I'm not in Love - Not 10CC and Not with the Dreadnaught JR

[Kip Carter]

Well folks I finally got the opportunity to have my much anticipated sit down with the new Martin Dreadnaught JR. I must say first off I'm a bit surprised at my reaction despite my prior enthusiasm going in and yes honest anticipation I came away knowing there's one guitar I don't have to budget for.

Perfect setup... Saturday morning and must be everyone had a hard Friday night because the store was empty at the Birmingham, Alabama Guitar Center. (okay maybe 3 customers but I had the entire acoustic area to myself all three rooms).

The JR had been hung high and apparently not there long as the strings appeared brand new, no shop wear on the guitar anywhere to be found. It was in perfect tune as I pulled it off the wall. I liked the action from the factory, neck felt nice, the guitar felt comfortable in my hands and very playable overall. And I played it...
and played it...
put it down...
played other things... came back and played it some more...
No love!
No like!
Not even general respect.

Frankly, my inexpensive laminate Fender in my sig out plays this Martin by a long shot and the difference is pronounced. The Martin may have an ever so light advantage over my Fender in projection volume but resonance and tone the cheapy Fender folk guitar leave the Martin D-JR in the dust. Sustain also comes down on the side of the Fender in my estimation but in order to be definitive on that I would have had to have the two side by side.

Bottom line is this; walking into the store I was in the camp of those who were truly counted as a future owner of a Dreadnaught Jr at some point in the near future. I was giddy to try one and figured as soon as I had that fix the next fix would be to add it to my credit card and take it home. Walking out of the store I was warmly more affectionate and fond of the whim purchase of the Fender folk guitar I had bought to just have something to have up in the living room to play without having to go down to the studio, or to sit out on the deck with on a hot humid day and not worry about what the weather was doing to the internals of the guitar.

I also learned something else today. I'm pretty sure that I'll be setting my sights on a either a 400 or 800 series Taylor soon. Its an itch that is getting worse and is eventually going to have to be scratched.

Sorry, but I'm not in love with the Dreadnaught Jr.

EDIT: Subject edited removing McCartney reference and replacing it with 10CC which is really who did "I'm not in love".. after it was pointed out that I had a brain fart!

[Greg Rappleye]

Kip:

I recently played a Martin Dreadnaught Jr., and my reaction was similar to yours.

If you get a chance, try the 600 Series Taylors.

Best Regards,



Greg Rappleye

[skiltrip]

Happy to hear you mention the Taylor itch. My recent itch for a 414 or 416 ended well with my new 416e. I also had an 810 that I stupidly sold. I think 800 or 400 it's a great call.


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[kydave]

I can't imagine getting particularly excited over a shrunken mahogany short/short scale dreadnaught in the first place.

Good to hear I'm not overlooking something, I guess.

I really think Martin did most of the innovating they needed to do in the '30s...

(with the exception of the M/0000 - a very good "new" idea...)

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

Sorry, but I'm not in love with the Dreadnaught Jr.

Well -- it's not a real, grown up guitar, after all.

[drplayer]

Not my experience at all. I was surprised too when I first played one--but in exactly the opposite way--by how good it sounded. But hey...different guitar, different hands, different ears. Thank goodness they make so many models of guitars, because we all can have such different experiences. Glad you had the chance to try one before purchasing one, and hope your Taylor quest ends on a better note...

[Garrison314]

I had the same experience with the Taylor Mini.....played one at GC and thought it stunk, then went to another store in town that had two and thought they both played and sounded great.

[Toby Walker]

Hi Kip,

I never had the chance to try one out but looking it up I see that it's only about $600.00. Martins along that price range rarely leave a good impression on me. I consider those type of guitars to be in the 'first time home buyer' class - it'll do for now but I can't wait to move on up to a better guitar.

[drplayer]

Originally Posted by Toby Walker

I consider those type of guitars to be in the 'first time home buyer' class - it'll do for now but I can't wait to move on up to a better guitar.

