NGD - Martin Dreadnought Jr - Review

[djg]

Originally Posted by dragonfly66

It WAS a mixed review, which surprised me, because I plan to keep this guitar and would buy it again if it was stolen. I think much of me wanting the D Jr was nostalgia for a dreadnought and finding one that I could play comfortably. It sounds like a dreadnought and not like any of the other guitars I own, so I am happy.

While people will compare the D Jr to the GS Mini they are not in the same category if you ask me. I see the GS Mini as a travel guitar and the D Jr as a guitar. I have had two GS Minis and sold them both. My issue with them was that they were small, but not THAT small. Once in the gig bag they took up almost as much space a my Taylor GC. They are not small enough for plane travel. I know people have traveled with them but you are at the mercy of the airlines and I already have enough stress when traveling that I don't need to add worrying about my guitar to the list. The killer for me though was the scale length. It really was just too short to be comfortable for more than two songs. If I was learning a song, the short scale of the GS Mini didn't translate well to my full-sized guitars. I finally invested in a Journey Instruments Overhead carbon fiber guitar for travel and am happy with the feature set.

Sorry for the thread drift, but dragonfly, I understand your concern about air travel with the mini but I have a different view. I understand chiefly because I know that there are no guarantees, and because I'd never want a guitar to go into the cargo hold in a gig bag. I have a different view because the mini gig bag, although not tiny, does fit easily into a wide range of overhead compartments. That fact, coupled with new regulations, coupled with a little effort to secure early boarding . . . well, it's no guarantee, but I'm a weekly traveler on an east coast shuttle flight and it has not been a problem for me on either of the two airlines that fly the route. Your experience -- and comfort margin -- could, of course, vary.

[Blueser100]

Another happy customer. I too am petite and grew up playing a full size Yamaha dread. For years I sought out dreads as a way to recapture my youth but they increasingly became less comfortable to play. I have let go my last full size guitar and am thrilled to have this 15/16 scale Martin dread as a main guitar. Finally a guitar sized for the rest of us folks who are not 6' tall or more.

[jljohn]

Originally Posted by dragonfly66

I guess I shouldn't expect the D Jr to sound like my more expensive guitars, but this guitar is ALL solid wood so I was expecting it to sound better than it does.

Thank you for this excellent review, but I do want to correct this statement. I see it far too often in connection with this guitar. It is not an "all solid wood" guitar. It has a solid wood top, back, and sides, but, traditionally, an all solid wood guitar has solid wood top, back, sides, bridge, and fingerboard. The bridge and fingerboard on this guitar are not wood; they are Richlite.

Thanks for your honest opinion about the instrument though, it is very helpful!

[dragonfly66]

I'll try to post some sound clips later tonight for acoustic and plugged in with strumming and finger style. I got a new Apogee One that I want to try out.

[dragonfly66]

Originally Posted by jljohn

Thank you for this excellent review, but I do want to correct this statement. I see it far too often in connection with this guitar. It is not an "all solid wood" guitar. It has a solid wood top, back, and sides, but, traditionally, an all solid wood guitar has solid wood top, back, sides, bridge, and fingerboard. The bridge and fingerboard on this guitar are not wood; they are Richlite.

Thanks for your honest opinion about the instrument though, it is very helpful!

FYI to all... What I understand "solid wood" to mean is that the two pieces that make up the top, the back, and the sides are made from the same piece of wood, respectively, and that none of it is laminated.

[Jukie]

This may be the stupid question of the day but what is tone rite?

[drplayer]

Originally Posted by jljohn

...but I do want to correct this statement. I see it far too often in connection with this guitar. It is not an "all solid wood" guitar. It has a solid wood top, back, and sides, but, traditionally, an all solid wood guitar has solid wood top, back, sides, bridge, and fingerboard. The bridge and fingerboard on this guitar are not wood; they are Richlite

I hear what you're saying, but I'm not sure I agree. I think most folks consider an all-solid wood guitar one that has a solid top, back & sides. If you go beyond that, where does it end--because in actuality, no guitar is all solid wood...

[dragonfly66]

Originally Posted by Jukie

This may be the stupid question of the day but what is tone rite?

Not stupid at all!

It is a device that vibrates the guitar, simulating vibrations that might occur while playing. You can find out more here, http://www.tonerite.com. I have used it on all of my guitars with great, good and mediocre results depending on the guitar. I didn't like my Breedlove Northwest Classic much until I used the Tone Rite on it. It opened up so nicely it sounded like a different guitar. Now it is one of my favorites. I used it on my 512ce 12-fret and didn't hear much difference at all. Probably because it was perfect already (it is my #1).

