Official Luthiers Forum!

Remember last week when I posted all the info about not being impressed by Martin guitars? Well I just bought a Martin OM-21...what a hypocrite I am! I went to some other music stores in Indianapolis and what I found is there was a big difference in Martin's, depending which model and style you play. I also found the same differences with Taylors. It basically boiled down to buying a solid EIRW Martin, vs. a Taylor with a Sapele back/side combo. I like the sound of the warmth of rosewood over sapele I guess, and considering the OM-21 was under $1,000 (in like new condition), I guess it was a pretty good value. The list for an OM-21 is around $2499, so I guess at $975, I got a pretty good deal.

Has anybody else out there played an OM-21? I wish I could have bought from a builder here, but the Gurian I'm selling to buy it just won't fetch near what a hand built guitar costs.

Cheers!

John

John,

I have played several Matin OM's. A couple sounded amazing, the rest average, to me. Sounds like you found a nice one. And, what a good price! I hope I can build a few that sound like those few amazing Martins I have played.

Jeff

A friend of miner who manages a large Guitar store in Winnipeg told me that Martin makes some great guitars. You have to play around 100 different ones to find that one that shines though. He has the opportunity to play them all and pull out the Outstanding ones for special sales.

I've played a handful of them, and if I wasn't spending all my money on woodworking tools for guitar building, I'd own an OM-21. Actually, at $975 I probably would own one, that's a great deal.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I don't think hypocrite applies to your case. Your previous statement was based on too small of a sample. You just hadn't seen enough Martins. If you had said that you would NEVER buy a Martin because they are evil and then bought one, that would be hypocracy. Rushing to judgment is something we all do from time to time.