Enjoy your beautiful 000-18!

I just got my 1st martin today!

https://preview.redd.it/qqsf04ge1qoe1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a90591bb9f64744bf8998eaa2aec390453b932ec

Martin Road Series OM-10E. I love it! My grandfather played bluegrass. He played a 53 D-18. I always wanted a martin! As of today, I have one!

This is why we need brick and mortar guitar shops. Shopping online you get the guitar you think you want. Shopping in person you get the guitar that speaks to you.

My favorite. I mean I've had many favorites but this is my favorite favorite. Send help 🫠

I have been thinking about a nice acoustic. I was pleasantly surprised that Guitar Center has unlocked most of the higher end guitars. I played J45s, a hummingbird, 000-18, D18 and 2 D-28s. The 2 Martin D 28s were IT. The used one felt right as soon as I picked it up. The new was good, too. I LOVED being able to compare and switch back and forth. Now, I just need 3 grand to see my dream come home. 🙂

I had the same thing with my 2008 Gibson Dove. I played nearly every acoustic in the store. Didn’t look at price tags. It was just the one that fit for me.

Got the same 2014 walnut burst - beautiful guitar with rich midrange. 

Similar story with my 2022 J-45 Studio. it had been hanging in the GC room for quite some time. It was marked down. I gave it a try and fell in love with it.

I agree!!! I've read reviews comparing it very very closely to the J-45. And it is legendary! Funny you should mention the Les Paul Jr., was looking at one recently at GC. Very fun to play! Keep enjoying your beautiful J-15! It's my lifetime keeper!

I played an ovation celebrity for 25 years.

As of three months ago, I now own a Martin D18.

Just an unbelievably massive leap in sound and feel. I’m flabbergasted every time I play a note on the D18 it just rings like a bell.

It’s light, has incredibly smooth bass tone, bright highs, and the mids almost sound like they’re being run thru some kind of light chorus or saturation.

It feels perfect for my bone structure, I can’t stop playing it.

I didn’t think I could ever love a guitar so much but I can’t stop playing it it makes me so happy.

Martin D35. My parents gifted it to me when I graduated college. I’ll never part ways with it.

My mom has passed away and she was always so proud that I finished college (she never got a degree), and that she was able to gift me something like a Martin acoustic guitar. She always encouraged me to make music and valued having quality things. So her gifting me my Martin as a graduation gift really represented her and her values and what she saw in me. I always think about her when I play it.

It doesn’t hurt that it sounds amazing, looks amazing, and always feelings inspiring to play.

A beaten old Alvarez Yairi GY1 came and found me a few days before my mom died.
I’ll part ways with it when they close the lid on my casket.

1973 guild d35 bluegrass

Collings D2H.

I got a brand new Larrivee OM-03 for around $1500 that is probably the best bang for your buck guitar ive bought. Most well rounded acoustic I own is a Yamaha ls-ta, heavy sucker tho.

Taylor 214ce

I would most definitely go to a reputable guitar store....you might have to drive a bit, but find something on the order of Chicago Music Exchange or Elderly's etc and not The Guitar Store....and buy the best slightly beatup used guitar you play and like.

Martin Family, possibly a Streetmaster.

My Yamaha FG5 is the best acoustic I’ve ever bought. It’ll be with me for life.

I find the fender acoustics to be really good.

I'm looking for a decent acoustic myself. Check out the Taylor academy 10e and 12e. I like the 12E, but you can't go wrong with either. They're made for students. Also, stay away from amazon. Go to Sweetwater if you're shopping online.

Find a Seagull in your price range and call it a day.

You’ll get 20 answers with 20 recommendations honestly.

My recommendation:

• set a budged
• think what shape you might want
• go to a guitar store and look at some guitars in your price range

It doesn’t matter if you cannot play anything yet.Just hold the instrument and see how it feels and sounds with open strings. You can also ask the employees to play sth for you

Yamaha fg series..

I am on the hunt as well for a nicer guitar for fingerstyle and man it is overwhelming. There are so many good choices. I understand why some people have so many guitars.

I made some progress yesterday though when I found a guitar center with good variety and two closed off rooms where I could play higher priced guitars without the distractions of a normal guitar center.

