Have You Played Martin M-36 and Taylor 818e?

[GrandpaBucky]

Yes, I realize I am animating a zombie thread here. The M-36 has the same top dimension as the J-40 but has less depth so the M-36th has immediate response and less sustain. If you want open woody tone with a ton of cascading overtones, get a J-40. I owned a Taylor 516 once. We didn't get along because the tone was too devoid of personality for my taste, so we parted ways. The problem is that every guitar is different, even when they sport the same tone woods. You really need to pick up and play before purchasing. One forum response here mentioned the 000-28ec as an option. That is a fine sounding guitar. If not for the soft V neck, I would have purchased one three weeks ago. I came really close on a new USA made Epiphone Texan last week. Incredible tone but again, I didn't like the neck profile. For those who complained back in 2014 about the small nut on the M-36, the new Martin re-imagined series have 1 3/4" nuts with forward shifted bracing on many so, problem solved. My current dream guitar is a re-imagined J-40. I own a 1995 J-40 and the tone and overtones are mind blowing but I keep thinking a 1/16" wider nut will solve all my fingering problems... It is way too easy to pick up a guitar that sounds incredible and buy it before considering things like neck profile, nut width, upper register accessibility, intonation etc. I'd suggest making and bringing a checklist for when you have money burning a hole in your pocket, an unquenchable thirst for something shiny and new, and then are hit with a tone that rocks your World and shuts off the critical thinking part of your brain.

[The Bard Rocks]

For 20 years, I exclusively played in M38 (fancier M36). It was a great guitar, very balanced, good for soloists. I eventually moved on as I got tired of not being able to hear myself when playing with others. The thin body was comfortable, I suppose but I never thought about it once I had louder guitars (with the same tonal balance).