I want to LOVE Martin Guitars. I do. So help me I really do. I know I am supposed to covet all the models or most of the models. I know I am supposed to salivate and palpitate and pulsate at the unique and most splendid of sounds, I don't. Once again I want to. I do. Really. I play them when I go to Guitar Center. I play them at Sam Ash. I play other people's Martins. I have been to the Factory. Lo...I have made the pilgrimage with my son. I have walked the hallowed halls. I HAVE TRIED!!!. I have. Lord help me please...I have tried. I have played the sizes and the shapes and yes they are fine but it ain't the sound my soul sings with. This is not to say that the rest of the brethren in the six string convocation (and 12...and, well seven if you're Russian) are not right and I am just deaf. (Pronounced deef). Of course it may be because I'm over here holding it and you're over there listening to it. That is always the problem when choosing and judging and buying a guitar isn't it? That's why those clever luthiers (and Breedlove now owned by "Two Old Hippies" right?) has that top hole in the side aimed at your ears. But....what does that do to the front end? Well.........I play Guilds in that G pantheon of American BIG manufacturers. GUILDGIBSONGRETSCH. I love Guilds. I do not have enough Guilds.I have two and a half. The half being a Japanese Madeira A-9. Which is pretty damn fine sounding thank you.I love my other guitars. I have a few. A few more than a few. Perhaps one day a Martin will thrill me. That sort of enlarged and inflated heartbeat thing.
I never played, but found the D-28 with two piece back to be lovely to listen to.
ReplyDeleteAnd a friend at Shimer in 64-65 had a Martin from, I think 1853. In any case two years after the company was founded. At the time the oldest known Martin extant.
1835 would have been the correct year.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting first start. And you said what you needed to say, I presume, with a minimal amount of frou frou. I have a tendency not to know when to shut up so appreciate those who can state their feelings without it needing a book spine.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I am a Martin lover, I can also appreciate what you're saying.
Our nature, no matter what the topic or subject, seems to need to put something on top. The Best. The King. The Champ. We do it with cars, with actors, musicians & musical instruments. I don't...mostly because I can't. I have too diverse a taste for things to pick "this" as the reigning champion.
Going back to Martin...I believe they are among the best in the world. Growing up, I wanted one. And I always wanted a Guild F512. I could afford neither, so never had them. And if I'd been pressed to choose just one at that time? Well, I wanted that Martin but I played 12 string so I would have chosen the Guild.
And I think *that's* where the best enters into it - what's the best for you?
I have a Martin D18 now which I adore, tho' it's a 6 string & still seems a tad foreign to me. The sound however is incomparable to anything else *I've* played, & that has included a lot of guitars.
I ended up getting very long winded here...sorry. I think what I was saying, in a nutshell, is that the worth, or value if you will, is in the ear of the player. If you love what you hear when you're playing, there is nothing can best it...right?