I feel like a lot of this is because of quality of wood pre-world wars. We had those 300 year old trees standing tall. Now they use farmed trees or better yet Richlite or some comic book material like adamanteum for the body like Aristides
I have a 42 year old Ibanez acoustic guitar dreadnought hand made in Japan before production went to China and I tell ya everyone that plays it is absolutely amazed! Old school craftsmanship is second to none
what do you mean martin is the stradivarius of ALL guitars. a pre war d28 is nowhere near the same prestige as a lot of the famous classical guitar luthiers. even a modern guitar from the best luthiers will cost you 25,000-50,000 dollars. thats for new guitars… torres’ can go far past that, hauser I and hauser II’s can go far past that. you have to remember for stuff like strads not always necessarily about the sound, but it’s literally a historical object. i’m not saying martin’s don’t deserve to be in museums, they do, and i’ve seen them there, but i think it just comes off as a little shallow to disregard other luthiers that were around before martin or during martin’s life.
I think some of the later Martins are really overvalued. I had a 1967 D18 and it just wasn't that great. I think the brand new 1937 Authentic D28 might have been the best guitar I've ever played though. Blew the 1967 out of the water
My closest friend of 45 years has 17 Martin guitars. Ranging from an 1856 gut string parlor size to a matched set of O and 00 1927s to a 1935 0018 to another matched set of 0 and 00 dark mahogany 017 and 0017. There are a few from the 50s and 60s. Also a D41, D42, D45, and the crowning jewel
is a pure white Martin Bellezza Bianca. He's got a Gibson 335, 345 Stereo, and a 355. Strats and a couple Dobros! A visit to his place is a good time! I own 10 guitars, 5 acoustic, and 5 electric. Nothing too fancy. But one of them is a 1939 Washburn Aristocrat archtop acoustic. 1939 is the only year that they were made in the Gibson factory, and only 50 were made. So, that's kinda cool!????✌️
Rhett has never heard of Michael Greenfield – his name will literally be remembered like Stradivarius, meaning that hundreds of years later, Greenfield will be synonymous with the best a guitar can be.
Also, after trying the new V-Class Fan bracing on the Taylor Gold label Grand Pacific (after initially before sitting for 90 mins at another shop and playing incredible sounding brand new Martin 000-18s, 000-28s, D-18s & D-28s) I can safely say that we are at a historic inflection point in guitar design. 200 years ago Martin changed the guitar making paradigm by inventing and developing the revolutionary X-brace system. Let me assure you that the new V-Class bracing is just as important a paradigm shift and guitar making as X-bracing was. I'm not a "Taylor guy", I have ALWAYS preferred Martin because they have twice the sound of a Taylor. Trust me though, go try a Taylor Gold Label 717 Grand Pacific. It's like comparing a 714 to a D-28 except that now it's the D-28 that sounds flat. Don't comment until you try it, it will blow your freaking mind. . .
That’s a limited idea of what a “guitar” is IMHO. It ignores the entire categories of Classical Guitars & Archtop Guitars. Pre-war Martins are the best Steel-String Acoustic Guitars ever made but the guitar world is way bigger than that.
Yamaha FG5 ❤
Maton are well above Martin
Are these guitars L braced, by chance?
Bullshit!!! They don't even have truss rods you can adjust!!!!
Honestly, how good can any guitar be.
I feel like a lot of this is because of quality of wood pre-world wars. We had those 300 year old trees standing tall. Now they use farmed trees or better yet Richlite or some comic book material like adamanteum for the body like Aristides
You obviously haven't played a Taylor ????
It's all nonsense
There was one Lefty pre-war Martin for sale in Nashville that would've emptied my bank account, and I let it go… I still miss that thing!
Buy the guitar, kids. Buy the guitar.
Short answer: no, not IMHO. Great, but not the best.
I have a 42 year old Ibanez acoustic guitar dreadnought hand made in Japan before production went to China and I tell ya everyone that plays it is absolutely amazed! Old school craftsmanship is second to none
what do you mean martin is the stradivarius of ALL guitars. a pre war d28 is nowhere near the same prestige as a lot of the famous classical guitar luthiers. even a modern guitar from the best luthiers will cost you 25,000-50,000 dollars. thats for new guitars… torres’ can go far past that, hauser I and hauser II’s can go far past that. you have to remember for stuff like strads not always necessarily about the sound, but it’s literally a historical object. i’m not saying martin’s don’t deserve to be in museums, they do, and i’ve seen them there, but i think it just comes off as a little shallow to disregard other luthiers that were around before martin or during martin’s life.
$o $ays Gruhn.
I respectfully disagree with Mr Gruhn. Imo the best guitars ever made were the 1980's Harmony guitars coming out of the J.C. Penny Christmas Catalogs.
very strange that all those brands haven't been able to make something better eversince with all the knowledge they have now
I think some of the later Martins are really overvalued. I had a 1967 D18 and it just wasn't that great.
I think the brand new 1937 Authentic D28 might have been the best guitar I've ever played though. Blew the 1967 out of the water
The 30s and early 40s were the best martins. That being said pre 1937 were the best of the two due to the bracing
My closest friend of 45 years has 17 Martin guitars. Ranging from an 1856 gut string parlor size to a matched set of O and 00 1927s to a 1935 0018 to another matched set of 0 and 00 dark mahogany 017 and 0017. There are a few from the 50s and 60s. Also a D41, D42, D45, and the crowning jewel
is a pure white Martin Bellezza Bianca. He's got a Gibson 335, 345 Stereo, and a 355. Strats and a couple Dobros! A visit to his place is a good time! I own 10 guitars, 5 acoustic, and 5 electric. Nothing too fancy. But one of them is a 1939 Washburn Aristocrat archtop acoustic. 1939 is the only year that they were made in the Gibson factory, and only 50 were made. So, that's kinda cool!????✌️
My great grandpa had a d18. It ended up disappearing though. He probably bought it used in 45
I have a pre war Gibson acoustic thats about the same size as the d18, its all mahogany body and neck and still plays great
china replicas are great
Best bet investment guitars.
So the guitars made before WW2 are known as pre-war guitars, thanks for your incredible insight and knowledge ????
Rhett has never heard of Michael Greenfield – his name will literally be remembered like Stradivarius, meaning that hundreds of years later, Greenfield will be synonymous with the best a guitar can be.
Also, after trying the new V-Class Fan bracing on the Taylor Gold label Grand Pacific (after initially before sitting for 90 mins at another shop and playing incredible sounding brand new Martin 000-18s, 000-28s, D-18s & D-28s) I can safely say that we are at a historic inflection point in guitar design. 200 years ago Martin changed the guitar making paradigm by inventing and developing the revolutionary X-brace system. Let me assure you that the new V-Class bracing is just as important a paradigm shift and guitar making as X-bracing was. I'm not a "Taylor guy", I have ALWAYS preferred Martin because they have twice the sound of a Taylor. Trust me though, go try a Taylor Gold Label 717 Grand Pacific. It's like comparing a 714 to a D-28 except that now it's the D-28 that sounds flat. Don't comment until you try it, it will blow your freaking mind. . .
Love you played Zeppelin on it!
That’s a limited idea of what a “guitar” is IMHO. It ignores the entire categories of Classical Guitars & Archtop Guitars. Pre-war Martins are the best Steel-String Acoustic Guitars ever made but the guitar world is way bigger than that.
Martin guitars are the best every thing else is a copy….Fender still makes a better sounding electric guitar than Gibson…