Members Iron Clad Posted March 9, 2007 Members Posted March 9, 2007 Arrived today from Musician's Friend! Actually, came in perfect condition....was thinking it'd be damaged in some way. Man, I really like this guitar. Despite what some think about it....I think it looks GREAT in that nice plain minimalist way! While checking for damage, I could really see that it was very well-constructed. It really shows that the Martin quality is just not limited to their expensive models alone. I was really impressed with the playability as well. Definitely works for me. Some people I have seen complain about the action being too high. Not in my case, ...fairly low and seems to be just right. BTW, I got the "Custom" D-15 with the Sitka spruce top. And, it really is true about that "smell".......nice. Now, to how it actually sounds.... Exactly what I was looking for. Only small complaint is that I wish it was a tad louder. I love the resonance it produces! It to me, sounds very balanced. The spruce top adds just the right amount of bass. With how good it sounds right now though....I still really believe that it's not sounding to it's full potential. I believe I'm going to have a bone nut/saddle installed. I believe it already has an ivory tusq saddle though, which isn't bad. I'm just hoping that the combonation of a bone nut/saddle will help sustain and the overall sound. My questions for D-15 owners: 1. For those that have installed a bone nut and/or saddle, did you notice a nice improvement? Please, elaborate. 2. One thing that I found was kinda strange was a hole on the butt of the guitar where a strap button would go? Is this normal? Or is everyone else missing a strap button as well?
Members Loud Librarian Posted March 9, 2007 Members Posted March 9, 2007 There should be an "endpin" that you plug into the hole on the bottom - it looks like an overgrown bridge pin. Take a look in the case compartment, that's where mine was on my 000-15.
Members Iron Clad Posted March 9, 2007 Author Members Posted March 9, 2007 There should be an "endpin" that you plug into the hole on the bottom - it looks like an overgrown bridge pin. Take a look in the case compartment, that's where mine was on my 000-15.Ahh...okay. DUh. Thanks, man.
Members Loud Librarian Posted March 9, 2007 Members Posted March 9, 2007 No prob, enjoy your new Martin. I'm sure somebody will chime in about the bone saddle and nut upgrade, never done that myself.
Members Treborklow Posted March 9, 2007 Members Posted March 9, 2007 I have not owned a D15 but I have played quite a few young and old and I think they are great, and they age rather nicely. Some of my favs have been a few years old with some mileage on them. All mahogany guitars might not be the loudest, but they record very well. I'll take a mahogany guitar over rosewood to record with any day of the week. And for me, an all mahogany model is the best. As for bone; it is not always an improvement. It depends on the guitar. It will probably brighten the D15 up but it won't make it louder. I put a bone saddle on my Gibson Sheryl Crow model and it ruined the tone. It made it way too bright and sucked the nice mid tones right out of it. It was like a different guitar, and not good. I put the Tusq one back in and the magic was back. Martins have a tendency to quickly get very dark and deep when the strings get old; to me it's like a blanket was put over the guitar, so a bone saddle may be an improvement, but only you can tell. You can always change the saddle back. I would not try a bone nut at all...but at least wait until you try the saddle first. If you don't like the changes the saddle made, you probably won't like a bone nut. So no need to go to all that bother and expense until you're sure.
Members whit townsend Posted March 9, 2007 Members Posted March 9, 2007 Play the crap out of it. All new guitars take a while to open up. Enjoy!
Members Space_Nugz Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 I love the smell of the mahogany. This is a great guitar, especially considering it cost $675 new. I haven't found a better acoustic for this price so far. I think the volume of mine is fine, however, I wish the guitar was a little heavier.
Members rjoxyz Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 My first Martin was that very guitar. Incredible value. I put a bone saddle on it and there was a definite improvement in tone, in terms of clarity, volume and maybe sustain. Could have just been my perception, but it seemed the guitar started to open up pretty quickly. May be attributable to the minimalistic A bracing usedin that line. Enjoy the guitar, but beware--it turned out to be a launching pad of sorts, causing me to expend significant sums on more Martins in rather short order!
