I Played a Martin D-28 today....

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: David C. Carter
Date: 17 Nov 05 - 10:20 AM

I go along with Amos about the D-35.Mine is a gem,seems to play itself most times,but it sure ain,t friendly towards Martin strings.Never has been.I know a few people around here and they all use other makes.Keep on strummin'.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST,Bluegrass Boy
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 11:41 AM

I have a '74 D-28 that I ordered new,with sunburst finish.The sound is awsome! Even though it is 33 years old the sound is smooth and has played MANY Bluegrass festivals around the country.Someday my grandson will call it his pride and joy!

Subject: Lyr Add: REUNION (Bob Clayton)
From: Songster Bob
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 08:49 PM

Reunion

        [Tune: "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down"]

Long years ago, a younger man, I got my first guitar --
A cheapo-cheapo, it cost me 15 bucks.
It was hard to play, and sounded like a tin can strung with wire;
It made me want to better my poor luck.
Now Martins, so I'd heard, were among the very best,
But they cost an arm and even half a leg.
But I kept looking on till I finally found one, used,
At a price I didn't have to steal or beg.

The model that I found was a big D-28
Made in 1963, the numbers told.
The top was just as snowy as it was when it was new --
You'd never think that it was five years old.
The trouble is, it also sounded new and kind of stiff;
It didn't have that sound I'd hoped to find.
So when I got a better-sounding, smaller Martin box,
I sold that Dreadnought to a friend of mine.

Now, this was 1969, a score-odd years ago,
When hippie-dom held sway among the young.
This friend went to New York, and left his car to go get stoned,
And got ripped off by some damned passing bum.
So that guitar was gone, from his life and from mine,
And I hadn't thought of that old thing for years.
Though I'd owned some nice guitars, I still hadn't found the one
That felt right to my fingers and my ears.

It's 1989, at a festival with friends,
When I see this odd-appearing Martin there.
A '28 from '63, but looking at the top,
You could see that something wasn't on the square.
The musician who was selling it told a tale of woe,
Of a smashed-in top and a luthier of skill.
But then when I played it, it spoke to me, deep down,
And you could say it's talking to me still.

So now I have the Martin of my dreams, or pretty close,
And I play it every time that there's a chance.
The lifelong search I'd made for that particular guitar
Had had me leading such a merry dance.
But the thing is, once I'd bought it, I finally took a look
At the maker's number stamped inside, and lo!
That "196578" rang my memory's bell --
It's the same guitar I sold off years ago!


© 1992, Bob Clayton, Silver Spring, MD

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 22 Mar 07 - 11:53 PM

I know the feeling. I have D-28 192743.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: balladeer
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 02:46 PM

My D28 was born in 1958, but did not become mine until 1967. Mother Martin had been lovingly attended by two previous caretakers. She was mellow and round when she came to me, ringing lightly on the top, husky on the bottom - a full-range sound. But now we are going through a rough patch in our relationship. She's been mad at me ever since I traded in her medium-guage Martin strings for Daddario lights. Still, the old girl had had her head chopped off and re-attached before I ever knew her, so I suppose she'll weather this misfortune as well.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 03:41 PM

I sold my 1986 Martin HD28 four years ago. No regrets. As you get older it's more difficult to hug that large body but Martin 000 are also wonderful instruments. There is a small loss in sound at both top and bottom but the thinner body ( and cutaway style) was and is really a breath of fresh air. I find that I have much more control with my left fretting hand and easier pick or strum patterns because the instrument feels closer to the body. The body dynamics just feel less strained. However, I fully understand the gratification of all you 28 lovers.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 03:48 PM

..."She's been mad at me ever since I traded in her medium-guage Martin strings for Daddario lights... "

some women just don't know when to be grateful ...

