody want to guess this time?

[Larry Mal]

Ha! Well, someone knew what that meant. Maybe it's clear to everyone except me.

This will be my second Martin, I have had a D-1 for about twenty years or so and recently discovered that the neck was pulling from the body and it will need to be re-glued (hopefully). I love that guitar and while it's been superseded by my other, better acoustics, I always have a lot of affection for the Martin sound.

Which sound is still very present with this whatever it is 12 fret guitar. That kind of surprises me. Martins just have that Martin thing, you know?

Still, I absolutely loved the sound of this 00-17s or at least the one I played for a couple hours. The sustain is amazing, it's powerful and lively, good note separation. I thought about actually buying an older one but I do get leery of very old acoustics and don't really know how to shop for them well, also whatever Martin is doing with the neck on these is a winner. Clearly it's a fingerstyle guitar and that's what I wanted, and when I played the one that I did I found it to play as effortlessly as anything I could imagine.

I was very much on the fence between this and getting a Gibson LG-2 American Eagle (another mis-named guitar from what I have read), in the end I went with a guitar whose sound I had very much liked instead of the complete unknown that is the Gibson to me. I got a nice Dove from Maggie O, and that was my first Gibson acoustic, and I like it so much that it gave me confidence with Gibson acoustics that I never had before.

But the Martin is it. I'm pretty excited. I wanted a little guitar I could sit around and fingerpick while the kids beat each other and screamed. Sounds relaxing.

[Despot]

Nice Larry ... nice.

I've had a few parlour sized guitars - one was an old '40s Martin and the other I still have - a '60s Levin. They have a particular sound ... and they're louder than you'd expect them to be. Great for playing on the couch.

I went to see Jeff Tweedy play in Dublin last week - he was using a small body Waterloo. It sounded fantastic - but then all his guitars did. All three were small body/parlour sized and he put them through a mic rather than through pickups (I think it was a ribbon mic).

I'm not really an acoustic player at all ... I wish I was better at it. But I get serious lust for these old style small body guitars.

May it give you many years of strumming.

[sookwinder]

Larry, congrats on the parlour acoustic .. they are a delight to play and comfortable at the same time.

But remember ... once you get one ... the call for more is in the wind !

[Larry Mal]

Thanks, guys! So I got the guitar last week and so far I like it a lot. Not sure if I love it, though, but I think a fair amount of it could be the setup. I don't feel that it's ever been professionally setup at any point, and it shows.

The nut will need sorting at some point, I'll probably take it to the shop later this week or so. It came with light gauge strings and I'll be moving up to mediums so the nut will need to accommodate that. I don't work on nuts.

I oiled the fingerboard, and I have never seen a more dry board in my life. You know how usually you wipe on some oil, and come back in about ten minutes and remove all the excess? This board drank it all up. Weird.

I have a new bone saddle, and will file that one down. I took the existing saddle and sanded that one down, in order to lower the action on it. It helped a bit, but truthfully, there's not a whole lot more I would feel all that comfortable sanding it down, and the action is still higher than I want.

The neck is straight I think, but I got my good relief measuring tool back only yesterday. But I don't think that there's any real need for a truss rod adjustment, and if between the nut work and the saddle I can't get the action where I want it, I do have to question how much I'll love this guitar. I'm not like some maniac about super low action on acoustics, but I do prefer it lower than I have it so far.

It's too early to say, and maybe I won't care so much. I can be picky about guitars at first, maybe it's a part of some kind of buyer's remorse, and then all of a sudden I don't care anymore.

[Maggieo]

Congrats, Larry!

Glad to hear you're getting on with the Dove, too.

[Larry Mal]

Thanks Maggie! The Dove is wonderful. I'd have to say that it was the best sounding of my acoustics. It's got a sweetness of tone and a balance to it that nothing else can quite touch. It's a lot of fun.

A big guitar, though!

I am also spoiled by my older Taylor 410, which I am unfairly comparing the playability of my new Martin to. Frankly, that 410 has a playability that rivals anything I have in my electric guitars. It's stunning, and since that's been my acoustic for years I got to thinking that any acoustic could play like that one, and it's just not true.

So, I've either got some changes to make regarding the new Martin or my expectations, one or the other.

[Maggieo]

Thanks Maggie! The Dove is wonderful. I'd have to say that it was the best sounding of my acoustics. It's got a sweetness of tone and a balance to it that nothing else can quite touch. It's a lot of fun.

A big guitar, though!

Yep, too big for dinky me. That's why I'm lusting after the Waterloo WL-12.

[mediocreplayer]

Thanks Maggie! The Dove is wonderful. I'd have to say that it was the best sounding of my acoustics. It's got a sweetness of tone and a balance to it that nothing else can quite touch. It's a lot of fun.

A big guitar, though!

I am also spoiled by my older Taylor 410, which I am unfairly comparing the playability of my new Martin to. Frankly, that 410 has a playability that rivals anything I have in my electric guitars. It's stunning, and since that's been my acoustic for years I got to thinking that any acoustic could play like that one, and it's just not true.

So, I've either got some changes to make regarding the new Martin or my expectations, one or the other.

I am primarily more of an acoustic player and I have owned a 410 in the past. I played the 17s and I think it is unlikely it will ever reach the playability of the 410 no matter what you do. I also do not think it is an unfair comparison. If anything, the 410 with the large body should not be more playable than the Martin, but it is because the Taylor necks are incredible.

