Opinions on the Martin D15M for a heavy strummer? Bad idea?

Soupman

Nice guitar. I'm not a fan of bling either. Looks great , but there's something wrong with the pickguard & strings......they look as though they're on the wrong way round. 

MooseAboot

I recall trying one in the local shop (long gone) in Edinburgh repeatedly in the early 2000s.  It just had something and I should have bought it.  Went back one weekend and it was gone,
Congrats.

Choivert

This looks really nice. Some really good grain on that top! And lovely and simple, make it about the sound and not about the bling. Love it.

Jez6345789

The obvious thing is to revise you technique but from one banger to another that’s not always easy in the short term.

In reality it’s less to do with wood more about physics bracing etc. a lighter braced Adirondack top will probably have greater headroom than a well mannered 000 physical size of the soundboard is also important as the top has to process the energy effective.y and dampen problem frequencies. 

 I have a mahogany AD37 you can bang on that till your arm aches.

being in the country the real solution isa trip to civilisation Playa load and get an idea of what works for you. We can all speculate about woods bracing volume design but banging out a few tunes at your physical level will answer a lot of questions.

Wistman

Soupman said:

Nice guitar. I'm not a fan of bling either. Looks great , but there's something wrong with the pickguard & strings......they look as though they're on the wrong way round. 

Damn, I knew there was a reason it was cheap

Wistman

Jez6345789 said:

The obvious thing is to revise you technique but from one banger to another that’s not always easy in the short term.

Not even sure I want to learn to play soft to be honest! In my rockier days, I used to go crazy and leap around a stage constantly with a wireless pack, which was one of the reasons I played in open tunings to begin with... I'm not really a guitarist first and foremost, even though I have played it for 25 years... I'm a performer and when I get into performance, I strum hard, sing hard and give it everything. I also sing in a non-ideal way, with lots of gravel from the throat, but I have tried singing with correct technique and I don't think my voice is as characterful that way - the same might apply to my playing. It is what it is

Wistman

Choivert said:

This looks really nice. Some really good grain on that top! And lovely and simple, make it about the sound and not about the bling. Love it.

Thanks! My lefty mate locally has two 100 series Taylors - a 114 and a 150 12-string - so I has played similar guitars before and knew this might work for me... was happy to jump on a bargain, especially as so few decent lefties ever turn up locally!

Wistman

MooseAboot said:

I recall trying one in the local shop (long gone) in Edinburgh repeatedly in the early 2000s.  It just had something and I should have bought it.  Went back one weekend and it was gone,
Congrats.

Thanks! Sorry you missed out on that one back then... looks like they do come up fairly regularly used for righties though... these 110/114 'entry tier' Taylors seem to have a good rep for being incredibly consistent and solid workhorses, not as fancy as the more expensive models but punching above their weight in tone... and also very easy players, especially for anyone with a background in electrics (like me). I am certainly happy with it so far! I also have a GS Mini and that thing is a pleasure to play too, but definitely not as big sounding as this.

guitarjack66

Wistman said:

Well, just an update... the search is over and GAS cured for a while again! Ended up with something quite different from the D15 I was eyeing

I was looking to get something mid-to-high end and was prepared to spend up to £1500 or so, but in the end what I strumbled across and bought was a humble Taylor 110, made in Mexico in 2012. The price was low, so I met up with the seller and gave it a try... and it hits the spot!

A very different sound from my Lakewood, and the two guitars will compliment eachother very nicely. The Lakewood is all dry, earthy woodiness, and this is shimmery highs and lots of washy overtones. Funny how two dreadnoughts that look very similar from a distance are so different.

It might not be the most fancy instrument, but to be honest I am not a fan of bling on guitars anyway (hence the D15 appealing to me aesthetically) and prefer the feel of satin to gloss; my electrics all have finely sanded necks to remove the 'sticky ick' feel.

I was VERY thankful that Taylor installs truss rods, because the action was so high you could have parked a car between the strings and the 12th fret... a couple of screws off, a few tweaks and it is perfect now!

Anyhow, here she is...

I don't see any photo there.