HD-28 and similar

Mellish

lincolnblue said:

Mellish said:

@lincolnblue ; - bit of a derail so apologies to OP, but Guitar George - would you take an high end acoustic to him for a pro setup? Looking for someone local  

I've never used him but the shop I bought my Taylor from use him as their tech

What shop is that mate?  

lincolnblue

Mellish said:

lincolnblue said:

Mellish said:

@lincolnblue ; - bit of a derail so apologies to OP, but Guitar George - would you take an high end acoustic to him for a pro setup? Looking for someone local  

I've never used him but the shop I bought my Taylor from use him as their tech

What shop is that mate?  

MusicRoom in Lincoln 

Mellish

Thank you

Mellish

@randella ; - Southern Jumbo that you tried but someone else had dibs on it? I had a similar thing happen to me, in that a guitar I couldn't have. I tried a Hummingbird Original last year. Boy what a cracker. I got halfway down the street, decided I had to have it and got back to the shop to see someone was walking out the door with it 

randella

@Mellish - yep, that was it. It was a blonde top, may have been sold as a "Country/Western" variant which was what was confusing me? It was a bloody lovely guitar.

The owner had walked me round the shop and told me to pick up and play anything I liked the look of. I'd come in to try a used D-28 they had, but it was strung with bridge cables and had an almighty action. I might have been less bothered if it was a cheap Strat, but was put off taking a punt on a pricey acoustic that didn't feel right.

I found the Gibson and sat playing it for about ten minutes when the shop owner came over with a 'reserved' label in his hand looking like he'd lost something. That something turned out to be the guitar I was playing, tough luck for me. He insisted I carry on playing, but I put it back at that point all disappointed

Anyway I went back over to the Martins, picked up a few. A lovely OO-28 amongst them. Tried a brand-new HD-28 just for completeness, and left the shop with it (having paid first!).

All's well that ends well I guess, yours sounds like a closer shave - bad luck!

Mellish

@randella ; - I have an HD-28 too, a 2019, bought at GuitarGuitar in Birmingham. Lovely thing, just beautifully in tune with itself after a Plek setup last year  

ToneControl

stickyfiddle said:

Bourgeois, Collings, Huss & Dalton, Santa Cruz

and Goodall, Avalon, Charis

OutOfSequence

Another vote for Atkin. I preferred the sound and the playability. It didn't matter to me, but will to many, an Atkin is going to suffer on resale compared with a Martin.

Cryptid

+1 for Atkin. Recently picked up a D37 and it does something for me that no Martin I've tried or had ever did, including ones worth £6+

Bad thing is that I now want more   Probably a good thing they don't do a maple jumbo. 

DavidR

New HD28 in UK about £3.2K just now. 

If I wanted a cheaper HD28 I think I'd buy a D28 - retailing new for about £2.8K. I'm not such a brilliant player that I would notice any differences as better - just different. And that's the thing for me with Martin's current sales pitches. I'd still have a Martin, it would still be great and I'd be just as happy. Scalloped bracing vs. not scalloped? Not clever enough to notice. Different blingy bits? Well not that blingy in either case and, anyway, not bothered.

I would be just as happy with a new Yamaha FG (waiting for the posh FG after FG5 to come out, when it does) or an LL16 and I'd be able to have both for the price of an HD28 (or a D28 for that matter!).

Stand-ins? I would love a Hummingbird or an Atkin Essential D or a Furch Vintage 1 Series too. Any of them would give me great pleasure and would be great to own.

Mellish

Hummingbird in Vintage Cherry. If I tried it and it ticked all the boxes, there's no way I could leave it behind. Saying that, I'm happy with this HD-28  

woody

ive owned d28 Clarence white,d40,hd28v but preferred my santa cruz d. Best dread ive owned by a large margin to my ears was a goodall rs. 

Ricjo

Cryptid said:

+1 for Atkin. Recently picked up a D37 and it does something for me that no Martin I've tried or had ever did, including ones worth £6+

Bad thing is that I now want more   Probably a good thing they don't do a maple jumbo. 

Who says they don’t?! 

https://atkinguitars.com/guitar/atkin-jumbo/

As for the HD vs D, the difference is noticeable if you play the two. If you’ve never played an HD, then you won’t know what you’re missing. But once you play a scalloped dreadnought, you notice. I had a Martin D35 and had to let it go for a scalloped dread (Atkin D37). Worlds apart, IMO. Although in the case of these two, there are more differences than just the bracing. Before the D35 I had a D16RGT which was scalloped and I felt (and missed) the difference when moving on to the D35.

DavidR

Ricjo said:

Cryptid said:

+1 for Atkin. Recently picked up a D37 and it does something for me that no Martin I've tried or had ever did, including ones worth £6+

Bad thing is that I now want more   Probably a good thing they don't do a maple jumbo. 

Who says they don’t?! 

https://atkinguitars.com/guitar/atkin-jumbo/

As for the HD vs D, the difference is noticeable if you play the two. If you’ve never played an HD, then you won’t know what you’re missing. But once you play a scalloped dreadnought, you notice. I had a Martin D35 and had to let it go for a scalloped dread (Atkin D37). Worlds apart, IMO. Although in the case of these two, there are more differences than just the bracing. Before the D35 I had a D16RGT which was scalloped and I felt (and missed) the difference when moving on to the D35.

This scalloped vs. non-scalloped issue is an interesting one. If I had 10 different sitka/rosewood dreadnoughts, 5 of which had scalloped bracing and 5 non-scalloped, I would be unable to differentiate the 2 groups with any high probability of success. 

 I think if I compared 2 different instruments I would always/usually find one was nicer, but I doubt that that would consistently down to bracing alone. As Ricjo has said above, there are more differences than just the bracing.

I'm sure others could do this. I'm just saying I couldn't. In which case I'm lucky because, as regards dreadnoughts, I'm more easily satisfied, and that's cheaper!

Also I like, almost exclusively, the woody sound of dreadnoughts with Monel strings when played with fingerpicks. That's my thing. All I really need is something a bit bassy, I can alter that bit of tone with different thumbpicks, and some sweet trebles, which I can usually find with varying other factors like attack, where I play on the string, dynamics and rubato.

I was always impressed when I played classical in an ensemble how lifelong classical players seemed magically to bring out lovely sounds from virtually any instrument. I never could. I treated myself to an expensive luthier-made classical when I retired in an attempt to improve - but I didn't.

Cryptid

Ricjo said:

Cryptid said:

+1 for Atkin. Recently picked up a D37 and it does something for me that no Martin I've tried or had ever did, including ones worth £6+

Bad thing is that I now want more   Probably a good thing they don't do a maple jumbo. 

Who says they don’t?! 

https://atkinguitars.com/guitar/atkin-jumbo/

Damn, looks like I'd better be saving some funds!