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: deadfrett
Date: 24 Mar 07 - 09:43 AM

the ol"88" had a steady diet of Mediums until she tried Elixer Lights. Now she's slim an trim and loves 'em. D

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: pirandello
Date: 24 Mar 07 - 10:02 AM

D-28's can be nice instruments; the problem is that Martin are now churning out around 70,000 guitars a year so no guitar gets any meaningful individual attention in the critical areas of bracing and top tuning. The result being that on average you'll get the majority being kind of ok, a few absolute stinkers and a few which are positively stellar.

The best way to buy is used; get a nicely played-in 20 year old and let someone else get hit with the depreciation of a new one.

Another issue is that there are many smaller shops doing the Martin thing and doing it so much better; Bourgeois and Santa Cruz to name but two.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 12:33 PM

Don't leave out Collings....

By the way - a magazine called Fretboard Journal { www.fretboardjournal.com } has an interesting cover story about Tony Rice and his D-28. Lots of details about the extensive repairs that both Tony Rice and Clarence White had done to it. I didn't know that it had spent a day or two underwater at one time. I'm glad it dried out.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: BTMP
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 01:02 PM

I bought a new sunburst D-41 Special last week and I am very pleased with it. It's my first new Martin and my first dreadnought - I have a couple of 0-size Martins as well. In the current Acoustic Guitar mag, there is an interesting article that outlines the steps in the building of a Martin D-28. There is a lot of work done by machine, but also a lot of hands-on finishing as well.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 09:35 PM

My old Takamine is a "lawsuit model" that I just love. Plays like a Martin because, for all intents and purposes, it is one. Best part: I only paid $100 for it. I actually felt bad for the poor sucker I bought it from. (But not enough to fail to take advantage of the deal.)

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: PoppaGator
Date: 30 Mar 07 - 10:53 PM

My one and only instrument is a 1969 D-18. For 20 years or so, I kept the original price tag (with serial number) in my wallet. but it eventually disintegrated. I think the price when it was bought new (in time for my college graduation) was $295, but maybe it was $395. (My memory tells me "three hundred," which I think means 300 - 5 but might mean 300 + 95.) Whichever price it was, it included a good hardshell case.

At the time, I thought the only difference between the 18 and the higher-numbered, higher-priced "D" models was the level of trim ~ the inlay work, mother-of-pearl, etc. That crap has never interested me in the least. I mean, you can't hear it, right? So why pay a premium price for it?

I've since learned that the D-18 body is made of mahogany while the other Martin Dreads are rosewood, which is rarer and therefore more expensive. (The tops are all spruce, of course.) Mahogany and rosewood produce different sounds, naturally, but I'm not so sure that the rosewood sound is actually any "better" that what comes out of my mahogany box. I've heard some folks contend that the D-18 sound is actually superior, especially as an acoustic blues guitar. But maybe that's just because the country-blues greats who played D-18s (e.g., Brownie McGhee) bought theirs for the same reason I bought mine ~ the only Martin they could afford.

I think I made a very lucky decision choosing the lowest-priced top-quality guitar available at the time. Not only is my instrument currently worth almost 10 times its original price, it flat-out sounds and plays as good as, or better than, any guitar of any age, any price.

Of course, playing one and only one guitar for 38 years has taught me just how to coax a wide variety of sounds out of it. When people tell me they've never heard such a beautiful guitar, I know that most of the credit goes to CF Martin, but my hard-earned knowledge of how to make it sound its best is part of what they're hearing. I'm absolutely sure that I have an advantage over players who compulsively change guitars every few years (or every few months!), trading up, trading down, never developing a really intimate familiarity with their instrument.

And don't get me started on the subject of "collectors" who hoard more instruments than they could ever learn to play, keeping them out of the hands of real players and artificially inflating prices! (I'm not criticizing you pros out there who need two or three axes and keep 'em all in constant use. I'm talking about those conspicuous-consumer dilletantes who display perfectly good instruments as museum pieces.)