I would recommend doing the same to find what sounds best to your ear and feels the best to play. I would also suggest not completely writing off Taylors because they are too bright or Martins because they are too warm etc. I have found that I really like the warmer Taylors and essentially most Martins. I do not prefer the super bright Taylors.

Here are the guitars I really liked from yesterday when I played hooky from work for an hour.

Gibson L-00 ($3k) - warm, woody, it felt like a shorter scale length so it was easier to grab frets

Alvarez laureate LF7OE ($1.5k) - wonderful for the price and sounded “special.” A full sound with sparkly highs and pronounced lows but not overly scooped mids like some Taylors

Taylor 724ce koa ($4k) just wonderful - my favorite. I should have bought it on the spot

Taylor 424ce spl ed ga ae ($3.3k) also very lovely - my second favorite after the 724

I also played some lower level martins 000-16 street master (warm and woody less sustain) and SC-13E (brighter than the street master and well rounded) were between $1.5-2k and also lovely

Go and play as many guitars as you can, take your time, and buy the exact guitar you played in the store. High end acoustics are all one of a kind. There's no rush.

Also, have others play the guitar facing you so you can hear it.

When you find it, you'll know!

Yes, absolutely. Every piece of wood is different, and every guitar will be, too. You might not know why a specific guitar sounds better than the others, and that's fine!

Example, I really wanted an HD28 about 20 years ago, but I played a D16RGT that just totally blew me away and sounded better (to me, because no one else's opinion matters) than any of the HD28s I'd played. For whatever reason, that guitar had the sound and feel I wanted. I havent played a D16RGT that sounds like mine, ever. I still love that guitar!

If you have any budget at all, go second hand. You get way more for your money.

If I'm going to pick one, I'm picking 000-18 if I play mostly with fingers, or OM-18 if I play mostly with a pick. If you're going 000, get the 000-18. The 000-28 has heavier bracing than the other three, which tend to be livelier guitars than the 000-28.

Particularly, I want a 000-18 from 2014 or later, or an OM-18 from 2018 or later, which was when they (respectively) got upgraded bracing, wider nut width, faster and more modern neck (MLO profile), etc. I would also like a 000-18V or OM-18V on the used market (same specs, but older model years and they have thicker vintage-style necks), or a used 000-18 Golden Era (GE) or OM-18 GE (pricier but even better). The new 2025+ models are also solid choices, evolving further from the 2014/2018 redesigns but in a positive direction, IMO.

Signature guitars are fine if you really like the artist and are cool with that, but personally, I'm not a fan of Eric "Keep Britain white" Clapton and John "My dick is sort of like a white supremacist" Mayer but some people can separate the art from the artist and all that.

Ultimately, which one you get REALLY depends on the individual guitar, as there is considerable variation in the sound of different copies of the same model due to the natural properties of wood. You might find a ho-hum 000-18GE selling for $4000 and a mindblowing 000-18 standard from the 1990s selling for less than half that -- odds are not likely, usually I'm placing my bets on a GE > 2018+ > pre-2018 but it definitely can go the other way. It's all probabilities, not certainties.

Taylors are nice but I would highly recommend a used 2017 and earlier with X bracing instead of the new V-braced models. To me, 2014-2017 is one of the best eras for these. In general, Taylors have more apparent treble or "shimmer" which is partly due to the heavier bracing overall => less top movement => less bass.

Larrivees are nice, two bracing systems, one more Taylor-esque, one more Martin/Gibson-esque. Haven't had much experience with Furch; they will likely be cheaper in Europe than American brands are, but they have a great reputation.

Personally I'd go for a Martin standard. But that's... personal. Get out and play as many as you can and buy the one that speaks to you.

Go to a vintage guitar shop and play a bunch of different guitars & see what you like.

You didn't mention Gibsons. I have a '49 LG-2 that is incredible. Gibsons have a rounder, more "golden" tone. Not as bold and cutting as Martins.

I went on a 2 year quest for a high end acoustic. Played hundreds of guitars. Bought and returned 2 different guitars. Went to a “mom and pop” music shop that had used guitars on consignment. I picked up a used 1997 Martin D-28, played 3 chords, bought it immediately. I just knew. My friend who was with me heard that guitar and also knew it was the one.

The best way to find “the one” is to play a lot of them. When you know, you know.

