HD-28 fund officially starts next payday

noisepolluter

After playing @jonnyscaramanga 's HD28 over the weekend I am firmly decided that this is the Martin dread for me. Nice balance to the sound, airy mids with enough detail for fingerstyle, balanced with a decent amount of grunt for bluegrass-type capers without being boomy. I really like the herringbone and tortie appointments over the standard D-28, and it was good to hear one that was properly played in so I could hear what the tonal balance was like. Neck felt great. I couldn't see myself paying extra for the HD-28V as I'm not fussed about the vintagey tuners, neck profile or tinted top, and I don't think I'd need any more grunt on top of what the HD-28 gives.
I've tried a few of the alternatives for 'that' sound (one or two Collings, Santa Cruz etc) and although they were undeniably amazing, the Martin just had its own sound which when all's said and done, I prefer. Not a fan of any of the more modern/'hi-fi' sounding dreads from other makers as I like mids not trebles!
Edit: why do my acoustic-related posts keep going to the electric section?

VimFuego

nice one, never played a bad martin.

brucegill

I loved my old HD28VS. BUT, it was very boomy with the 12 fret join that was the only reason I sold it.

Bet they're great with the normal neck join.

Ended up with a little Martin CEO-07 and love love love it

terada

Great decision! You won't regret it. I picked up a hd35 last year, and it's amazing. I tried tons of martin standard series guitars and in the end the hd models (28 & 35) we're always much better than the rest for me! Stunning guitars. I really wanted binding on mine so leant towards the 35, and the herringbone adds a really nice touch.

Don't rush it though, because when you find the one, it'll be a lifer!

richardhomer

Funnily enough I read this and it made me dig out my D28 which I've probably not played for a year (I haven't been playing much at all and very little acoustic).

I've just spent a very happy hour in DADGAD, dropped D and CFCCGD.

I've owned the guitar for over 20 years and it's sounding particularly pleasing today. And great value - I reckon it's cost me about 14p a day to own it....

noisepolluter

richardhomer;501874" said:

Funnily enough I read this and it made me dig out my D28 which I've probably not played for a year (I haven't been playing much at all and very little acoustic).

I've just spent a very happy hour in DADGAD, dropped D and CFCCGD.

I've owned the guitar for over 20 years and it's sounding particularly pleasing today. And great value - I reckon it's cost me about 14p a day to own it....

What gauge strings do you have on it? I'm probably going to stick to 12's as it will most likely be in standard most of the time, and I imagine the scale length will help drop tunings from going too blancmangey. I think I'd find mediums a bit of a fight.

Paul_C

noisepolluter said:

Edit: why do my acoustic-related posts keep going to the electric section?

if you edit your first post you can move the thread to the section of your choice - there's a drop down menu.

richardhomer

noisepolluter;501952" said:

What gauge strings do you have on it? I'm probably going to stick to 12's as it will most likely be in standard most of the time, and I imagine the scale length will help drop tunings from going too blancmangey. I think I'd find mediums a bit of a fight.

13s - they are pretty heavy.... But I tune down a full step and capo when needed. I'm a massive John Martyn fan - this is what he used to do.

richardhomer

sorry! Double post.....

Lewy

Love Martin HDs. Obviously beyond the herringbone and tortoise you're getting scalloped bracing which makes a huge difference.

If you're thinking of going with light strings, worth seeing how you get on with the HD 35 as it is more lightly braced than the HD 28 and gives up the goods a little bit more easily.

noisepolluter

Lewy;502435" said:

Love Martin HDs. Obviously beyond the herringbone and tortoise you're getting scalloped bracing which makes a huge difference.

If you're thinking of going with light strings, worth seeing how you get on with the HD 35 as it is more lightly braced than the HD 28 and gives up the goods a little bit more easily.

Gaah! You come round here with your champagne and reefer, Muddying the Waters...

VimFuego

mind you, there's a lot of fine guitars in the HD28 price range. Whenever I get to feeling GASSY I like to peruse Project Musics stock, for the same money you get a Brook and quite a lot of a Lowden. So many choices, so few organs left to harvest.

crunchman

HD28V isn't just about the tuners and cosmetics.  It has the "forward shifted" pre-war style bracing.  It's worth trying one.

xscaramanga

Glad you liked my guitar! The D35s I tried were also amazing, but you said you wanted mids and D35s are reputedly more scooped, so that's probably not for you. I tried a lot of other things besides Martins and didn't like anything nearly as much, but when you're getting near to buying, it's quite fun going into shops and trying out the really expensive guitars. It doesn't feel as cheeky asking to play stuff when you're seriously planning to spend the money, and it's ridiculous how much choice there is when your budget is that big.

As crunchman said, it's worth playing an HD-28V because they are amazing guitars. 

Jalapeno

I find my HD35 a bit of a monster, you have to wrangle it, doesn't like gentle treatment, and it's loud.  Sounds ideal for what you want Simon, but they aren't for delicate finger-picking.

Lewy

Jalapeno said:

I find my HD35 a bit of a monster, you have to wrangle it, doesn't like gentle treatment, and it's loud.  Sounds ideal for what you want Simon, but they aren't for delicate finger-picking.

That's interesting - my experience is the exact opposite! In that I finger pick mine a lot - thumbpick and bare fingers - and find the light bracing and big bass make that very pleasing.

Although I'm not surprised that user experiences can vary so much on this particular guitar because it's very responsive to things like string choice, pick choice - even swapping the pins for bone ones made a big difference on mine and I've had that make no difference at all on other acoustics. 

Jalapeno

Lewy said:

Jalapeno said:

I find my HD35 a bit of a monster, you have to wrangle it, doesn't like gentle treatment, and it's loud.  Sounds ideal for what you want Simon, but they aren't for delicate finger-picking.

That's interesting - my experience is the exact opposite! In that I finger pick mine a lot - thumbpick and bare fingers - and find the light bracing and big bass make that very pleasing.

The big bass can be a bit boomy on mine, but I love it. 

I learned the opening riff of CSNY's Carry On just to belt the bejaysus out of it !

stickyfiddle

Awesome guitars. My quandary in the summer was between an HD28 and my Dove. The Dove won it on the day but I'd have definitely bought the HD if the Dove hadn't been there to try. Brilliant, brilliant guitars.

ellangus

Good man!  I got my HD28 a few years ago - always wanted on. I spent weeks trying lots of guitars including  a very nice Larivee and a gorgeous Atkin (Well worth a try I must add). I spent an afternoon in Frailers trying various D28's and D18's and the same in Sounds Great in Cheadle where I also tried a gorgeous Collings which in all honesty was out of my price range. I just kept coming back to the HD28. I was hoping it wouldn't as It was a couple of hundred quid dearer.

They just have that something extra in the sound as well as the lovely herringbone and in IMHO are worth the extra dosh.

That's my two penneth.

Good luck

xmrchi

I don't think you can go wrong with any d or HD series my d 35 does it all, I'm a finger picker and mine lends itself perfectly for that.

octatonic

Personally I prefer the 000 or 00 models but the Martin dreads are mighty fine.