Forum username: bluesriff Date: 10/29/07 Review: 1995 Martin D-18GE Limited/Anniversary Edition Rating you give the Martin D18GE: 4 - Highly recommend it
Likes about the Martin D-18 Golden Era: Like the vee neck, the volume, bass, mids, highs. It just has a punch to it. Set up from the factory it is perfect for playing slide in open tuning also.
Additional Comments: I also own a 1989 D-18 Special Limited Edition. 15 made for Domestic market. Engleman spruce top. This one sounds slightly better because of age, but both are keepers. One for open tuning and one for regular of course.
Forum username: 1957strat Date: June 23, 2007 Review: Martin D-18GE Rating you give the Martin D18GE: 4 - Highly recommend it
Additional Comments: After playing an original 1937 D-18, I had to find a D-18. Martin started making the Golden Era and this was the closest thing to the original, aside from the Authentic model which I can't afford. The D-18GE has a powerful tone. The combination of the Adirondack spruce top and mahogony sides and back are amazing. I used to think nothing else existed except rosewood sides and backs--for the best tone and loudness. I was prove wrong! I also have a Collings CW, which has the same configuration as the Martin D-18GE. It is also an amazing guitar. However, tne Martin feels less stiff than the Collings and it is easier to play. I can play bluegrass tunes as well as jazz chord melodies all over the neck on the Martin.
UMGF username: Datzus1 Date: 4/24/06 Review: Martin D-18 GE Rating you gave the Martin D-18GE: 5 - Best thing I ever bought
Like about the Martin D-18GE: This is my first mahogany dread, and first with the wider neck, so I've been adjusting to both the different tones and wider spacing for the past 6 weeks... to the point that I have not been playing my 41, 21 (from'68) or 76 models at all. They are jealous. This GE is a wonderfully constructed Martin and it has enough volume in any situation I can imagine. The notes punch out clearly, flatpicking runs explode, and the capacity to work the dynamics of the sound has been delightful. I can lay back, and still have enough volume in bluegrass and jamming situations to have a presence, but adding fills and riffs with authority seems to be exactly what this guitar is made for.
Maury set it up exactly to my specs, added a K&K mini PU and it does everything that I could ask for in a guitar. It sounds so perfectly balanced from low strings to the high, and all up and down the neck, and it has plenty of bottom end without the overtones and boominess I have in my RW dreads. Mic-ing it has been quite easy, especially without plugging in using the K&K.
I shopped around for a year, reading reviews, trying them out, A/B-ing them every chance I could before I pulled the trigger and ordered it... and my satisfaction is way up there in these early stages of our honeymoon!
Dislike about the Martin D-18GE: Plastic pins, but I ordered slotted ebony and have switched back and forth twice. Ebony sound fine, with more mids to my ears; plastic are bright and not at all brittle.
Date: 09/07/05 Review: Martin d18ge Rating you give the Martin D18GE: 5 - Best thing I ever bought Liked about the Martin D18GE: Tone, Tone, Tone...this thing is a monster...best bluegrass guitar ever!
Disliked about the Martin D18GE: The cheap plastic bridge pins...I slotted the bridge and replaced them with ebony...much improved tone, and thats saying alot!
Additional Comments: I ditched by hd28lsv because of this guitar...had all the bass of the d28 plus alot more clarity....will never get rid of this one!
Liked about the Martin D-18GE: The TONE!!! Clear, crisp, clean, punchy tone. This guitar is just incredible strummed with a pick. Flat picking and picking individual strings with a pick are fantasic too. Finger style stuff, especially higher on the neck, tend not to be as strong (not enough complexity or overtones to my ear), but certainly passable.
Disliked about the Martin D-18GE: Tiny Martin frets and the "V" neck are not my favorites. Also, unless the through saddle is critical to tone (I don't know), I'd prefer a drop in saddle for easier string adjustments in the future. However, so far it hasn't been an issue.
Additional Comments: I have owned this guitar for three years. I bought it new at my local high end acoustic shop.
I did NOT intend to buy this guitar. I was actually in the process of finalizing the purchase of a used Collings OM-2C. I pulled this Martin dread off the wall while I was waiting for the store staff to write up some stuff for the Collings and I was blown away. At the time I knew nothing about D-18GEs and I was NOT even thinking about buying a dread, but I was just floored by the clear, powerful tone in this guitar. I'd played a D-18V and liked it, but as good as the 18V is, the GE is better. I've since played other 18V's and GE's as well as std. 18s, once all together in the same store so I could directly compare them against one another. The GE just has more of what one would buy a Mahogany dread for.
I play this guitar in a praise band at my church and also record it (classic rock type stuff). It's great in both applications.
Name: Laurence Diehl City/State: Seattle Date: 08/24/2004 Review:Martin D-18GE Rating: 5 - Best thing I ever bought Liked about the Martin D-18GE: Bottom line: They are building them like they used to. I have had Martins before - bought a D-35 back in 1973. That was a pretty good guitar but it had structural problems - top bellied up behind the bridge. I was always a rosewood fan before I got the D-18, but I promise you, this guitar has all the bottom you'll ever need - and it doesn't disappear in the high-mids like some D-28's do. It sounded great right out of the box, and getting better every day. I like the vintage wide neck on it too. Disliked about the Martin D-18GE: I am not a big fan of Martin frets - too low and skinny for me. This means that pull-offs are a bit uncomfortable and the action on the treble strings, while low and playable, don't really have room to ring free. Compare this to a Collings (the perfect setup in my opinion) Additional Comments: Great value for the money!
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