Members rjoxyz Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 I think the volume of mine is fine, however, I wish the guitar was a little heavier. Why heavier? My experience has been, the more lightly constructed the guitar, the better the tone and volume. I am just curious as to your reasoning.
Members Space_Nugz Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 Why heavier? My experience has been, the more lightly constructed the guitar, the better the tone and volume. I am just curious as to your reasoning. That's true, but these D15's are really light! My Taylor 614ce must weight 4 or 5 lbs more (rough estimate). Good things about the lightweight though are, as you stated, they seem more responsive to your playing. You can really feel the top vibrating nicely when you play the D15.. overall the feel is wonderful. Also, it's nice to have a lightweight guitar like this when you travel alot or go camping, etc. That being said, the D15 is so light that I wish it had just a liiiittle extra heft to it because it would just feel a little better I suppose.
Members guit30 Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 I think lighter guitars resonate better Jim:wave:
Members polynices Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 Arrived today from Musician's Friend! Actually, came in perfect condition....was thinking it'd be damaged in some way. Man, I really like this guitar. Despite what some think about it....I think it looks GREAT in that nice plain minimalist way! While checking for damage, I could really see that it was very well-constructed. It really shows that the Martin quality is just not limited to their expensive models alone. I was really impressed with the playability as well. Definitely works for me. Some people I have seen complain about the action being too high. Not in my case, ...fairly low and seems to be just right. BTW, I got the "Custom" D-15 with the Sitka spruce top. And, it really is true about that "smell".......nice.Now, to how it actually sounds....Exactly what I was looking for. Only small complaint is that I wish it was a tad louder. I love the resonance it produces! It to me, sounds very balanced. The spruce top adds just the right amount of bass. With how good it sounds right now though....I still really believe that it's not sounding to it's full potential. I believe I'm going to have a bone nut/saddle installed. I believe it already has an ivory tusq saddle though, which isn't bad. I'm just hoping that the combonation of a bone nut/saddle will help sustain and the overall sound.My questions for D-15 owners:1. For those that have installed a bone nut and/or saddle, did you notice a nice improvement? Please, elaborate.2. One thing that I found was kinda strange was a hole on the butt of the guitar where a strap button would go? Is this normal? Or is everyone else missing a strap button as well? you should let it open up before you try to change it. strap button was included with my 000-15s
Members Iron Clad Posted March 10, 2007 Author Members Posted March 10, 2007 Thanks for the responses everyone. polynices- Do you have an idea of how long it takes for the sound to "open up" so to speak? I understand as the wood ages the sound will change gradually...i'm just not aware of how long it takes before the gradual changes begin to happen? Right now, I get a kick out of smelling it everytime I pull it out of the case. It smells (and looks) as if the wood was just freshly cut only days ago...lol.
Members Space_Nugz Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 Right now, I get a kick out of smelling it everytime I pull it out of the case. It smells (and looks) as if the wood was just freshly cut only days ago...lol.I'm the exact same way with mine. This is the most manly acoustic guitar ever made. Just taking it out of the case makes me feel like a lumberjack or some {censored}.Along with the wood opening up, the neck will become glossy after a certain amount of play time, depending on how sweaty your hands get. Right now, mine feels like a very light gloss compared to the raw satin feel when I first got it.
Members Raj Posted March 10, 2007 Members Posted March 10, 2007 I've had my mahogany D-15 for just over a couple of years now, I love it dearly. Had a little work done on it down the road at Avalon (the action was very high, its previous owner was a bluegrasser- I don't know what he or his tech/luthier did, but the neck was bent- got the fixtures and fittings changed too, rosewood endpin, bone saddle, buffalo-horn bridge pins) and it's an absolute stonker. Still takes me by surprise by being so light. No problem with the volume either- maybe your spruce just needs to loosen up?Although mine was 2nd-hand, the previous owner was on tour all the time so the neck was barely shiny. My baby really I love the look of it, the only niggle was the tacky white plastic endpin. I tentatively asked Jim at Avalon "Man, can you do anything with this endpin?"*he smirks* "I can laugh at it!"Enjoy it, and enjoy the smell- it doesn't really fade!
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