I used to be a big Martin fan boy and they have a classic sound, but Taylors are just more fun guitars. The smaller-bodied Taylors are a thing of wonder really. I personally switched to carbon fiber and did not look back. The sound and playability are there and not having to deal with all the humidity and dryness stuff is a good bonus.

Don't want to sound like a downer but I think one should feel more excited about a new acoustic guitar?

[Larry Mal]

I am primarily more of an acoustic player and I have owned a 410 in the past. I played the 17s and I think it is unlikely it will ever reach the playability of the 410 no matter what you do. I also do not think it is an unfair comparison. If anything, the 410 with the large body should not be more playable than the Martin, but it is because the Taylor necks are incredible.

I used to be a big Martin fan boy and they have a classic sound, but Taylors are just more fun guitars. The smaller-bodied Taylors are a thing of wonder really. I personally switched to carbon fiber and did not look back. The sound and playability are there and not having to deal with all the humidity and dryness stuff is a good bonus.

Don't want to sound like a downer but I think one should feel more excited about a new acoustic guitar?

You may be correct about feeling more excited, if I don't feel blow away by it I'll sell it on or trade it. It's a luxury. There's a lot about it I do like, and I put the new saddle on yesterday and that provides me with action that is low enough for my liking, although the setup still isn't quite there.

I do love Taylors, I have the 410 as well as a GA3-12 twelve string. On that guitar, I found the action a little high also, so a shim was put in, things were adjusted, and voila.

But I was very much wanting that Martin sound. There's nothing quite like it out there, and this guitar sounds very good. I'll probably get the action dialed in. If not, I'll trade it on.

[sookwinder]

Larry, just for your info ... as you know I am a fanboy of the 1960s Epiphone/Gibson parlour guitars (Cortez, LG2, B25), but I do have a feel for the modern Gibson version of the LG2 ... known these days as the AMERICAN EAGLE LG2.

The guy I record with bought an American Eagle LG-2 and it is a damn good guitar. He uses it at gigs and on the couch and it certainly lives up to its heritage. These AE LG2 seem to have the more traditional wider nut than the 60s parlour guitars that I have. If I had not got into these vintage parlour acoustics, the AG LG2 would have been an option I would have considered.

[MrFingers]

Friend of mine owns a fifties 00-18, which I consider the best sounding Martin I've ever heard. It's not easy to play, but it sounds amazing.

Btw, nothing wrong with 12-fret parlour instruments, I use one myself as my go-to acoustic for everything that isn't flatpicking.

[Larry Mal]

Larry, just for your info ... as you know I am a fanboy of the 1960s Epiphone/Gibson parlour guitars (Cortez, LG2, B25), but I do have a feel for the modern Gibson version of the LG2 ... known these days as the AMERICAN EAGLE LG2.

The guy I record with bought an American Eagle LG-2 and it is a damn good guitar. He uses it at gigs and on the couch and it certainly lives up to its heritage. These AE LG2 seem to have the more traditional wider nut than the 60s parlour guitars that I have. If I had not got into these vintage parlour acoustics, the AG LG2 would have been an option I would have considered.

Up until the day I ordered this Martin I was debating between the LG and this. Ultimately, I went with this Martin since I've never actually played one of the Gibsons and would have been ordering blind. The Gibson I thought might have some predictability at it since I know I like Gibson necks (then again I like Martin and these in particular), also the Gibson has some built in electronics and a full gloss.

If I sell this Martin, which I probably won't, I'll get the American Eagle.

I'm starting to come around on this Martin. It is a lot of fun to play and it does sound great. I really feel I'm just a few setup steps away from really bonding with it.

I put a new saddle on it, and I kind of just "burned" one to see how low I could get the action to be. Turns out I can get it pretty low, it's too low now, and there's buzzing on the neck although not exactly what I would expect. At the 12th fret, the A string buzzes on the fret but the low E doesn't, for instance.

There doesn't seem to be any twist in the neck so I got out my fret rocker and it turns out that there are some inconsistencies with the fret levels, nothing major but maybe something that needs to be addressed. I'd reckon sorting the nut and maybe leveling the frets to some degree might dial in the playability that I'm looking for.

At any rate, I believe that it's possible to dial in playability that I want. I know I'm being a little finicky, but my first thought is that I bought this to do as intricate fingerpicking as I am capable of, so I definitely don't want to have to fight the guitar's setup as I do so. If this was just some banger for flatpicking cowboy chords on then who cares, but I have hopes for it becoming my default fingerpicking guitar and something I would write and record that type of stuff with. And my other thought is that since the action of acoustic guitars is more locked in than electrics, if this guitar is something that I just don't like playing as much as the embarrassment of riches that I already have, it'll just languish in the case.

I don't predict that is what will happen, I think that this guitar just has a poor setup. I'm not sure how old it is, and I might have expected more level frets, frankly, but it is what it is. I don't think anyone did anything with the saddle or the nut on there at all, I think it's what rolled out of the Martin factory and then it just sat in the case, basically.

I think I already mentioned how dry the fingerboard was and how it drank up the oil. That tells me this guitar might have just been pushed out of the factory and then more or less neglected. That's a shame, but I think it has the potential to be everything I thought it would be. If for whatever reason it seems that it won't work for me, then it'll at least have had a proper setup and the next person will get the guitar a little further along than I did.

But I think it's a winner. I like the 12 fret thing, I like the 1.75" nut and the Martin high-performance neck coupled with the short scale. There's a lot about this guitar to really enjoy.