Smaller shoulders. More pear than square. Less compressed air in the sound. I like L guitars for a more fingerstyle able dreadnought that can still do bluegrass.
Sometimes I really like the Yamahas. They sound like a Taylor with more oomph that I find missing in Taylor’s. The Yamahas feel halfway between Taylor and Martin and I think that’s a really good thing.
I love both Martin and Yamaha guitars. I have owned several Yamaha guitars over the years and loved them all. My favorite was my L-20A that I played for over 30 years and finally wore it out. I have owned my Martin D-35 for over 40 years. The Yamaha got most of my playing time as I was babying the Martin. I just bought a new Yamaha LL-16D and it is as nice as my old L-20A was. I need to change out the plastic saddle and bridge pins and I will be set for the rest of my life with this one.
The Yamaha LL36 is a bench guitar, hand built by skilled Luthiers! If I'm not mistaken (yeah I'm not!) the Martin d41 is a factory guitar. There's care taken... But it is assembly line rinse and repeat process....
The d41 has more mids. So the martin sounds fuller and with more warmth. But a good tuned D35, e.g. Bridgepins like Neil Young does it, powdered strings not coated, can do the job magnificent for 90-95 percent, too. For 30 percent off pricing, the bling bling from the D41 taken into account.
That Yamaha is super clear. Do it sound like a Martin? NO! Its not built to sound like a Martin. It's built to sound like a Yamaha, and it's a good one.
The matin is warmer, but that yamaha really sinestesia in the higher frequencies. It really comes down to preferences as both are amazing instruments. If you prefer the yamaha, save cash by getting the LL16, which is about 90%+ of the LL36 in terms of sound.
@dlj1285 calm down, they are all good and I'd say that at that level is more of a sound preference. The ll16, holds really well against its older siblings.
@@MarianoPerez No, your statement is nonsense. I’m calm, just calling you on your uninformed BS. An LL16 is a good guitar for what it is but it does not stand with this guitars. Period.
I can hear the difference between the two. The Martin has a better or more mids to it. But the price difference between the Martin and Yamaha doesn't justify that mid boost.
I have a LL-16...it sounds like this LL-36...save the money and buy a LL-16D if you need one. They are very trebly....mine is a cannon....low and high end. Cuts through all the 5 martins at an open jam I go to (including a 11k dollar D-45).....sounds great in a blue grass setting....very hard to tame the treble playing plugged in in a bar that has hard walls and floor...playing by yourself with a mic. Must use a 10 band EQ with my fishman loud amp. 16k is the secret....pull it all the way down and go from there. The 8K slider doesn't get rid of enough of the icy sound. You don't get the stupid piezio they put in my guitar with the LL-36....good luck figuring out how to tame the treble with a K&K type pickup....I would still use the EQ most likely.
I had an ll-36 I couldn’t get rid of fast enough. It was a great finger style guitar. But once you played with a pick it was lifeless. Took almost 2 years to get rid of it. I warned the future buyer is mostly a finger style player. I have many Yamahas I’m in absolute love with. 2 red label Fg180’s, ll-ta, ls8r. I love Yamaha so much I bought the ll-36 and regretted it so much. Maybe it was a lemon. But this was too much money not to have a great sounding all around player. It and a Koa Taylor K24ce… just lifeless and very quiet. I’ve heard lifeless Martin hd28’s as well. Sad lemons can get through these facilities.
Indeed, I also learned this the hard way. That's why now I only buy guitars that I thoroughly inspect (play) myself regardless of the name on the headstock.
@@deejay.s i bought a Yamaha fgx800c to add to the collection. Got it a Few weeks ago and it also blows me away every time i hold it. Yeah play something first. know it’s great. Don’t wait years for a guitar to get better. Buy it great.
@@dlj1285 it was quieter than a mouse. Had little bass. I had to put extra light strings on it for it to sing better. I just bought an fg9 that sounds great. However it has a green makers mark over an inch long mark on the top that was lacquered over from the factory. Just mind blowing what can pass through these places. I have a Gibson les Paul standard nitro ebony that has had paint missing at the heel straight from the factory. Luckily all i care about is the sound and how it feels. But if you make a high cost instrument and it doesn’t sound good you missed the entire point.
@@sircusboy351 I believe you, I’m just shocked based on what I know about these higher end Yamaha guitars, and my direct experience with them. I own a LL56 and it is mind blowingly good. Wow, that lacquering over marker, I would have refused the guitar full stop. At those prices they need the fit and finish and the sound as far as I’m concerned. My LL56 was absolutely perfect all around. I have a reasonably high end Boucher OM as well. Also mind blowing. I absolutely love these 2 guitars. Boucher really pay attention to the details, probably more then Yamaha even. Makes sense given that they cost a bit more than Yamahas. I’ll definitely keep your experience in mind. Maybe they are slipping a bit now for some reason. I was considering picking up a mahogany FG9 but now I’m not sure I will bother. Perhaps I’ll just go back to Boucher.
Yes, somewhat different tone curves between the two, but I think the D41 has just a touch more class in the overall tone and vibe. Yamaha sounds great though, you could go a long way with that guitar, no doubt.
welp, for a $2800 difference, I'll take the yamaha ALL DAY LONG.. being familiar with Yamahas phenomenal luthiers and woodworking expertise having about 20 vintage middle to hi end FG yamahas they only sounds better as they age, most of mine some are +50 years old hold up so well, several do not even need a fret job yet.. of course if you do not slack the strings when sorting the older FG's may be prone to the belly bulge but I have a good fix for that that last another 50 years, using heat and weight only, a natural solution.. many mistook a belly bilge for needing a neck reset, wrong!!! straighten out that belly and she is mint once again, some of my rosewood FG's specially my FG580 sounds just ridiculous in tone resonance and volume comparted to new acoustics, no contest really.. nothing against martin on my end save they are fairly overpriced specially when you consider what you all you get, a name and 1930's technology lol yamaha has always been frugal about what wood choices they purchase, quality over everything else.. storage technology and of course the Japanese are amongst the finest fine wood workers on the rock, $5800 for the martin new or 5800 for the LL36 new ? yea easy choice for me.. they are so similar in tone volume and everything else, I like the feel of the yamaha better as I play yamaha's often.. I do like the feel and playability of the martin as well, no shortcomings there and obviously here in the USA the Martin will retain its value longer I am sure, but that's an artificial retaining as the Yamaha never decreases in performance at all, its just the name and the fact its made in the USA if indeed they still are? II honestly doubt whatever your choose would be here there would be disappointment's, 2 fine acoustics no jokes
i had both, you really want to know what differences between them? martin sounds much much better, if you plug in amp, very hard to find superior, but without amp, you will know that. martins sounds more vibe, resonant, sustain and smooth. also price is very different.
In Canada there’s no comparison. Our trade deal with Japan gets us way more bang for our buck than from USA companies, and that’s before you factor in their corporate greed and Caucasian work ethic.
@@aaronlarsen7447 uh huh, we’ll that just shows how little experience playing guitars you have. They makes some good ones, don’t get me wrong, but you gotta find them.
@dlj1285 I owned a Back Packer, a DR, Om 21, d28, d18, D1CE, that was kind of a dud. I have a 00017 and and OM 28. Had Gibsons, Taylors ect. My guitars get used for writing songs. The only thing in the standard series that isn't high end parts solid wood, or hand crafted bone are maybe the bridge pins. They still win awards every year and the artists still love them.