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST,cmt49
Date: 31 Mar 07 - 11:30 AM

"The only Martin I could afford"....... Yes, I tried the Eric Clapton 00028, but settled on the 0016SGT. I just loved the sound, and at at less than half the price, it was an offer I could not refuse. I have arthritis problems in my fingers, and play mostly fingerstyle. The little 000 12-fret was perfect for fingerstyle and so easy to get hold of - I have become a much better guitarist because of it. My friends refer to it as my 'baby'. God Bless CF Martin!

Subject: RE:Why are Martin Guitars so expensive?
From: GUEST,Steve in Columbus Ohio
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 10:59 AM

Good question. Unless you pay upwards of $1700 - you get a piece of garbage. I've had three martins. Two had to have warrantee work done and the other was a DX1 - which I should have never purchased. I have a Seagull that blows the D-18 I had clean off the map. The Seagull was UNDER $500 new and is 5 times the guitar.

Hey - from the inception of Martin Guitars until 1990, Martin produced 500,000 guitars. From 1990 to now they have produced 500,000 guitars. If you want a good Martin - buy one before 1972. You'll still pay too much.

All you guys who have to have that Logo on your hedstock are paying a lot of money for wood salvaged out of swamps and scrounged from wastelands. Come on - there are so many superior guitars that outshine Martin by light years. Taylor, Seagull, Guild - the list goes on.

I swore after my 3rd Martin that was post 1990 I would never own another. Besides - they suck for fingerpicking. The necks on most of them are too narrow.

But hey - avereage joe strummers who glory in the 3 or four chords they dwell around have to have something to play.

All in all - Martins are so expensve because the duped masses keep paying all that money for nothing more than a mediocre guitar with a famous sticker on it.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 11:58 AM

I have a D-28 I've rarely played for the last few years. Most of what I play nowadays is fingerpicked and I have other guitars that are much better suited to the style. But, when we decided a few months ago to cobble our disbanded band back together for a festival gig, I auditioned several of my guitars and the the D-28 clearly had the best sound for the job at hand.

I believe there are better all-round guitars, and if I had to have only one guitar it definitely would not be a Martin D. But for rhythm work in any type of string band, they're hard to beat.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 12:42 PM

I gave up on Martins, have a 30 year old Gibsin J45 that is sweet. Best guitar I have ever owned.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Wesley S
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 12:48 PM

In my opinion - which I doubt anyone was waiting for - the J-45 is the best guitar that Gibson ever built. Of course I'm still not selling my 1967 D-18. But I'm glad that one of the guitar players in my group has a J-45 that I get to pick up every once in awhile.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 01:30 PM

"All you guys who have to have that Logo on your hedstock are paying a lot of money for wood salvaged out of swamps and scrounged from wastelands. Come on - there are so many superior guitars that outshine Martin by light years. Taylor, Seagull, Guild - the list goes on."

Yo, Steve, how long you been playing for?

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: PoppaGator
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 01:44 PM

As noted above, I absolutely swear by my 38-year-old D-18, but I'm willing to accept the popular opinion that today, Martins may not be as superior as they used to be.

Twice during the last couple of years, I was without my guitar for extended periods. It was in the shop for new frets and a neck reset through November-December of 2004, and then on August 29, 2005, I left it in my house to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina and wasn't able to return to my flooded neighborhood for about six weeks. The guitar was up on the second floor, and I never doubted that it was safely high and dry, but I was 1300 miles away and our home was under martial law, off-limits to everyone, until October 15.

Anyway, I began haunting guitar stores and trying out instruments during these two periods, not with any real intent to buy, but just to keep my hand in, stay in practice, etc. It was my first chance in many many years to compare and contrast the different available brands, etc., and I came away with two new insights:

~ The current crop of lower-priced guitars is surprisingly good, much better than what you could get years ago for a bargain price. It must be a result of computerized reverse-engineering and robotic assembly methods, which allows a company to set up a plant in China or Korea, hire inexperienced but intelligent and hard-working help at cheap wages, and produce near-perfect knockoffs of proven designs. All they have to do is select decent wood, which seems not to be an insumountable problem.

