Nice comparison Rhett. For my UA-cam ears, the biggest and most noticeable jump occurs from the D-X2E to the D-12E. Changes get very subtle after that however I did note a better bass response from the D-18 to the D-28. Each by themselves sounded quite good.
I really appreciate the fact you really put the effort and your skill set as a musician and knowledge you've acquired. The number one thing for me that caught my attention is that you were able to come back and evaluate that whole picture and end up with a non bias honest review that anyone in the market would be in the best of hands if you were the guy they asked "what guitar should I buy for me". That person would be in good hands and if their guitar journey didn't make it, that wouldn't be because of the guitar.
Congrats Rhett on a great shootout! And doing it the way it’s meant to be done, with quick edits playing the exact same thing.. so that your ears and brain can immediately hear the difference! Not enough people on YT do proper empirical “A/B”’s in this way.. it was super easy to hear the differences in a way your brain can remember them :) And your signal chain is perfect, and your reasoning is totally sound, so don’t worry about any ‘push back’ from some people - hearing a dry close mic’d guitar is super unrealistic and actually is detrimental for the purpose of the shootout. And I totally agree with your final ranking, although to my ears, the recorded sound difference between your first place and second place is minimal (no different to a small shift in seat position or mic position perhaps?).. so the D12E is great value for the sound… and if money is not tight, then the D18 probably does edge it out on the chords tone, but the single note difference is minimal. Thanks again Rhett, and all the best from Australia. S
Martin guitar are for sure iconic instruments. But there are also someone else. You should try Lowden guitars if you are a lucky one able to pick one. Handmade, located in Ireland. Most impressive acoustic guitars I ever listen and being blessed playing one of these unbelievable balanced, clear, rich and stunningly sounding treasures since 30 years.
The best Martin acoustic under 4k is the Seagull S6! Nothing else comes close! My late 90s is easily as loud as anything Martin could make that isn't a D28
My daughter bought one when she went to Uni. Laminated cherry back and sides with a solid cedar top, loud and with plenty of depth proving you don't always need solid back and sides.
I tried a ton last year at Sweetwater. I’m lucky enough to live under a 2 hour drive away. Settled on Martin Sweetwater Select 28 Style Herringbone Dreadnought with Modified V Neck. I think the Adirondack top was the sound I loved.
I love my Jason O'Dell Martin signature model. Killer vid. Thanks. D18custom/gifted to me. Would've never been able to afford it. Thinknit was a limited run for Long & Mcquade. Tiger eye mahogany back and sides. With a MOP rosette. Very special. Love this channel.
I bought a D13E road series about a year and a half ago. I went for a D10 first, but there was something wrong with the neck. They tried to set it up 3 times before I switched it out for the D13. I had issues with the D13 too until I had a professional luthier look at it. He had to sand the saddle, and the nut a little to get rid of buzz, but now it sounds good.
What a nice interlude for me! Not fair! I saw the Silvertone and it sounded like a million dollars too; geesh! Must be the player; lol! I could make em all sound like a vintage Kay...
Every Martin where? I bought my D35 after trying 300+ Martins over 2 decades. I think the HD28, D35, and HD35 is where you will find your Martin if you have the cash and are not a classic bluegrasser. The bracing in these makes for more easy bass response and a "smiley face" timbral spectrum (also conducive to fingerpicking). More expensive Modern Deluxe and D41, D42, and D45 models will have the same response (or better) and more bling.
The differences in a guitar’s tone are only appreciable by a guitar dweeb (like me). For the other 99% of the human population, the differences in any song played reasonably well, as Brett certainly can, on nearly any “good” quality guitar above around $500, are lost. It’s more in the recording and mixing, or if a live performance there are even more variables. I realized years ago, when I was getting serious about road racing bicycles, that people go to extremes over the most trivial things. It’s up to you, the consumer, to decide which things are significant to you, and which are hype and nonsense.
D18 is the meat and potatoes, sounds plain maybe yea, but it resonates with me. Is it just me or does the VTS guitars sound more harsh when recorded? I have a d18 vts, and man it can be harsh sometimes. Even tough its very good, it still miles away from a real 39 .What frustrates me is that the 1939 authentic for example is just what a standard d18 was in 39. its like admitting that the quality of the standard guitar has gone so much down that to recreate it cost 10k . All the authentic specs are how a standard guitar should be, shouldn't have to cost 10k to get a guitar with the correct specs.. and even then its still not as great as what they used to build in the 30s. Why would they change the specs from back in the day, those specs are how the guitar is intended to be designed! Why not build them all to the right specs and then maybe the price would go down if they made them all like that. All these modern specs just sound and feel worse, whats the point in trying to change up a holy grail formula. Other examples are Fender which also got it right the first time on every guitar and amp. They sound how the guitar was meant to sound when designed. We are in 2024, and with all out technology and innovation we cant reproduce a guitar like they built in the 30s? wtf man, the frustrating thing is that quality now is much worse than it used to be.
