The 39, is crazy. An absolute beast. Such projection, its tone is like a laser beam.cuta roght through you. Probbaly the best sounding bluegrass guitar i've ever heard. The 47 also has a really unique tone. A quicker decay and an extra dry tone.
This is amazing. Fave was the 1939. Also really liked the 1947 - it would make a great singer songwriter guitar. I have a D28A 1937 and it doesnt even come close to the sound of these real beauties.
What's most interesting is how different they sound from todays standard Martin D-28 Rosewood guitars. So much warmer and with more midrange. They all sound like mahogany B/S guitars, so IMO, if you prefer THIS sound, get a present day D-18 instead of the D-28, which has a deep and responsive bass, brighter treble, but scooped out midrange (which has practical purpose for singers especially). To my ears, the 1937 sounds absolutely the best. It's more focused in the lows and mids. 2nd favorite is the 1939 for similar reasons, but the '42, '45 and '47 get progressively less focused and the bass sounds sorta soft and muddy. One caveat is that every guitar from each of these years may have sounded somewhat different new, and aged differently as well. I own the D-18GE 1937 model, which IMO is the one of the best dreads Martin has ever made (notwithstanding the Authentics). It's VERY much like the 1937 D-28 you demo'd here. The current D-28GE doesn't sound very much like these pre-war models. Thoughts? One other thing, Bertolf's playing styles made for a very representational demo (where many others fail miserably).
Thank you so much for going over all of the subtle differences in the Golden era of Martin D-28’s. Very interesting indeed! It’s hard to pick, but if I had to choose, I think I’d like the 47 best. It has very nice note separation. I guess that goes along with it being more firmly braced?
Best: 1937, followed by 39, 42, and 45. Picea rubens. When my son was between 1 and 2, 1987, we were spending time in the reference section of the Dallas public library. I read; he slept. I found picea rubens mentioned in a piano engineer's speech to a convention of American piano makers. In his speech he said that had Stradivarius known about picea rubens, it would have been the only spruce he would have used. A bold statement, I thought that was worth pursuing. Great video. - John Holman
all wonderful!! Thanks. Just for grins, would have loved to see the demo on the last one. You had us hanging! Great guitars, great playing, great demo!
Wow, What a great flat picker and player. What strings and gauge were you using on the 37' D28, 39' and 42'? Flat pick type/model and thickness used? To my ear, the 37' and 39' top the list for tone but the 42' is not far behind. It would be great to hear a similar comparison of the vintage pre war/war time Martin D18 guitars.
@@thefellowshipofacoustics Great choice as most all vintage Martin's sound their best with the EJ17 strings They bring out the true tone of the guitar.
I like the ‘39 best. It has a beautiful clarity with just the right amount of bass. The trebles in the ‘37 are clear but the 3 bass strings sound too muddy to me.
What was the name of the fingerpicking tune being played by Bertolf (what a great guitarist he is) - the presenter did mention the name of the tune it but I didn't catch it so perhaps you could enlighten me ! Great session and so interesting - Many Thanks guys ...
