Hey guys, Check out this high quality comparison video of the Martin D-28, Taylor GS8e, and Gibson J45. Let us know in the comment box below what guitar you like best. Make sure you hit that subscribe button for more Awesome Videos!!!
The Taylor is a grand symphony and not a dreadnaught and by shape and design will not sound similar. Get an 810 Taylor for a comparison! 810 will change your mind!
That's what I was thinking.. it still won the shoutout from what i heard. I don't like bass in a guitar if it's muffled, I like snap, definition and some of that in your face projection.
Taylor IS NOT a dreadnaught. Misinformation I corrected lessons your credibility. I mean, if you present yourself as some sort of expert, but don't even know this simple information, why should anyone trust or believe you?
Great comparison. Thought the comments were spot on especially that the martin (my fave) might not cut through the mix or standout but is just awesome as a solo instrument especially in a live setting.
Well a comparison of 3 US manufacturers guitars. Different tone woods, scale lengths, strings, and mic placements. For me, it shows why I'd use all 3 although the Martin would be used the most. Oh, did I mention the Martin didn't have an adjustable truss rod, the Taylor has a bolt on neck, and "8" at the end of the Taylor is more like their Jumbo. Even Bob Taylor said if you want a dreadnought, get a Martin. Taylor now has a Grand Pacific body (7) for that older sound. So I'm going for one of each, different tone woods and perhaps a Taylor 914ce instead of an 818e. Thanks guys
Gibson J45 for me, tonal balance, no distortion , the peak sound of every string are all the same, amplitudes from 1st string to 6th sounds are flat, and the tone of each is perfect, constant short wiggle vibration of every string are the same. Nice sound!
In addition to everyone who said the Taylor is not a dread I will add that age absolutely changes a guitar. EVERY guitar that is taken care of will sound better with age. The wood literally changes at a chemical level over time (which is why they now emulate it with torrefied wood). They should compare guitars of similar age just as much the same style.
I had the chance to try out all three and overall prefer the Martin for playability and deeper sound. Expensive but my favorite acoustic thus far. I would get the mid range under 1k but not spend 3k on high end one.
The Taylor won the shoutout from what i heard. I don't like bass in a guitar if it's muffled, I like snap, definition and some of that in your face projection.
I think you like best what you played when you were 18- 25. For that reason I liked the Gibson the best. It has the warmest tone and Martin is next Taylor is too bright.
Guys, I'm late to the dance, so to speak; but as many others have said those guitars are not all dreads, also using a vintage D-28 is not a fair comparison to the other two newer models. These things get better with age. I appreciate the time and effort it takes to do a video, and I enjoy watching you guys; but I've only been playing acoustic for three years and even I know my body shapes.
The response of the Gibson J-45 being on the lower side of the lineup, is why I have noticed country is played on the album with Taylor or Gibson j-200. Granted I have a guild f-250ce and Taylor 214ce. If curious I have Yahama acoustic, with my les paul, strat,
Hey, great job guys. Loved hearing the difference between these three awesome guitars. I just bought a 25th anniversary Taylor 314-MCE. Think you can do a youtube review on that one?
they're all really good. I find the taylor has best articulation and sounds modern and versatile , martin best traditional mellow warm boomy bass , gibson punchy boomy bass. truth is you need all three of em. simple as
MARTIN ! OMG !! Kicks ass ! MOst Complete sound ever !:) I have 2008 D-28 and I love it.. and just bought 2010 Gibson J-45 true Vintage. Can't wait to play two of them in same room at the same time :)
This video actually captures the essence of what these three great brands of guitars do. My favorites (brandies) would be just like he said Martin, Taylor, and then Gibson. Martins have such a big and boomy complex beautiful sound. Taylors sound.......just, so sweet! and Gibsons have that cool dry, woody sound. Each will inspire you to play different types of music. Cool video
Daniel Looney I agree completely. Who gives a shit whether they are dreadnaught or plasticene? These are 3 similarly priced big brand guitars. Just go with the main point and leave one's ego out of it.
RU-vid highly compresses the signal and then we listen through IPads, phones etc. These comparisons really are ridiculous. I heard Tommy Emmanuel play Jerry's Breakdown with a group of musicians on RU-vid and he sounded terrible. I've seen him in person play the same guitar and he sounded great.
I like Martins also, especially the old ones. I just don't get making Martins out of wood scraps pressed together with some laminate. They sell them as ecologically friendly instruments. The reality is they are cheap and Martin figured they could make a quick buck.