~ Among the top-price, top-quality choices, very few instruments impressed me very much. With only two notable exceptions, all the new Martins, Gibsons, Taylors, etc., struck me as "nothing-special," certainly not up to the standard of my own 1969 D-18. I must have picked up more than 100 guitars (in two different states) during those two axe-less periods, and the only two of them that impressed me at all were:

A Martin "OM" model (OM-20? maybe? or OM-22?) that just, somehow, felt and sounded way better than all the other new Martins. And this was at a large retailer with at least 20 other Martins on display. I think this just indicated that every individual instrument is different, and every once in a while you find one that is particularly sweet. I don't necessarily think that another OM, even one with the exact same model number, would be the same at all.

A Lowden, the only one I encountered during all my visits to dozens of stores. I suppose they're just not widely available in the US. Since I wasn't really going to buy it, and the price was astronomical, I didn't make a note of the model number, etc., and no longer remember all the details ~ but I do remember how it looked and felt and sounded! Again, I have no idea whether another instrument of the same brand name and model would compare, but this particular guitar was just super-fine.

Oh yeah, one final disclaimer ~ all the guitars I tried out were mass-produced, factory made brands. I'm sure (well, I'd HOPE, anyway) that a hand-made custom job from a good luthier would meet all my expectations. Of course, I couldn't afford such a (second) guitar!

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 01:56 PM

I also have a J-45. I rate it the best all-round guitar I own. The D-28 mentioned above has a slight edge for rhythm work, and my Santa Cruz OM-PW gets first prize for fingerstyle, but if I'm at a jam session I don't want to hassle with multiple guitars and the J-45 works pretty darned well for either style. It also handles open tunings better than any other guitar I own.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: beardedbruce
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 01:59 PM

Anyone ever play this?

http://www.fqms.com/Martin%20D100%20Deluxe_W144.cfm

I saw the original at the Philly Folk Festival- but they were NOT loaning it out for jams...

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 02:02 PM

You can buy one for $109,900. Buy two, they're small. Jaysus.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: beardedbruce
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 02:05 PM

Number 1,000,000 was never for sale- and had a peacock on the back.

I think we can safely presume a high level of attention to detail and quality of materials on this model...

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 03:23 PM

For a $109,900, the damned thing better tune itself AND make gourmet meals.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: PoppaGator
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 03:28 PM

Does all that inlay work make a damn bit of difference to the sound?

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 03:30 PM

Not a bit.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Peace
Date: 05 Apr 07 - 03:36 PM

PG: I am with you all the way on the inlay stuff. I have seen some work done on guitars that is beautiful, but the axe still sounded the same as it did before. I guess if I was a millionaire or rich, I might have one done. But probably, I'd buys some decent guitars for kids who would play 'em but don't have good ones. I ain't a jewelry kinda guy I guess.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: JedMarum
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 09:50 AM

I know this is heresy in a folk forum, but I never understand the huge following behind Martin guitars. They make some good ones. They make a few great ones. I've seen and played some good ones that people go gaga over - and I just don't see it/hear it. There are guitars on the market that are simply much better.

Generally speaking, Martins tend to be loud. They're heavy. They have a boomy bass and are typically way too "muddy" or uneven sounding. They do have a distinct and recognizable tone - that can be nice, but they typically need EQ help to balance them with other instruments. And they are a bitch to get a good sound out of plugged in.

Now having said all of that - I do like Martins. I hear that Martin sound like everyone else does, and I appreciate it. And there exceptions. There are some Martins that do not have any of the short comings I listed above. I love Martin's small body guitars, the 000s and the OMs.

If you take a look at Bourgeois Guitars, his D-types always seem to sound to me the way the Martin designs wanted to sound! They have a much better balance. Their weight is better. I haven't played them plugged in, so can't speak to that. Likewise the Collings guitars are, generally speaking, better then most Martins. These are two guitar makers who are building guitars along the Martin D type line, that are normally head and shoulders above Martin in sound.

