Played an 1880's Martin Yesterday

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taylordb
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Played an 1880's Martin Yesterday

Unread post by taylordb » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:34 pm

I was at an all day guitar workshop yesterday and the instructor had an old Martin 2 1/2 -17 parlor guitar built around 1883. After the day was over he let me play it for about a half hour. This thing was really small, nylon string....but the sound that came out of it was enormous! I still can't get over it. The tone variations that came from it were mind blowing.

Anyway...just had to share that.
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CWMCALL
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Unread post by CWMCALL » Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:39 pm

wow...that is great. I wonder what that guitar is worth?

was the guitar in good condition?
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sfmartins
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Unread post by sfmartins » Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:50 pm

Awesome! I'm jealous!
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Unread post by bassman462 » Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:52 pm

sfmartins wrote:Awesome! I'm jealous!
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taylordb
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Unread post by taylordb » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:39 pm

CWMCALL wrote:wow...that is great. I wonder what that guitar is worth?

was the guitar in good condition?
It was in great condition....obviously worn, but still really nice. This thing was reall small but had booming bass and very nice highs and midranges. And the main thing that hit me was the control it had over tone and volume....you could really vary it.

As far as how much it was worth, he dodged that question when I asked it. But I did do a search on the internet and found one that was built late 1800's that went for around $6,000. Not the same model but close.

We got into a really nice discussion about the history of guitar development, and how when dreadnaughts were brought onto the scene, they had to change the placement of the saddle away from the "sweet spot" on the sound board for structural reasons...it being such a large instrument. Plust the whole 12 fret / 14 fret thing. Just a great talk.

Sure did change my mind in what I want my next guitar to be like.
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bassman462
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Unread post by bassman462 » Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:27 pm

ya i personally don't like dreadnaughts much at all. i'd go for a 000 if i bought a new martin.
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Unread post by mangold » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:02 pm

I <3 Dreadnoughts
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Unread post by EnFuego » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:47 pm

Was it brazillian RW?
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sfmartins
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Unread post by sfmartins » Fri Jul 28, 2006 3:13 am

praisedave wrote:I <3 Dreadnoughts
But of course a 000 also has advantages...
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taylordb
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Unread post by taylordb » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:36 am

EnFuego wrote:Was it brazillian RW?
I'm not really sure. The back and sides were very dark, but they didn't stand out to me like ...wow! I was more fixated with the sound, so I really didn't notice. Remember that this was a REALLY old instrument, so it wasn't all shiny and everything...the finishes were fairly dull.
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Unread post by jsgksu » Sat Jul 29, 2006 3:45 am

My friends dad, who happens to be a good friend of my mom and uncle, has a 1950's (I think) Martin that just sound fucking incredible. Its a steel string dred and in really good condition, so the guitars are compltely different, but I got to briefly play it and can appreciate what you are talking about. I cant imagine playing a guitar that is that old, thats crazy its still in one piece.
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Unread post by Kahn » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:47 pm

I plan on keeping my guitars until Im old. It's not that far-fetched if you think about it.
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Unread post by Pickles » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:50 pm

taylordb wrote:
EnFuego wrote:Was it brazillian RW?
I'm not really sure. The back and sides were very dark, but they didn't stand out to me like ...wow! I was more fixated with the sound, so I really didn't notice. Remember that this was a REALLY old instrument, so it wasn't all shiny and everything...the finishes were fairly dull.
It probably was... Martin used BRW on most of their guitars until 1969, I think. Anyway, I can't even imagine what that had to sound like. That's awesome.
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Unread post by c_tietze » Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:35 pm

I play a OOO model myself and love it, unfortunately it's not a "road guitar" and the matte finish has really let the guitar take a beating, I'm going to look like Willie Nelson really soon (guitar wise of course, I don't owe that much in back taxes nor smoke enough ganja) I love the sound, tone and feel, of course like with any acoustic that is amplified the pickup is very important.

I do miss the body size of a drednaught, for some reason my arm just feels like in a better position to play with a bigger bodied guitar, prolly just in my head though.

I'm now looking for an axe that can cut through a 5 piece band better and in reality playing a Chet, even natural wood finish would draw too many comparisons to Dave I'm in the market for something else, any suggestions?
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CWMCALL
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Unread post by CWMCALL » Thu Aug 03, 2006 1:02 pm

c_tietze wrote:
I'm now looking for an axe that can cut through a 5 piece band better and in reality playing a Chet, even natural wood finish would draw too many comparisons to Dave I'm in the market for something else, any suggestions?
Taylor T5 ?
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