You don't use preamps and equalizers while normal playing. I hear your argument but don't agree at all. Just mic it, no EQs and let us hear the guitar as it is. Anyone can make a crappy sounding guitar sound good through a mixing board like you have.
Bro, hit me with one of the best acoustic zeppelin songs in the intro
I thought it was the intro to "Angie" by the Rolling Stones!
Nice comparison Rhett. For my UA-cam ears, the biggest and most noticeable jump occurs from the D-X2E to the D-12E. Changes get very subtle after that however I did note a better bass response from the D-18 to the D-28. Each by themselves sounded quite good.
I really appreciate the fact you really put the effort and your skill set as a musician and knowledge you've acquired. The number one thing for me that caught my attention is that you were able to come back and evaluate that whole picture and end up with a non bias honest review that anyone in the market would be in the best of hands if you were the guy they asked "what guitar should I buy for me". That person would be in good hands and if their guitar journey didn't make it, that wouldn't be because of the guitar.
Man... those low note sustains in the intro reminds me of sitting in front of a fire and just feeling amazing... so so SO pleasing to the ears.
Favorite content you do is these 5 different levels of, glad you're still doing them
Congrats Rhett on a great shootout! And doing it the way it’s meant to be done, with quick edits playing the exact same thing.. so that your ears and brain can immediately hear the difference! Not enough people on YT do proper empirical “A/B”’s in this way.. it was super easy to hear the differences in a way your brain can remember them :) And your signal chain is perfect, and your reasoning is totally sound, so don’t worry about any ‘push back’ from some people - hearing a dry close mic’d guitar is super unrealistic and actually is detrimental for the purpose of the shootout. And I totally agree with your final ranking, although to my ears, the recorded sound difference between your first place and second place is minimal (no different to a small shift in seat position or mic position perhaps?).. so the D12E is great value for the sound… and if money is not tight, then the D18 probably does edge it out on the chords tone, but the single note difference is minimal. Thanks again Rhett, and all the best from Australia. S
D18 is my all time favorite
Great job Rhett you are being honest with your opinion and that's what people really appreciate about your channel.
Martin D18 GE is the way to go, especially the first models somewhat 2000-2012 which comes with fossilized nut, beautiful sound..
Martin guitar are for sure iconic instruments. But there are also someone else. You should try Lowden guitars if you are a lucky one able to pick one. Handmade, located in Ireland. Most impressive acoustic guitars I ever listen and being blessed playing one of these unbelievable balanced, clear, rich and stunningly sounding treasures since 30 years.
The best Martin acoustic under 4k is the Seagull S6! Nothing else comes close! My late 90s is easily as loud as anything Martin could make that isn't a D28
My daughter bought one when she went to Uni. Laminated cherry back and sides with a solid cedar top, loud and with plenty of depth proving you don't always need solid back and sides.
Been waiting for this one!!!
I tried a ton last year at Sweetwater. I’m lucky enough to live under a 2 hour drive away. Settled on Martin Sweetwater Select 28 Style Herringbone Dreadnought with Modified V Neck. I think the Adirondack top was the sound I loved.
I got a 2017 D28 (1935 ) sunburst - 2799.00 . I love it , the antique look top is v nice on it. tried a few at that price point and choose this one .
I grabbed my Custom Shop 28 from Tone Shop guitars a couple of years ago. Best Martin I've ever played.
The Junior Dreadnought is a mid sized beast as well, beautiful wood grains for 700
Although they didn't sell well when produced, for the price point, a used hd-28v is a steal.
Oh Man... great review.. I wish you'd have done a D-28 standard. I'm struggling.
I agree….comparing the flagship D-28 against standard D 18’s is apples to oranges
The Rain Song. Yes
Rain song!! What a perfect way to open this vid
Sweetwater is sweet for sponsoring these videos. Makes me wanna buy something from them.
I love my Jason O'Dell Martin signature model. Killer vid. Thanks. D18custom/gifted to me. Would've never been able to afford it. Thinknit was a limited run for Long & Mcquade. Tiger eye mahogany back and sides. With a MOP rosette. Very special. Love this channel.
