Flatpicking or Fingerpicking on a Martin 000-28 or 000-18

[Vatican 0]

These don't seem the ultimate finger picking guitars to me, due to the close string spacing. But I've also heard they don't accomodate a lot of dynamic range with flatpicking and tend to sound better when fingerpicked.

 

So, are these better for fingerpicking or flatpicking?

[JasmineTea 0]

They are wondeful for both. If you need more room for your fingers get an OM. In fact, an OM-21 (I saw your other thread) is easily the most versitile guitar around, you can strum it, flatpick it, fingerpick it, do whatever you want with it and it's gonna sound good.

 

I use 000 and OM style guitars exclusively for jazz. I've got two and I want two more. OM/000 style guitars have a bump in the midrange that dreads don't often have. I play many styles on them, fingerstyle included. I find they project beautifuly, and have plenty of bass and midrange. I love them and prefer them over dreds.

 

About all I use my dred for is strumming anymore.

[knockwood 1]

Originally posted by JasmineTea They are wondeful for both.

 

I agree. Bear in mind that any review you hear regarding which guitar or which spec is best suited for which style of play is going to be highly subjective. In the end, there are no rules whatsoever except to choose whichever guitar sounds best to you and is most comfortable to you. I absolutely never use picks - just cannot get used to them - and while I like both 1-11/16" and 1-3/4" widths, I ultimately favor 1-11/16" for my own playing. I find it generally a little more versatile in that my relatively small hands do not feel hampered by the comparatively close spacing, and my personal perception - right, wrong or wholly imaginary - is that the slightly closer spacing lends itself to more sonically cohesive chording. Again, though, this has a lot to do with what is comfortable specifically for my hands... Every pair is different.

 

All of this is not to say that I'm giving up 1-3/4" boards. I still love both...

[Andrewrg 1]

I`m afraid I cant get on with the shorter scale of the OOO. To my ears the extra length and string tension of the OM gives it much more vibrancy, volume, sustain and dynamics.

I once owned, for a very short time, a OOO28EC which was the most godawful thing.

All the above is, of course, my own subjective take.

[Freeman Keller 1,304]

The 000-28EC and other "vintage" series are 1-3/4 fretboard. Here are the specs of various OM and 000 models

 

http://p082.ezboard.com/ftheunofficialmartinguitarforumfrm19.showMessage?topicID=19.topic

 

And here is a real good comparison between the two "standard" 14 fret Martins - the 000-28EC and OM-28VS.

 

http://p082.ezboard.com/ftheunofficialmartinguitarforumfrm19.showMessage?topicID=26.topic

 

Many of the 12 fret 000's are long scale and wide fretboard - that is the way I built mine and it is completely a fingerstyle git (I didn't even put a pickguard on it).

[SuchAFan 0]

I have seen the 000-28 Norman Blake and I would think that it would be great for flatpicking. It is a twelve fret and was designed in combination with Martin and Norman Blake. If you want a Martin for flatpicking, this would be the one.