If you want to stray from the reservation of typical D type sound and look at modern designs of Dreadnought-like guitars, I am convinced that Larrivee has the best sounding guitar designs on the planet. Taylor also has some great sounding models - and both makers have incorporated excellent electronics ....


Now before anyone blasts me for not liking Martins - I do love a lot of their guitars ... when people "bow at the altar" of the D28, I always remember the handful that I found worthy of that devotion - BUT I cannot worship the model.

If I had to reach into a dark room filled with guitars and grab one that would be my only instrument for the rest of my life - I'd walk past the door marked Martin and open the one labeled Larrivee.

... but that's just me.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: Wesley S
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 10:31 AM

I can agree with much of what you've said Jed. A lot of what people respect about Martins are their past - and we folkies do respect tradition. Let's face it - the majority of guitars built today are copies { and sometimes improvements } of designs that the Martin company pioneered. Having said that I think the biggest problem Martin has is that they try to be all things to all people. They've watered down the vision. And that's why I like my Collings so much. They make just a few models - and you can ask for some options after that to suit your needs.

I have a 1967 D-18 - I'm not sure that you ever had a chance to play it. But it has all the things I like about the old Martin company. Solid - built to last - and it can handle anything I throw at it. It was the first good guitar I ever owned - and it will be my last one too.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: balladeer
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 02:03 PM

When I was a young folksinger coming up circa 1960, everyone I admired had or wanted a D-28. That's just the way it was. Still mostly hand made then, they were back-ordered at the factory in Nazareth PA, sometimes for years at a time. I didn't get mine until 1967. It had been made in '58, and came to me from a friend who had fallen on hard times. Ironically perhaps, had I still been a full-time performer I could not have afforded the $400 my friend required to part with Mother Martin. That instrument, and the 1968 Martin 12-string that came to me a couple years later from another friend who needed money, became my constant companions during the years I spent raising my sons. Those guitars helped me through many a dark moment. When I came back to performing in the early nineties, it had become a Larivee world for sure, and how beautiful they are. I play a Laskin these days. It's smaller and sweeter than the D-28, easier for these mildly arthritic fingers to manage. I love everything about Pearl, but the day I decided to buy her, I felt sad. I shed some tears. I knew my relationship with Mother Martin would never be the same.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today,....
From: GUEST,xander
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 10:34 AM

any guitar, martin, taylor, santa cruz, whatever, has to be properly set up to fit the player's needs, and it has to be done by someone who knows what he or she is doing (not all bakers make good bread, not all luthiers...). I took my current Martin D28 (2005)to three different luthiers before I was finally satisfied.    Secondly, any top of the line guitar requires a player who knows what he or she, too, is doing. In other words, YOU have to be worthy of the instrument. What would a Steinway sound like in the hands of a bumbling novice? Like a pitiful waste of potential. I've heard too many martin players (or tryers) complain of the action or the standard medium strings, or the too-boomy bass, etc. Once the guitar is set up, it chimes in the hands of a worthy player, whatever the register, finger picking or full volume chords. The D28 requires medium strings AND the chops to make 'em ring. Thirdly, like all quality instruments, the D28 only gets better with age and care. It takes a committed individual to acknowledge the give and take relationship that develops between the player and his D28. Finally, the argument that says "only the old D28s were worth it" is a load of crap. If you're going to spend top dollar on ANY article that is either hand made or mass produced, you sure as hell better try out as many as you can of the same model before you find the one that feels good in YOUR hands.    This holds true for all the above-mentioned acoustics, as well as Strats, Les Pauls, Spanish classicals, etc. There is NO guitar brand of which ALL the models are "automatically" up to par.
A suggestion for amplification for the D28 : avoid pick-ups, just get a good mike and PA and you will rule the universe. Believe me, I've tried 'em all and after 40 years of playing, there's nothing like the simple, natural sound of the D28 whether is be rock, folk, or just about anything else.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: PHJim
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 04:27 PM

