[James Romeyn]

Regarding how my guitar might compare to the reproduced instument (Geoff Muldaur, who I've seen a few times live).  Geoff likes mid-vintage (circa '40s-'60s) Martin 000-series & smaller, often w/ mahagony sides/back.  

Triple 0 are mid or "orchestra"-size instruments, full-bodied, even-toned, good for all styles, strumming, flat or finger-picking.  Geoff's mid-century guitars are simultaneously richer, mellower & yet more detailed, musical & alive vs. newer guitars.  (Martin had a bad streak in the '60s & '70s, some sound good but fewer than probably any other era in their long history.)  My circa '00 Martin HD28LSV is a Dreadnaught size (D) w/ large sound hole (LS).  Dreadnaughts, being larger than 000's, play louder; the large sound hole further increases its maximum volume envelope.  (The large sound hole is a special feature adopted after a certain flat picker strummed so hard he wore out the edge of the hole, which had to be re-cut.)  The 28 indicates rosewood sides/top, which tilts the tone upward to offset what might tend toward bass-heaviness caused by the larger size; the rosewood also has a less smokey & brassy tone vs. mahogany.  The Adirondack spruce top is more lively & musical than the more ubiquitous Sitka spruce.  

The main attraction to this particular model is the ever so slightly wider nut (about 1/16th in), which fits wide fingers better to avoid the dreaded string buzz.  It's amazing that such a tiny increase in the space between strings (1/16" divided by 5, or 1/80th inch) can make such a huge difference.  

This guitar's previous owner was an ex-Oakland Raider tight end who made a great touchdown catch against the Steelers in the circa '79 AFC Championship game.  He's the nicest guy & has an impressive guitar collection among his football trophies.  I finally asked him to play a tune & it appeared all he could muster was one measure from Cash's Folsom Prison Blues.  Go figure.  Like a car collector w/ a limited license privelege.  

[mfsoa]

I think you brought up a good point and it just goes to show that SO MUCH, depends on the room, as well as the system.

Maybe its pretty close to 1/3 the room, 1/3 the system and 1/3 the source(software).

I think that's as good a rule of thumb as anything in this hobby.

[Daygloworange]

RibbonSpeakers.net ,

Excellent point. Years ago I had the good fortune of someone lending me a Martin ( I believe it was a D-30 ) circa 1928. I had never heard an acoustic guitar sound like this thing. No exageration. Overall it was a warm full bodied sound, with a very nice shimmer in the strumming. But the depth of the bass coming out of this instrument, I have yet to hear anything even come close to this! It defied my ears! I eventually gave it back as I became nervous having it in my possesion. The owner was very aware of the instruments unique qualities and I would have not been able to forgive myself if anything accidentally happened to it.

I had some experience with Martin acoustics before, and I have to admit that I agreed that they had a unique tone, but this particular instrument was unlike anything I had ever heard to this day. It was easily the most exceptionally unique example of any instrument I have ever heard.

Yeah, acoustic guitars, like other acoustic instruments, vary wildly. Even two examples of the same model can, and usually do. It makes it tough.

Cheers

[AB]

My favorite guitar is the Martin 000. It is so much sweeter than the D-35 I normally play.

But the best/sweetest acoustic guitar I have heard was a D28 that had been thrown down a flight of stairs.
It was amazing. You could tell it had been dropped but you would never had guessed it had gone down the stairs.

[Brian Cheney]

I did not try to get Jim's guitar to sound like Jeff Muldaur's.  What I wanted to hear was live guitar at various points in a well-treated listening room.  I also wanted a live voice in the room for the same reason. The alternative was to rely on the aural memory of five listeners ranging in age from late 20's (Berndt, Denise) to early 60's (me and JimH) which gave rise to much difference of opinion before I called in the live music sources.

The Muldaur CD was recorded live in a club and appeared unprocessed (natural sounding applause was the giveaway).  It turned out that we were able to tune the system to optimum performance (for the room) in about half an hour using the live reference vs. reproduced.

It was a memorable afternoon.

[James Romeyn]

Can't remember if Martin ever made a D30, kinda doubt it...which probably means they did

Your intuition was good.  Whatever it was, any '28 D series in good shape is worth several tens of thousands of USD.  Estimated new cost $75.  

[Daygloworange]

I forget what the model was. ( gettin' old y'know ) But this instrument was bought new and handed down in the family twice. The instrument was dark, dark brown, very discolored, almost looked like it had been burned. The fretboard was really worn out under the strings, it looked like a relic. Another really odd thing was how light the guitar was. The body portion was freakishly light, made it feel unbalanced in your lap compared to a regular guitar. Very unique.

Cheers

[James Romeyn]

Yes, it's very easy to observe the visible effects of age on older guitars.  Bracing techniques have changed quite a bit, probably more than anything else in acoustic guitar land.  The lighter bracing of the old guitars improved performance, but of course it also makes them more fragile (among the worst effects being the bridge disconnecting from the top).

I have often wondered if it would improve the guitar's audible performance to place a speaker inside or next to a guitar & play guitar music through it.  There's no doubt in my mind that after playing for an hour or more the instrument sounds far better than when you started.  Guitars improve w/ age.  Is this just the wood & glue aging, or a function of playing time, both, or...?  Another option might be to place one of those vibrating under-seat gizmos inside the guitar if it would fit, then play music through it (but not lower than the guitar's 80 Hz open low E, to avoid hurting the bracing). 

I saw an old episode of The Waltons.  I wonder what is the current state of Jason Walton's old Martin D18, which sounds very sweet even in those mediocre sound tracks.  That absolutely trademark sound of the old vintage D18s is loud & clear: super rich & dynamic, w/ that brassy & smokey sound from the mahogany top/sides & vintage Adirondack spruce top.  That guitar sounded fantastic even when the show was made in the 70s.  It must be an absolute killer now.  If you heard one note from such an instrument you'd look around an take immediate notice, I gaurantee that.