My biggest concern would be that Martin doesn’t have a great track record getting good low neck relief on their fixed ebony rod authentic necks. I’ve not played the OM18A, but all of the D-1As and 00-17As (also ebony truss rods) had neck relief ranging from suboptimal to unacceptable. This is one of the few authentic models that would benefit from an adjustable truss rod—or, better yet, a proper compression fret out of the factory. That said, after a proper refret, there’s no reason it shouldn’t play perfectly.
I’m not a huge fan of the Collings guitars I’ve played and owned, but everything I’ve read about the JL is that it has its own thing going on. Not cheap, but I’d be eager to try one out if they ever came along.
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