I must warn you though, people have very strong opinions about this device on whether it works or not. I say if you hear a difference (perceived or real) then it works, if you don't it doesn't work.

[Jukie]

Thanks, dragonfly.

[devellis]

Very informative review. Thanks.

[Kip Carter]

Originally Posted by jljohn

Thank you for this excellent review, but I do want to correct this statement. I see it far too often in connection with this guitar. It is not an "all solid wood" guitar. It has a solid wood top, back, and sides, but, traditionally, an all solid wood guitar has solid wood top, back, sides, bridge, and fingerboard. The bridge and fingerboard on this guitar are not wood; they are Richlite.

Thanks for your honest opinion about the instrument though, it is very helpful!

John, are you trying to nit pick? of course NO guitar is all solid wood.. wooden strings would suck for tone. It is common reference to refer to solid wood as to the body of the guitar and end there not extend to the finger board bridge and other components. Or were you just looking for a parade to rain on?

[nedray]

Just returned from a trip to GC where I got my first look at the D Jr. Very impressed with tone and feel.

I was surprised the scale length did not feel unduly short, unlike the GS Mini, which does. I agree the comparison between these two is a bit of a stretch because they are really apples and oranges. A better Taylor equivalent might be the 110CE, which is D size, full scale and the same price. It is laminated, but I don't worry about that. I've heard some really good laminated guitars (the ES-335 comes to mind...).

Anyway, the D Jr. seems impressive and well worth the investment.

[Blueser100]

Yes. This is my understanding.

Originally Posted by dragonfly66

FYI to all... What I understand "solid wood" to mean is that the two pieces that make up the top, the back, and the sides are made from the same piece of wood, respectively, and that none of it is laminated.

[djg]

Originally Posted by dragonfly66

FYI to all... What I understand "solid wood" to mean is that the two pieces that make up the top, the back, and the sides are made from the same piece of wood, respectively, and that none of it is laminated.

I agree with you. I think it's pretty common to call a guitar an "all solid wood" guitar when the pieces comprising the top, back, and sides are solid, rather than laminated, "layered," or ply-wood. It doesn't mean that every bit of the guitar is solid wood (else we'd need wooden strings, tuners, etc.) or that every bit that is wood is solid wood (else an all carbon fiber guitar arguably would be "all solid wood," by dint of the fact that all zero of its wood pieces are solid).

I sorta understand the poster's point, in that bridges and fingerboards have, traditionally, been made of wood, but I don't think there's anything wrong with your description or your use of the phrase -- seems to me that the top, back, and sides are the more common places to draw the line between all solid and all or partly laminated guitars. For that matter, although I'll confess to some personal bias in favor of ebony for a fingerboard, I don't see how my fingers can tell the difference if it's a (well made) richlite board while I'm playing.

[jljohn]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

John, are you trying to nit pick? of course NO guitar is all solid wood.. wooden strings would suck for tone. It is common reference to refer to solid wood as to the body of the guitar and end there not extend to the finger board bridge and other components. Or were you just looking for a parade to rain on?

No, I'm not trying to nit pick, and I think this is an important point. Of course tuners, frets, frets, and (usually) pins are not wood, but traditionally the bridge, fingerboard, top, braces, sides, and back on a guitar are made of wood. To make less expensive guitars, makers often used laminate or pressboard to make the sides and back. The phrase "all solid wood" when used to describe a guitar usually served to distinguish a guitar with solid backs and sides from those that were laminated. Let's note though that in these cases the bridge, fingerboard, and braces were still all made of wood. So far so good, and we are all on the same page. But, and its a big one, Martin made a guitar here that does have solid back and sides, but to keep costs down they changed out the traditionally wood bridge and fingerboard for Richlite. All of the parts of a guitar that are traditionally made of wood are not made of wood on this guitar, which is why people should stop referring to it as "all solid wood."

Engage in a brief exercise with me. If a maker released a guitar with a solid mahogany back and sides and a solid spruce top, but they used plastic for all the bracing, the fingerboard, the bridge plate, and the bridge, would you call it an "ALL solid wood" guitar? I hope not.

Lastly, the OP presented a review (a mixed review at that) and part of his description was to make the claim that this is an "ALL solid wood" guitar. Thanking him for his review while suggesting that this description is inaccurate is not raining on anyone's parade. And your foray into talking about wooden strings isn't helpful either. I think you know what I'm talking about. In this era, when manufacturers can, and will, save a buck by making most wooden parts out of a lesser material, a guitar should only be called "all solid wood" when every part that is traditionally made of wood is actually made of solid wood.