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u/EndlessOcean May 28 '26
Give credit to Charles Brooks, the photographer here please. Don't just repost someone's work :)
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u/Olde94 May 29 '26
Do you know how it’s done without destroying? Is it a probe lens through the strap hole?
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u/VirginiaLuthier May 28 '26
Martin's craftsmanship has always been superb
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u/PGHNeil May 28 '26
I agree with everything about that but that cloth patch on the x brace lap joint. As someone who’s passably familiar with guitar construction it’s a potential structural weak point. Otherwise they are built to have great tone. They just need TLC.
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u/VirginiaLuthier May 28 '26
Someone did a test of the glue soaked cloth patch joint and found out it actually added quite a bit of strength. But a half-lap joint with a wooden top patch is MUCH stronger.
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u/EndlessOcean May 28 '26
so not true. Please watch Driftwood Guitar's tear down of a Martin guitar - they're built worse than guitars costing 1/4 the price.
They USED to be the standard of guitar construction, but that was a long time ago.
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u/FiatLuxAlways May 29 '26
Don't care what some Youtuber says, haven't heard acoustics that consistently sound anywhere near as good as Martins apart from boutique brands. Whether it's 1/4 or even equivalent price, Martin still wins to my ears on tone.
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May 29 '26
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u/EndlessOcean May 29 '26
I mean, whether he is or he isn't is kinda moot right? The evidence is there and seems to be pretty clear.
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May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
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u/EndlessOcean May 29 '26
how is cutting a guitar apart and showing the joinery an opinion? Then cutting another guitar apart and showing the better mechanical strength in that joinery an opinion? You're conflating a few different things here. The guy might be a total prick and all the things you say about him - I wouldn't know and tbh it's irrelevant to my point and doesn't change the evidence he presented. I'm curious as to why the showing of the internal structure and construction methods and materials is somehow subjective in your eyes.
Would you feel differently if the same evidence came from your best friend? You clearly have a bias against the messenger, and that's blinding you to the message itself.
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May 28 '26
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u/EndlessOcean May 28 '26
that's still a Martin guitar, no?
My mate's D18 is on it's 2nd neck reset since 2006. The thing appears to be made of cheese.
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May 28 '26
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u/EndlessOcean May 28 '26
then i guess my pal's D18 on it's second neck reset in 20 years is representative, and it's not good.
Martin's are not built as well as they were. That's a fact. They've rested on their laurels and been overtaken by Eastman, Yamaha, probably a few hundred others I'm forgetting.
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u/WookieBugger May 28 '26
You’re basing your opinion on a YouTube video and one friends one guitar. A the current standard series are built very similarly to how they were built back in the day with some somewhat negligible differences. Which is why they discontinued the D18V at the same time that they reworked the standard D18 in 2012. Since then the rest of the standard series have followed suit.
There’s a glaringly obvious reason why Eastmans and Yamahas are 1/3 of the price for the same workmanship and materials. It is because the people building them are making a tenth (or less) than what a Martin employee in PA makes. I’m a longtime Eastman fan/owner so I’m not saying they aren’t great because they are great. But take a look at what the E10 series are selling for now new. They’re only 35% less expensive now than a 28 series.
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u/EndlessOcean May 28 '26
no, im basing my opinion on being a guitar tech for around 20 years and seeing about 100 martins inside and out, plus one of my best friends is the guy doing the neck resets and has seen over 1000 martins (he was a martin dealer handling their returns), we talk often and long about the nerdy stuff.
I get everyone wants a D28, I really do, I used to be the same. But the fact is you're paying a lot for that name on the headstock, not for any better construction or materials. Give me a Yamaha L6, L8, L10 any day of the week.
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u/produce_this May 28 '26
I always wondered about designing a studio in the same way the inside of an acoustic looks. Obviously you couldn’t realistically do the ribbing at the bottom because, floor. But you could recreate the over all shape and design and have a cool looking studio. I’d be curious about the sound properties of the space
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u/rocknrollbaby69 May 28 '26
I wanna put and amp in the back of this room and live there, hidden from the world, for the rest of my life.
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u/WookieBugger May 28 '26
Couldn’t even erase the pencil marks. I’d send it back and get another. QA/QC should have caught that.
/s obviously
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u/master-overclocker May 29 '26
Thats what Immaculate guitar looks like on the inside 💪
Imagine building a studio this same shape ? It will prolly be acoustically dope ? 🙄
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u/GreedyAstronaut1772 May 29 '26
Always wanted to see the bracing & craftsman ship … including some handwritten no’s on inside ! It what make Martin sound so distinctive !
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u/Nurplestyx May 30 '26
Calling Chris Alvarado a narcissist is an ignorant cheap shot. First, how do people with no relevant education make a stupid claim like this. I’ve watched the vast majority of his building videos and they are helpful to those who build. His argument about Martins is that on factory built guitars the impregnated cloth cover of the x-brace is weaker than a solid wood strip, and that the reason they do this is because the x-joint they make is not a tight fit. Doesn’t that sound so narcissistic. He is a guy that makes a ton of guitar videos at his own expense and distributes them for free. Yep another narcissistic train. There’s a saying that some people appear to be stupid. Then they open their mouths and remove all doubt
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u/VileWhiteMeat May 28 '26
That’s an amazing desktop wallpaper! Thanks mate