I worked in a guitar shop for like 15 years. I've played pretty much every guitar you can think of, and there is ONE that sticks out as the best sounding I've ever played and I regret not buying it.

It comes with a little back story that's very important. So back when Fender acquired Guild guitars back in the mid 90s, they continued to have Guild make guitars and just do their thing. Guild was making decent enough guitars in their Rhode Island shop, and when Fender moved them to Corona they were also fine, not bad, not amazing. But around 2008 or 2009, Fender bought Ovation. Fender also brought in a fella by the name of Ren Ferguson who had done a lot of work developing Gibson's acoustic line. (I believe he's still very much involved with Guild) Fender had the plan to take the factory in Connecticut where Ovation had been, and move Guild's US manufacturing to there. They also let Wren loose, and had him oversee an entirely revamped Guild US line. Somewhere in the early 2010s (ish) they came out with their first run of US Guilds from the Connecticut factory.

I was at work, unboxing a shipment of new Guild acoustic that our reps had been hyping up to us. We got a few dozen of them in, and in the corner of the store where our little work bench was for tuning and setting guitars up, my co-worker picked the first one up and strummed a G Chord on it. Every. Single. Person. In the store stopped and stared in the direction of the sound they had just heard. Employees, customers; everyone just stopped and looked in amazement because of the sound that had come from that guitar. I played it for a bit as well, and it just sang. Even standing up, holding the guitar tight against my body (usually suffocates the sound) it was resonating into my chest. Just an earthy, balanced, full but not honky, bright but not piercing sound. Perfectly even across the entire fingerboard, no dead spots, no wolfs in the sound, just as close to perfection as a guitar can get.

If I remember right it was a D-55. It was incredible. Every single one of those guitars in that run sounded like gifts from the heavens haha. But that particular D-55 was magic. It sold before we could even get a price tag on it, one of the customers who had been talking with us while we all drooled over it literally just said "Is that for sale? If it is, I'd like to buy it." That first run of those Connecticut Guilds were magic. Never heard such consistency, or such a perfect sound from a line of guitars before or since. And for reference we were a full line Martin, Gibson and Taylor dealer as well, and 3 blocks down the road was a full on boutique acoustic guitar shop that specialized in the highest of high end acoustics. We even called them and had some of those guys come in and try out the Guilds we got.

We continued selling those guitars for a while, but the subsequent runs never really lived up to that first run we got. Maybe we all kept hyping it up in our minds, maybe not. Either way, it was the best sounding guitar I'd ever heard, or got a chance to play. Then when Fender sold Guild, they moved their initial Fender branded US acoustics to that shop, but they were never quite as good either. Probably because Ren left with Guild.

My J-45 Standard, it might not be the best but it’s the best that I have ever owned and played.

Yamaha FG-5. Best guitar at that price point by far. I was blown away by the quality when I first played it.

My own Martin, oh sure there are more expensive guitars, that aren't all banged up, but Bertha Lee and I go way back. We have a bond.

Yamaha makes some real quality beginner guitars.

Yamaha FGX800C is almost impossible to beat in that price range. The build quality is utterly unbeatable and the neck is the best I’ve felt for less than a grand. Check out the reviews.

Seagull. I have a $500 seagull I play as much as my $2800 Martin.

Yamaha. No question they have the best guitars in your price range.

I think most give the crown to Tommy Emmanuel these days

For steel string finger picking, Tommy Emmanuel. For classical maybe John Williams. For flamenco it would probably be Tomatito or Gerardo Nunez. For Romani jazz, Stochelo Rosenberg. Check them out. Al DeMeola is wicked good at what he does. Yamandu Costa is a virtuoso of the nylon 7 string.

There doesnt exist a best guitar player.

There comes a point when you reach a certin skillevel where you can "play everything". What differentiate you at that point is the music you play and write. Your own style. And from there on its just a matter of opinion.

I could argue that Syu and Turilli are the best metal guitarist, but you can find many people that can play all their songs. But none that can write their music and none that can "invent" their style they have developed.

Me, but I don't record myself.

Living? Tommy Emmanuel comes to mind. Bireli Lagrene and Stochelo Rosenberg (Gypsy Jazz masters) come to mind. Julian Lage (not primarily an acoustic player, but absolutely sick when he picks one up) comes to mind.