Fun acoustic guitar day!

[Larry Mal]

I have a little time free this afternoon, and no kids are around, so I can play my acoustics and really test out the new Martin:





Not that I'm all that strict about the kids and guitars:

[mediocreplayer]

That Martin looks so sexy

[Larry Mal]

Thanks for saying that, it's still on the fence with me. That's why I had them all out because I wanted to gauge how I felt about my new Martin.

And yeah, it does look great.

[DesmondWafers]

I obviously have no idea how they sound...but man, that dove. Does the martin still maintain that signature bass-y sound?

[Larry Mal]

Yeah, it does the Martin thing. It sounds great, without question. If you like the sound of Martin guitars, this guy has it.

And I very much do like the sound of Martins. I don't like the way that this is playing for me, though. I'm already wondering if I'll ever like it as much as my other guitars. If the action would come down a half millimeter or a little more I would probably love it, but I'm skeptical to think that it ever will (I gave it a setup and I can't get it any lower).

Maybe a real tech will be able to get it there, but if not, out the door it goes. Probably any number of people would find this to play perfectly for them, but I bought it to be an inspiring thing to write on and if I greatly prefer my other guitars' playability this Martin isn't going to be that. I have no intention of having a guitar this expensive that I have to meet more than halfway.

But the sound is wonderful.

About the Dove, that guitar is nothing like I would have thought. It's huge. It plays like a dream, though. And despite it being such a massive guitar, it has this sweet and gentle sound to it. It gets loud (although not as loud as my Taylors), but it always stays clear, and the note separation is wonderful, and it never loses this sweet sound to it. I don't know how to describe it.

[budda12ax7]

Those all look nice. I think acoustic guitars are a whole world. I was in the acoustic wank tank at GC just playing this totally expensive Martin and Gibson and I was like MEH!!

I then picked up a Fender t-bucket and I was like wow!!!!!

[Larry Mal]

You know, I have to wonder what's up with trying out acoustic guitars a lot of places. I went to Chicago Music Exchange with my father in law and we played a bunch of acoustics, including more recent versions of that Taylor 410 you see pictured there. I was also looking at Gibsons in an effort to see if I wanted to get into the Gibson acoustic thing.

I thought they all sounded terrible. I walked out of there thinking that I probably already had the best acoustic possible to get (I still kind of feel that way about that Taylor) and that I didn't need any more guitars, and that was a mixed bag of a feeling, I can tell you that.

It didn't last.

[Embenny]

As the owner of 5 luthier-built acoustics and classicals, I can assure you that it certainly does get a lot better than what most music stores have onhand. And yeah, a lot of music stores are terrible places to try acoustics. They often over-humidify, which kills tone and corrodes strings (which kills tone even worse). That, or they under-humidify and everything has mile-high action and is on the verge of implosion...

As for the Martin, when you say you set it up, did you include sanding the saddle? Because that's the only way to lower the action on them if the relief is set properly.

You have to pop out the saddle and take it to a sanding block or other flat surface, working slowly and carefully to not shave it down at an angle - you want to keep it square.

If you don't have much saddle to spare (i.e. you don't think you have enough saddle to be able to shave it down the half mm you need), it would be from a crappy neck angle from the factory, which is a known thing that happens on some new Martins. Your Taylor has the ingenious design of a bolt-on neck whose angle can be reset by popping it off and adding/changing pre-manufactured internal shims, but the Martin is an old-school set-neck...if the action is high and the saddle is low, the only remedy is a neck re-set with all the sawing that implies (or in the case of a brand new guitar, a return).

[sookwinder]

^^^^^^^^

Hence why I love the late 50s and 60s Gibson/Epiphone adjustable saddle ...adjustments done in minutes.