Martin: D-28

Submitted by beegee on 2/21/2014

Where Purchased: Traded on Banjo Hangout

Year Purchased: 2014
Price Paid: Don't Remember historic exchange rates / currency converter

Sound

Sounds great for a new guitar. No pickup, Well-balanced

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

Shipped with strings slack. A few minutes of playing at pitch opened it p. The saddle s a tad high for my touch, but it's OK fornow

Setup Rating: 9

Appearance

1935 sunburst, EI rosewood. Great woodgrain. I'm going to swap out the black Martin pickguard for a tortoise-colored one and swap the Grover Rot-Matics for a set of good-quality gold butterbean tuners. The bright-white binding is startling-white, wish it was aged-looking.

Appearance Rating: 9

Reliability

No flaws or concerns. I have a 1976 HD-28 and a 1976 D-i8 and this will be more than adequate

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

never had a problem with Martin. I had a new HD-28 a few years back that the finish started peeling. They replaced the guitar in less than a week.

Customer Service: 10

Components

Components Rating: 10

Overall Comments

I traded a nice Granada copy for this and I am well-pleased. Good solid Martin sound and attention to detail. This is my first new Martin since 1976 and except for the cheesy gold-foil Martin Logo(I prefer the old water-slide decal)I think it's just great. Good sound and playability right out of the box. The action is just a tad high, but that's an easy fix. neck is starlight, finish is perfect.

If this guitar had some age and a mature sound, it would rate a 10

 

 

Overall Rating: 9

Johnson: JD-26 Carolina

Submitted by beegee on 5/22/2009

Where Purchased: Daddy's Junky Music

Year Purchased: 2009
Price Paid: ($US) (bought USED)

Sound

Great boomy dreadnaught sound

Sound Rating: 9

Setup

Purchased as a project with back-bowed neck, loose braces , no saddle, no case. Two back braces are loose on one end or the other...no biggie. One has been reglued, the other hasn't, I will glue it eventually..no rattles or buzzes, though

Setup Rating: 3

Appearance

Seems to have the polyester finish, Martin-style snowflake fingerbaord. Doofy-looking Johnson abalone logo and flowery peghead. Really tight Adirondack top, bone nut. Saddle missing when I got it(project, remember...) Really high stripe-figured solid mahogany.
D-28 style diamond at handstop. 1-piece neck

Appearance Rating: 8

Reliability

Butterbean tuners, abalone bridge pins. After adjusting the 2-waytruss rod, and fitting a saddle, I strung the guitar with Martin Bluegrass strings and was immediately blown away by thge quality of the sound.

Reliability Rating: 8

Customer Service

Quick ship, well-packed

Customer Service: 9

Components

I'd like to see a nitro finish, if this isn't. It's way too shiny.

Components Rating: 8

Overall Comments

I bought this cheap to fix and resell. I was really surprised what a killer guitar this is. Greta open and clean sound, plenty of punch.

These sell for <$500 and apparently are no longer offered, but I think thi is a keeper. It's a lot better and lighter in weight than my RK RD-227 I just sold. I did like the wide neck on my RD-227. Thls plays great and notes accurately all the way up the neck.

Overall Rating: 9

Johnson: JD-16

Submitted by beegee on 4/9/2009

Where Purchased: Daddy's Junky Music

Year Purchased: 2009
Price Paid: 53.00 ($US)

Sound

Bluegrass guitar. This guitar is a surprisingly good guitar. The sound is balanced and full. Plenty of punch even with light gauge strings. It's not a Martin,of course, but it's really decent

Sound Rating: 8

Setup

The guitar was sold on ebay as a "project" guitar because they claimed that even after adjustment by their repair department, the guitar still rattled. Since I repair guitars, I figured, "What the heck?"

I bought it, no case. It came today and I pulled it out of the packing. It was tuned 1.5 frets low. I tuned it to standard and it did indeed rattle. I checked the neck and it had a very slight back-bow. I loosened the truss rod about 1/4 turn and the rattles went away, except for the flat frets where they had filed them trying to eliminate the rattles. I plan to replace the nut and saddle and frets ASAP. I think this will be a really good guitar, especially for the $$ I paid.

Setup Rating: 3

Appearance

Solid Englemann top. Not a top-grade Englemann. The grain is wider at the outside and gets pretty even from the corners of the bridge to the center seam. There are a couple of darker grain streaks that run from the bridge corners to the top bout by the neck. Moderate silking, no bear claw. The back and sides are mahogany plywood. It has what I assume to be a polyester finish. I'd rather have a nitro lacquer on it. Single thin black strip at the center seam on back. Diamond abalone inlays and the doofy-looking Johnson peghead inlays. Ivoroid binding on the body with b/w/b/w/b horizontal binding on top and w/b/w on back and ivoroid heel cap. No fingerboard or peghead binding.W/B/W endpin seam. Kinda that reddish mahogany color, not as brown as a Martin D-18. The heel is slightly lumpy-looking, irregularly shaped. It could have been slightly smaller and cleaner-looking.

Appearance Rating: 9

Reliability

Nickel butterbean enclosed tuners, Kluson-type housings, seem OK to me, smooth operation. No strap button on the heel, plastic button on the endblock

Reliability Rating: 9

Customer Service

1st time buying like this. Quick ship, well-packed, no damage. Catalog included in box. These guys buy 2nd's and QC rejects and damaged lots ,etc and re-sell them on ebay.

Customer Service: 9

Components

A little more attention needed to the heel contour. The pickguard is slightly curled at the edges, but it's a decent tortoise color. Bridge and pinss eem well-made. The saddle is compensated, but seems a little soft and needing re-contouring as part of a quality set-up. Frets are well-finished on the ends, but as mentioned above, I will replace the frets because they have been filed flat. The inside liners(the ones that you can see through the sound-hole)and the braces are clean and well-executed, no glue smears or drips. The muslin patch on the x-brass joint at the sound-hole is little ragged. I haven't felt or examined the top bracing or bridge-plate.

Components Rating: 9

Overall Comments

These sell for $260-300. I had a Recording King RD-227. This guitar sounds better and is lighter in weight than the RK. I bought it because it was cheap and had good reviews. I'm well-pleased and if I don't turn it over for a few quick bucks, I'll probably keep it and do a little customizing on it. So far, it's fun to play and sounds good.

Overall Rating: 9