Or, as in my case, for someone looking for a quality made, good value (all solid wood), travel-sized guitar that provides an alternative to other similar-sized offerings. There have been enough reviews on these now (both pro and con) to determine that they can be hit or miss...which at this price point is neither uncommon or surprising.

My opinion is similar to yours. I feel that Martin's heart isn't in it when they make the lesser expensive guitars. I have yet to play a Martin under $1500 that I'd own and I think the reason is that's the kind of guitar they like to build (higher end) and they're only in the lower-end market for financial reasons. Taylor now, those guys know how to make an inexpensive guitar that sounds good and so does Yamaha. Gibson doesn't even bother.

If you want a guitar that can get beer splashed on it at the beach; a guitar that no one's going to hear well anyway over the loud drunk talk, crashing waves and crackling fire then a cheap Martin makes sense.

The only Taylor I want to own again is a 914 because when I get tired of playing it, it'll look great hanging over my couch.

[Rmz76]

Thanks for the honest review.... I felt the same way when I tried the Martin D-Jr. Proof that all solid wood construction doesn't guarantee anything. They also really dropped the ball with the gig bad that the Dr-Jr ships with. Martin made no effort to match the high quality hard foam gig bag Taylor provides with the GS Mini. For me the Martin D-Jr is just another guitar in a long line of disappointing models from their factory in Mexico. If you ever get a chance to A-B test a Sigma 000M15 against a Martin 000RS1 you'll find a very sad case. An all solid wood Martin branded guitar looses to a Chinese built, laminate b&s clone of the same instrument. Not sure what Martin's relationship with is to Sigma these days but they should buy them and put their brand name on the headstock; since they've already sold the "Martin on headstock means American build quality" with the road series and Martin D-Jr and these guitars are just poor quality instruments.

It's sad the two acoustics I was most excited about from NAMM (Martin D-Jr and Epiphone AJ-45ME) both turned out to be huge let downs.

The GS Mini is still the only small scale travel guitar I recommend. I also tell people that I think they are horribly inconsistent and tell the story of how mine warped within nine months due to poor build quality (I say poor build quality because my other four acoustics were stored in the same environment and treat the same way), during my GS Mini's short life I was happy with it and felt it was a very good travel guitar and a good price. Others have better luck.

The 800 series are great! You should try the new 600 series Taylor's as well. They are different but there's the Andy Power's signature. They feel lighter built, it's a new generation of Taylor's. Can't wait until Andy works his way down to the 300 and 200/100 series.

[yamanut]

I had the same experience... Underwhelmed. I disagree about martins under $1500 though. I had a D1 that was an *** kicker and regret selling that guitar. I think it was $700 new, but it was fantastic.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by Garrison314

I had the same experience with the Taylor Mini.....played one at GC and thought it stunk, then went to another store in town that had two and thought they both played and sounded great.

The GS Minis's are VERY inconsistent. Not only that if you do some research here and elsewhere you find people have more problems with the GS Mini than most other Taylor models. All guitars I've tried from Martin and Taylor's Mexican factories have been inconsistent. People will try to defend these builders and say they are the exact same staff, etc.... I have no idea about the why this is the case but it certainly is. If it's not a lack of training with staff or build practices it comes down to less time spent on quality control.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by Kip Carter

I also learned something else today. I'm pretty sure that I'll be setting my sights on a either a 400 or 800 series Taylor soon. Its an itch that is getting worse and is eventually going to have to be scratched.

Kip, as you know I scratched that itch a couple months ago. Had to sell my beloved D-28 to finance the purchase of my 814...but I've never regretted that decision. Sweet guitar. Beautiful in tone and looks...and now that I've had the setup tweaked it plays oh so easy.

[Mking]

I have to agree with you all that the low or modestly priced Martins, some made outside of PA don't cut it. Cheap prices and cheap sounding. I remember the D-1 and the D-1R when they came out and they are the exception.

I have a Taylor BTO Grand Concert, sinker redwood top and East Indian Rosewood back and sides. Talk about a fantastic couch/front porch finger picking guitar!!! It has the rich rosewood tone without the dreadnought whoof!