Martin D-18GE

[redhawks2]

Played a Golden Era today at GC and was mightily impressed. I have a HD-28v that is no slouch but I was blown away by this brand new, hanging on the wall D-18. I've been wanting to paly one of these to see what all the fuss is about. Wow. Only thing is...I've also been wanting to try out a Huss & Dalton DRH, a Larrivee SD-50 and a Doc Watson Gallagher for comparison but those are harder to find so I'm fishing or comparisons here to help me out. I like loud and bright as I mostly do finger picking but I also like strong clear notes when I flat pick so of course I'm looking for the perect all around guitar (if such a thing exists). Part of me says go for the Doc Watson because he can play anything he wants and still plays a Gallagher after all these years. I'm stuck firmly in a quandry. Please chime in:idea:

[min7b5]

I played several Collings D1A

[jedistar]

Re your HD 28V - how does the D18 GE compare?

I am thinking of buying my first real acoustic and while aiming at the HD28/HD28V am wondering what difference the back and sides timber makes.

[redhawks2]

The D-18GE I played is much louder and brighter than my 28V. Of course my 28 may not be the best example of the species but it definitely has the Martin sound the I've heard over the years on other Martins. To me the 18has less of the Martin sound at this point but it's brand new so it will probably take on all that great wood sound after it opens up a bit. This is all so wildly subjective, plus I have a slight hearing loss in my right ear which makes the higher frequencies seem more or less distinct depending on which way I turn my head when playing which confuses the situation even more for me. But so far I am really taken with the 18.

[Freeman Keller]

There are some clips here that might help

 

http://www.thepodium.com/t-soundsamples.aspx

 

You might also ask at UMGF - there is a lot of love for the GE over there. Bryan Kimsey gets to play a lot of these as he works on them - shoot him an email (he has a pretty good comparison of the GE vs "the real thing")

 

http://www.bryankimsey.com/