Curious George Plays a Martin: Martin D-15
Written: Jun 21 '06 (Updated Jun 21 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quality, price, hardshell case
Cons: Playability not as comfortable as a Gibson, Good for smaller hands, Dark sound
The Bottom Line: The D-15 is the entry level Martin, you get the quality you'd expect but the sound is a little mid range. For smaller hands it is a good playing instrument.
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| George_Chabot's Full Review: Martin D-15 Acoustic Guitar |
Martin D-15
I’ve been chronicling my search for a companion guitar for my veteran acoustic Alvarez-Yairi Super Deluxe Dreadnought as I got frustrated retuning the A-Y to try to get better in the Delta Blues idiom with slide. Usually you use open tunings like E-A-E-G#-B-E, “dropped D,” “Open G,” to get a chordal drone with the eerie slide parts over it. Of course, since most of my playing is in straight tuning, that means I had to stop and retune when I wanted to get back into my normal stuff.
I started frequenting “Firehouse Guitars,” my local purveyor, about 3 or four miles down the road. The guys there are super nice, as most musical people are, and bend over backwards to make sure you get the equipment you want with no pressure, rush, or any unpleasantness. They are always willing to sit with you and explain anything about any of their equipment, share knowledge, give suggestions, and point you towards something you may not have heard of. “Mark” was the salesman that I somehow fell in with and I try to get with Mark whenever I go there.
When I showed Mark my Yairi and demoed a couple licks he took me into the acoustic room and handed me the most expensive guitar in the place, a Gibson Super Jumbo 200, festooned with decorative mother of pearl inlays and deluxe appointments. This guitar has earned the moniker “King of the Flat Tops,” among professional musicians, and it is easy to see why. All of the large Gibson Acoustics have similar scale length (25½”) and neck width (1.725”) so the commonality of playing ease is among the most consistent I’ve found. After a short session with the Gibson, I told Mark I wanted a little darker, bassier tone, as the Gibson was quite bright sounding. He said, “You need to try a Martin.” He handed me a D-15...
In traditional American acoustic guitar playing there are two schools of thought; there are those who swear by the Martin and those who prefer the Gibson, forsaking all others - kind of like Ford and Chevy lovers, they rarely see eye to eye. I played a couple of Martins years ago, a six and a twelve string, D-28s, if I recall correctly. The Martin is renowned among country singers for its rolling thunder bass register. Lots of rhythm tracks are played with Martins and I liked the sound of the twelve string better, since it also had a good treble register to complement the bassy component of its sound. In appearance, Martins are usually a lot plainer than Gibsons, which tend to be flamboyant. So, if your personality is one that shrinks, you might be more comfortable with the Martin as it makes no big fashion statement other than being one of the best guitars made. But they are plain looking as a homely sister, in a flour sack dress. Just wanted you to know that.
The D-15 is the entry level Martin, which comes in around $800. It shares the Dreadnought body style with the larger Martins, but unlike the more expensive Martins, which have the light colored Spruce top, this Martin is made entirely of Mahogany. The top, sides, back, and neck are all one color. The Mahogany has an even darker sound than the Spruce backed with Rosewood of the more expensive models so you are mainly limited to bassy and midrange tones with this model. Perfect for rhythm and bass runs.
The playability of this model is a little off for my hands. I think the scale is about a ¼” shorter and the strings are closer together (width at nut 1.6875” vs. 1.725” of the Gibson) - these little differences make a HUGE difference to the feel - so I could not put my fingers down with the assurance that I would be hitting the right notes. If I was careful, I could get clean sound but the right hand feel is not sure for me either since the strings are closer together by just a smidge. For someone with smaller hands this might be just the guitar.
The quality of the guitar is flawless, which you would expect with a guitar built by Martin. The tuners are nickel plated and the position markers are simple pearl dots. The rosewood fingerboard has 20 frets. A tortoise shell pick guard of classic design completes the appointments. All in all this is a well built, solid, all wood guitar that will suit anybody, that is, anybody whose hands it fits. The sound is limited to more mid range tone, lacking the booming bass of the spruce, and of course the treble, which to me all Martins are short of.
Since this is a hand built, all solid wood guitar, it will only sound better through the years and the more it is played. You would be well advised to play several quality all-wood instruments before making your final choice, as their handling and sound qualities can be VERY different.
My criteria are feel, as I mentioned in the string spacing and scale length, and sound. I play better the better the sound is, plain and simple. When the feel is right, I grab sounds with authority. My personal taste runs, all other things being equal, to a more fancily appointed guitar. I would choose the better looking of two instruments if they played and sounded exactly alike. There you have it.
The Martin D-15 comes with a Martin hard shell case at no additional charge. This could be the guitar you’re looking for!
Additional acoustics I tried and liked include
Gibson J-150
Ibanez AEL 50
Go to your local music store and try out some instruments today!
Thanks for stopping by!
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