It's when they say they are doing it for ecological reasons that bother me. They claim it meets the "same high standards" of other Martin guitars. It's made of fiberboard for goodness sake. A step above cardboard.
I agree with the beautiful ringing overtones comment on the old Martin. And no doubt mostly due to the aging effect mentioned. I usually find Gibson electrics my favourite (Les Pauls!) but their acoustics aren't the most lively of the bunch and in my experience so far are big and warm but muffled in comparison. Taylors are certainly different but expensive for a good one and I think their Expression System is a pretty good design.
...come on Gear Guys.....seriously....being experts you could not...if nothing else...just look at the shape of the Taylor to tell you its not a dread...damn..
Besides the fact that the Taylor is not a dreadnaught, as others have noted, it's a nice comparison of some of the basic character traits: Martin being more warm, Taylor being more high frequency, Gibson having a nice narrow freq range that's not as trebly at Taylor. But, please, don't draw too many hard and fast conclusions. For one thing, fingerstyle guitarists usually don't play dreadnoughts, as most find that smaller bodied styles work better for those styles. For another, without even getting into different body shapes, Martin has dozens of difference varieties of D28, and they all sound a bit different. Same for Gibson and Taylor.
I have a 000-28 I bought back in 1971. I just had it revamped(neck and fret work). The sustain on it is quite a bit greater than this D-28 ... I would have expected the D to be longer - but not. The 000 just rings forever. Of course it might be a bit different if I was sitting right in front of the D-28
I gig regularly with 2 Taylor Dreads, a '95 810e and an '02 W10ce. While they are both fantastic guitars, I'll take my '08 Taylor Fall Limited Koa GS with Adi CV bracing over both of them! There's no comparison in sound to me! The GS has more bass, more even mids and the koa back and sides gives it a piano-like top end!
THANK YOU for spelling dreadnought correctly lol everyone here is an expert on what is or isn't a dreadnought guitar but no one knows how to even spell it
Dude picked his Dad's guitar. I'll take my Ovation over all of them. What strings do they come with might have more impact on the tone differences. The Gibson's middle of the road tone tends to suggest a Phosphur-Bronze string, Gibson doesn't tell you what type, only that they are 12-53. The Taylor will only say the GS8E has Elixir Mediums. And the Martin D28 comes standard with Phosphur Bronze, but being his father's guitar, who knows what it has now ? In fact are any of them new with standard issue OEM strings ?
To an intermediate or seasoned guitarist it is personal preference for tone and playability. Do the same test in a room full of semi musical people and my dollar will be on the Taylor sound being the most popular. However if you search on RU-vid professional performances from any award show the most prevalent guitar will be the Gibson followed by the Martin with very few Taylors. Walk into a church on Sunday and you will find mostly Taylors. This is just how it is in today's world of 2017. Any of these 3 brands in their standard medium to high end guitars are joy to own and play. My own personal fav, and i own, is the Martin followed by Taylor (from the custom shop with a tweaked Taylor tone)...i never got along with a Gibson except the latest Bob Dylan J-200 i found very nice but i don't own it.
As others have said, Taylor GS8e is not a dread. These guitars all have different back and side wood. A proper comparison would be say a Martin D28 ,Taylor 810 and Gibson Advanced Jumbo. Then you have three long-scale guitars with Sitka tops and Indian Rosewood back and sides.... If you wanted to stick with Mahagony short-scales the Taylor 510 and J-45 would be good comparison. You could order a custom short scale Martin D18 to joint he party (Music Villa in Bozeman has these from time to time).... It's clear you guys are more electric guitar focused and don't seem to know much about acoustics other than "here's three popular brands, let's try them out". I imagine you wouldn't even be able to answer what type of performer might benefit from the balanced mid-range of a J-45 vs the boom and sparkle of the D28 or Taylor (they have fundamentally different uses to a musician). It's amazing how anyone can just toss up a RU-vid channel and start spewing influence regardless of how incomplete/ignorant the information is, but with 17,000+ subscribers who I am to judge you for taking advantage of the innocent viewers for your own monetary gains. God bless America.
“Why do you like the Martin the best?” “Because Martin’s are the best. It the most aged. I just like the sound the best.” ^this is not properly describing anything about how the guitar sounds or why it would sound better than the others. Give me some evidence to support your opinion.
Many new Martins sound better than that one! The earlier D-28’s will also generally sound better. You should have useda new one because the others are new. The Taylor has the smallest box and would therefore have less bass and low mids.
1.Taylor 2.Martin 3.Gibson The Taylor projects the best by far, the Martin was definitely the warmest but it wasn’t as present sounding. The Gibson just sounded dull to be honest.