The new Martin D-18 and the D-28 reimagined guitars are both great for the money.
I love my OM-28 modern deluxe personally
As we can hear in this video, tone is not in the hands, but clearly it is in the brand. All Martins sound amazing.
Except for that first cheap one, kinda thin.
@@chrisb8193Fair point. I reckon it still sounds better than most others in its price range though.
I bought a D13E road series about a year and a half ago. I went for a D10 first, but there was something wrong with the neck. They tried to set it up 3 times before I switched it out for the D13. I had issues with the D13 too until I had a professional luthier look at it. He had to sand the saddle, and the nut a little to get rid of buzz, but now it sounds good.
Superb playing! And a great choice of classic songs too. I thought they all sounded really good apart from the cheap one.
I prefer the 1937 reissue D28. Nice sound!
What a nice interlude for me! Not fair! I saw the Silvertone and it sounded like a million dollars too; geesh! Must be the player; lol! I could make em all sound like a vintage Kay...
Awesome comparison. Do this for J-45!
I went with the 000-16 streetmaster. But its not the end all be all of acoustic guitars. It is great for what it does
For your next acoustic best of series you should do a best acoustisonic.....
Jk looking forwards to the taylor one though!
Awesome t shirt 😁
Where is D35?
Every Martin where? I bought my D35 after trying 300+ Martins over 2 decades. I think the HD28, D35, and HD35 is where you will find your Martin if you have the cash and are not a classic bluegrasser. The bracing in these makes for more easy bass response and a "smiley face" timbral spectrum (also conducive to fingerpicking). More expensive Modern Deluxe and D41, D42, and D45 models will have the same response (or better) and more bling.
The 1937 D28 here would be the expensive version of today's HD28 (which is half the $). Check those out first, if you are in the market to buy.
Added a like for The Rain Song :)
I like D15 and D18 the most.
What kind of picks does he use? I heard thicker picks make acoustics sounds fuller
A tutorial by you on The Rain Song would be good please. Thank you.
WHAT MIC IS THAT!!! Sounds Great!
AEA r88
The differences in a guitar’s tone are only appreciable by a guitar dweeb (like me). For the other 99% of the human population, the differences in any song played reasonably well, as Brett certainly can, on nearly any “good” quality guitar above around $500, are lost. It’s more in the recording and mixing, or if a live performance there are even more variables.
I realized years ago, when I was getting serious about road racing bicycles, that people go to extremes over the most trivial things. It’s up to you, the consumer, to decide which things are significant to you, and which are hype and nonsense.
The x series are really good guitars. I’m a d-35 fan, I was hoping it made the cut. Sadly not 😢.
Billy MF Strings
For the money D 12e, then the regular D18. The worst sounding by far was the cheapest. It has no bottom end at all
Please do J45s next.
Got martin d-16 made of mountain ash
$700 for printed woodgrain?
I'll keep my Takamine.
And that mic costs as much as half of those guitars. Want.
D18 is the meat and potatoes, sounds plain maybe yea, but it resonates with me. Is it just me or does the VTS guitars sound more harsh when recorded? I have a d18 vts, and man it can be harsh sometimes. Even tough its very good, it still miles away from a real 39 .What frustrates me is that the 1939 authentic for example is just what a standard d18 was in 39. its like admitting that the quality of the standard guitar has gone so much down that to recreate it cost 10k . All the authentic specs are how a standard guitar should be, shouldn't have to cost 10k to get a guitar with the correct specs.. and even then its still not as great as what they used to build in the 30s. Why would they change the specs from back in the day, those specs are how the guitar is intended to be designed! Why not build them all to the right specs and then maybe the price would go down if they made them all like that. All these modern specs just sound and feel worse, whats the point in trying to change up a holy grail formula. Other examples are Fender which also got it right the first time on every guitar and amp. They sound how the guitar was meant to sound when designed. We are in 2024, and with all out technology and innovation we cant reproduce a guitar like they built in the 30s? wtf man, the frustrating thing is that quality now is much worse than it used to be.
The D18 modern deluxe sounds worse than the regular D18. The 28 is nice, but doesn't sound as full and round as my 1950 D28
The Martin cash edition is way better dx2e it’s matte black but better tuners etc
Agree on the laminate. Its just a turn off. I've also seen the laminate necks. uuhhhg
💣🔥
You don't use preamps and equalizers while normal playing. I hear your argument but don't agree at all. Just mic it, no EQs and let us hear the guitar as it is. Anyone can make a crappy sounding guitar sound good through a mixing board like you have.