Thread: Martin acoustics & retail margins

Originally Posted by oz tradie

The old Friday arvo / monday morning special.


Hmm.............try being a lefty player. That's another ballgame all together

thats like the proverbial needle in a haystack finding a good lefty..

Buying mass produced guitars just remember ...its a production line ...maybe 40-50 or more people all touch the guitar on its way down the line..some people skilled , some maybe started that week. Some maybe having a bad day. Some don't give a ????. some don't know what a guitar should feel like or even play it..
At the end of the day the companies main concern is numbers out the door , versus wages.... If it comes back from an unhappy customer during the warranty period for whatever reason ..deal with it then.

gday,
no offense intended, but are you buying a brand name or a guitar?
assuming you get the martin from overseas (and i've played a few of them in shops, they seem quite good instruments - I'm not disrespecting Martin) your first sight and more importantly, touch, of the guitar will be when it arrives. Every guitar is built different, so how sure can you be you'll be getting exactly what you want.
When i bought my cole clark acoustic (only a cheap one FL-1A) I could go to a shop and try out several cole clarks, until i had a sense of what I wanted in the instrument. The factory is in melbourne where i live, so when I asked for "that guitar there but with a bunya top like on that one", they placed the order and told meI could even go to the factory and check on it as it was being made. Five weeks later I had the guitar I had always wanted.
You might want a martin, thats fine, but I think you're better off going to your local dealer and seeing what they have on hard. And buying the guitar that works best for you.
Not meaning to preach, the lord knows i'm in no place to do so as all you guys know more about guitars than i ever will, just putting in my two cents worth.

im with thelloydr.

Mate, like some of the other blokes have said, if you want the Martin buy it. It is your money.
But are you buying it for the guitar, or the name? And who knows, you might end up with the Martin AND an Aussie git box.
Either way, i hope you enjoy what you get mate, how good is playing guitar!

Some bargains to be had in the US right now. Ive just been guitar shopping over there (investments only) and some screaming deals were offered. They are in a recession, so discounts are all over the place.

But, buy a guitar, not a brand.

Certainly no offense taken - opinions are why we're here!

Originally Posted by thelloydr

so when I asked for "that guitar there but with a bunya top like on that one", they placed the order and told me I could even go to the factory and check on it as it was being made. Five weeks later I had the guitar I had always wanted.

That sounds like a great adventure and I hope everything worked out well. But I think you contradict your own point to some extent - I don't really see the difference between ordering a 'custom' guitar and ordering a 'standard' one - the fact is, you still don't get to play the ACTUAL guitar until after you've already paid for it, so you are putting your faith in the manufacturer based on what you've seen of their products. In fact, ordering a custom model must be a lot more risky as you don't have the opportunity to hear that exact combination of materials and features working together.

I have 'auditioned' many guitars, including several models of Martin and several models of Maton, some Taylors, Ovations, and a smattering of other makes. The ones that have really 'flicked my switch' have generally been Martins. Interestingly, I find the Matons to be a lot more variable sonically and certainly wouldn't buy one that I hadn't played first, even if I had played the exact same model and liked it. I've played A80's that sounded great and I've played A80's that sounded a little 'dead' to my ears, and I would be disappointed to wind up with one I didn't love.

Every D-28 I have played has sounded an awful lot like every other D-28 I have played. I am sure I could hear differences if I could A/B them side by side, but I haven't played a D-28 that I haven't loved. The same goes for the other Martin models I've liked - doesn't matter which store I play it in, I notice the same acoustic 'signature' when I play the same model. I'd rate the chances of ending up with one I don't like to be fairly slim - but given the option, I would of course prefer to play several and choose the best one. This isn't always possible though, and if circumstances meant I needed to get mine from interstate or overseas then I am prepared to do it.

As for whether I'm buying a guitar or a name, I'm most certainly buying a guitar, and one that I really like to play. But I'm also buying some mojo - unless I win the lotto, the number of 'expensive' guitars I will own in my lifetime will be very few, perhaps one, and I would like the guitar I own to MEAN something to me. For me, owning a Martin (especially a D-28 if I can stretch that far) means owning an icon that I've been able to recognise since childhood, and that to me still seems like 'the original and the best'. Unless I fall in love with something else in the meantime, I am pretty comfortable that if I get a Martin model that I like, then regardless of how it comes to me I'll be very happy with it.

I don't mean this to sound like an ad for Martin and I know it's at odds with the nature of this forum, but I wanted to try and explain myself! Guitars are personal and we should get what speaks to us - whether it happens to be from a local luthier that builds 20 guitars a year or a large company that builds 100,000 shouldn't be the issue. It's about the sound, the physical beauty, and the mojo within.

Oh, almost forgot to add a bit of an update:

It looks like as though it won't be necessary to buy from overseas. After spending a bit of time Googling for online prices in Aus, I found that some of the more competitive dealers were close to the landed price anyway, and were happy to 'round down' a little further in a phone call. If my local guy will match an interstate dealer (and I imagine he will) then hopefully we all win and I get the actual guitar I've been playing...

Don't know if they are still offering this but last week or so the acoustic centre we're offering 25% off Martins....if not they do pretty good cash deals anyway..

Still says so on their website?
http://www.acousticcentre.com.au/Tex...85/Martin-Sale

and they also have a used 1982 d-28 on their website that would be worth checking out

[quote=oz tradie;783624]Get the Martin mate. No matter what happens, if you don't get one you'll regret it.

I've watched this thread for a while and have to say, "Go with your heart" but at the end of the day any guitar is only as good as the picker and the choice of music and a signature on the Fret board or a transfer on the headstock won’t change that.

All things being equal in a "Blind" test (You, not the players) would be hard pressed to pick a brand/model of guitar by sound alone, genre and style are important as well.

I've heard some brilliant guitars played by ordinary pickers and some brilliant pickers playing ordinary guitars all sounded good at the time because of the atmosphere at the time/location.

My advice is shop around, play around in the stores, look within your price range get the guitar that you can make sound great, if you can, take someone with you that can play well so you can stand back and get another aspect to the sound, importantly play it unplugged to get the true sound of the instrument.

Additionally Tommy Emanuel and others often have the guitars given to them and they are specially set up to suit their preferences, style and technique.

There are some great guitars in the used market.

I had a bit of time on my hands about 7 or 8 years ago, walked into a hock shop not looking for anything in particular but on the way to the tool section I passed some guitars and saw a sad looking instrument with 5 strings and a peeling pick guard and thought that's a sad sight, then looked again it was a Martin D-28 with a price tag of $199, sure the finish had some crazing and there was a slight upward curve to the neck but it was over 25 years old. The store didn't appear to know much about it other than it was "A reeeeeally good guitar" I had one of my sons who is a better picker than I'll ever be have a look and we bargained the price down to $AU150, I’ve had the pick guard replaced and had someone look at the neck who said would be nice to get it fixed but it’s not critical and that if I had it refinished it would devalue the instrument.

I'm still only a very ordinary picker and the guitar is still far better than my capability but a good instrument will inspire you to try harder and play better, I value that guitar for its Martin name and the story of how I happened to find it, I also aspire to a Maton and a Cole Clark and a ……


Good luck.

Originally Posted by gratay

All mass produced guitar companies produce a rather large percentage of average sounding instruments.
It would be a huge gamble to buy before playing.

Read the above again, TWICE.
Why would you want to buy a guitar you've never heard, never mind played?
You might end up with something very ordinary.
Take your money to a guitar maker, or at least to a guitar shop, and play every guitar they have got in your price range. Then go to another shop and do it all again.
Buy the guitar that chooses you. You'll know it when you find it. I promise.