I was searching the archives and came upon this thread. While I didn't peruse it. I did read through it quickly and saw mention of many Martin models; D-18, D-28, D-35, D-42, and D-45, plus OMs, OOOs... but no one mentioned the D-21.
Martin made fewer than 3000 of these guitars and stopped making them in 1969. Thirty some years ago, when I bought my 1962 D-21, I wrote to Mike Longworth to ask him why Martin had stopped making these guitars. He wrote back that, for $20 more a D-28 could be had and most customers were opting for the white binding and ebony fingerboard/bridge of the D-28. He said that otherwise, there was no difference between the 21 and 28 models.
I've seen very few D-21s, but when I see one, I notice it. Eric Hoard, who used to play with Ian and Sylvia in the early sixties had one. Wil Maring, a fine singer and instrumentalist plays one as does Dede Wyland, who was the guitarist/vocalist for Tony Trischka's Skyline. Jim Croce used to play one and my friend Don from Peterborough owns two of them. Other than these players, I haven't seen any others.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: Midchuck
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 05:53 PM

PHJim, you may be in luck. But it'll cost ya.

P.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 07:34 PM

Two of the saddest days of my life: The day my 1966 D-28 was stolen in 1971 and the day my Goya was lost in a fire at home. As for the D-28, I've played others since, but it had the best sound ever. The Goya nylon string model was my folk music mainstay for many years. I thought it had a great sound for the price. I haven't seen one in years.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: Peace
Date: 07 Apr 09 - 08:03 PM

I am very sorry to hear that, TJ. (Both of 'em.)

I had a Favilla at one time in 1965-7 or so. I lent it to someone in Montreal for a few weeks. Yeah, right. That person left town and went to the US. Perhaps the day will come that we meet again. Damned good nylon. People do seem to remember their axes--get it?

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: Claymore
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 03:01 AM

Jed Marum has seen my 1972 Larivee Mucha Lady presentation model at a Rick Fielding memorial concert in Silver Spring, MD the year after he died. I also have two Martins (a K-2 and a slothead D-15) a Tacoma DM-10, a Taylor NS74-C classical nylon and numerous other guitars i.e Takamines, Washburns, Alverezes.

He knows I have never seen the like, heard the like, or road-tested the like as the Larivee. I picked it up from a widow whose husband had simply put it away for 20 years, and I gave her the asking price and whistled away the ghosts as I walked back to the car. The problem was that it has so much engraving that no one wanted to play it, as Wendy Jones (later Larivee) had enlaid abalone everywhere. It has celtic knots all over the bridge, Vase and Vine up the fingerboard, and abalone purfling on every surface. But its like a whorehouse in a tank; it is the strongest, best balanced, loudest guitar I have ever known and I use the heaviest strings known to man (i.e. 59 49 38 27 18 14 custom Elixers). I hit an A chord in Hangman's Reel and the other guitars cough up blood. I hit an Em in Morrisons and there is a wet spot on their bridges.

Jean Larivee set out to build his own style body, which is unique to his guitars ( a sort of cross between the round lower bout of a Jumbo with the squared upper bout of a Dreadnought) and their strength shows. There is no Martin in the world that could take the string pressure and the percussive effects I use on jigs and slip jigs and in the past 21 years I have not left a sratch on it. It does have two small dents, one in the neck heel where some bimbo twit couldn't set up her music stand, and another as my good friend Sam Rizzeta moved a hammered dulcimer and slightly dented the lower bout. Sam says he'll repair both whenever I ask, but I will wait until the last minute in case I get another.

In any case, all that the above said is true to their own lights, though the one Martin I did think came close was a Martin HJ-28, of which few were made and many should finger if comes around. Then you too can whistle past the graveyard...

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: GUEST,kevin fletcher
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 11:49 AM

To TJ - - your old Goya was I presume the Swedish made one. Have you tried looking for one in europe, in this day of the internet I guess they are around.

Subject: RE: I Played a Martin D-28 today....
From: PHJim
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 12:10 PM

TJ - Was yours like the one Julie Andrews played in The Sound Of Music?