Love for the Martin HD35?

[Deliberate1]

Sometimes I feel like I am out in the wilderness. OK, I do live in rural Downeast Maine. But that is not what I am talking about.

Perhaps some of you recall my purchase of a '96 HD 35 at TME back in early April (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=644430). I wrote, at the time, that the tag said HD 35, which my brain translated into "huh?" I had no idea what it was. Because it was not a D18 or D28, the only Martin models I knew anything about. But, I walked out with it, and with a huge smile on my face. I had never played a guitar that wrapped me in a blanket of sound like this one. And, given the spike in prices over the past year or so, I was shocked to find that it was less than half the price of its nearest rival. And the three piece back makes it beautiful as well as unique.

Since then, I confess that I have not spent the time with it that I planned to. Shortly after that purchase, I found a beautiful Merrill OM18 sunburst which I had been searching for, and made the dive. Since I am learning fingerstyle, the OM, with the smaller body, wider nut and arid voice, was the better tool. But today, I took the HD35 out of the case to work on a strummed piece. And all the love for that huge rush of EIR washed over me again.

Despite its strengths and pricepoint, the guitar seems invisible. Well, not mine, I am staring at it right now. I mean in the public square. I just did a quick search and discovered 10 pages in the archives that refernce the HD35 or D35, dating back to the early 2000's. And some of the results are from the same thread. At least in terms of visibility, that makes the HD35 a poor, orphaned step-child compared to its D28 and D18 siblings, neither of which I have owned.

So what's the deal? The HD35 (at least my 26 year old one) is an absolute honey of a guitar, and a bargain to boot. Perhaps it just takes someone living in the boonies to appreciate a guitar that exists in its own wilderness.

David

[saxonblue]

I'd be thinking there have been far less 35s ever produced than either the 18s or 28s so the fact they seem a bit more obscure probably stems from their availability, not from being a poor, orphaned stepchild.

I was sorely tempted to get one 10 years ago when I got my D-28 but the extra price (both guitars brand new) put it out of reach. Regardless I was impressed by the D-35's full tone.

All that matters is that you are happy with it & it sounds that you are. It would be a contrast from your OM18 when you want to take an occasional break from fingerpicking to have a strum monster like that in your hands. I'm sure the 35 would perform well as a fihgerstyle instrument in it's own right too but maybe a bit bulky.

[brencat]

Justified or not, the HD-35 has a reputation of being overly bass dominant, very mid-scooped, and woofy sounding. It’s the forward shifted thinner 1/4” bracing that gives it that sound. Some people love it, others not so much. Flatpickers would probably not care for that either, since they want the articulation and the projection which the D-18 and D-28 are better suited for. But for singer songwriter duty and where you want to create that wall of sound around the player, the D-35 and HD-35 are perfect.

By the way…I had a Merrill OM-18. It was the most powerful small bodied guitar I ever owned, and the closest to sounding like a dread that an OM could come. They don’t get much better.

[Inyo]

I liked my 1976 Martin D-35 quite much. I've never played a HD-35, though I've listened to several YouTube examples; the instrument has much terrific tone to offer, no doubt about it.

[Deliberate1]

Friends, thanks for your thoughts. If availability is a factor, it begs the question whether supply or demand that drives that bus. Does Martin simply make fewer HD 35's, in favor of its flagship models, or does market demand for those same popular models discourage Martin from prodicing HD 35's in sufficient numbers to create critical mass for a secondary market. Interesting,

Brecat, your description of the Merrill is spot on. I have been gobsmacked by this guitar - in every respect. I was attracted to it after reading numerous comments claiming it to be as close as one can get to vintage Martin unobtanea, without the need to hock a kidney. And, perhaps, a lung. It is sweet, and delicate and dry and comfortable and, ultimately, irresistable. I was able to find the fellow who commissioned it. And he shared with me Jim Merrill's comment that it was one of the best OM's to come out of his shop. I feel priviledged to have it.

As for the voice of the HD35, I have never owned another Martin to compare it to. But I do understand what you are saying. I am working on Neil Young's Harvest Moon. The guitar feels like there is an orchestra behind you, which requires a gentler touch to tamp down the volume. But the lushness in the low and mids, with sparkly trebles, just seems perfect for that song for which I have to use a "head voice." My speaking voice is considerably lower than Mr. Young's singing voice.

David

[Brucebubs]

I've never played one but can't recall reading anything bad about them - they do have a good reputation for being loud.

[sinistral]

I think the history of the HD-35 explains a lot of the reason why the model isn’t as widely available as other D models. In many respects, the HD-35 lives in the HD-28’s shadow.

Recall that, before 1965, the only dreadnought model in regular production was the D-28. At that point, the D-28 had been beefed up to withstand heavy gauge strings—it had standard (neither forward- nor rear-shifted) bracing, and the braces were (and still are) straight. By 1965, it had been over 15 years since Martin had made a dreadnought with forward-shifted, scalloped braces.

By 1965, the supply of Brazilian rosewood was getting tight, and the HD-35 was introduced ostensibly to be able to use smaller pieces of Brazilian rosewood on the backs (of course, the public didn’t know that at the time, it was just a new model). When Martin was in the process of building the prototypes of the D-35, they discovered that the double braces were stiffer than the single brace of the D-28 and made the back braces thinner. In the process, Martin decided to make the braces on the top thinner as well (1/4” vs. 5/16”; the braces of the D-35 were (and still are) straight), basically adopting the braces on the 000/OM models.

The D-35 was a big hit right off the bat. Perhaps inadvertently, the lighter braces created a sound that was reminiscent of pre-war dreadnoughts, albeit with straight braces. It also didn’t hurt that a lot of famous musicians played D-35s. From what I’ve read, the D-35 outsold the D-28 for many years after its introduction.

Fast forward to 1976, and Martin finally succumbed to pressure from dealers and customer to bring back the scalloped braces of pre-war dreadnoughts, and introduced the HD-28. Rather than re-design the D-28 to make it like it’s pre-war version, Martin introduced the HD-28 as a separate model. In addition to scalloped bracing, the HD-28 now had the herringbone trim of pre-war D-28s.

The HD-28 was also a big hit, and I’ve read that it cannibalized sales of the D-35 which was considered a fancier model. Two years later, in 1978, Martin introduced the HD-35. The HD-35 was (and is) to the D-35 what the HD-28 was (and is) to the D-28—herringbone trim and scalloped braces.

From everything I’ve read, from a sales perspective, the HD-35 has always lived as a sleeper in the HD-28s shadow. It’s not unlike the 0000/M and J models—great sounding, and arguably very similar to Taylor’s wildly popular GA and GP models, but the market is drawn to Martin’s traditional designs.

In another nod to this distinction, when Martin reimagined its whole line in 2018, the 35 series didn’t get a diamond headstock or closed-back tuners because it wasn’t a pre-war design.

In addition to a pre-reimagined HD-28 and a reimagined Hd-28 (and having owned a reimagined D-28 for a few short months), I have an HD-35 and I think it sounds great. At least the one I have isn’t “woofy.” The bass is deep and tight. My HD-35 does produce a lot of overtones, so for heavy strumming either of the 28s or the regular D-35 is probably better.

[Rogerblair]

I have owned a couple D-35s, and love the configuration. I then bought an HD-35 thinking - hey, more will be better, right?

Well, I guess I simply didn’t know what to do with all that power and wall of sound that it produced. My fault, not the guitar’s. It felt like taking a Shelby Cobra out for a Sunday drive around the neighborhood.

Beautiful guitar, great sound, but I couldn’t make it work for me.

Roger

[sinistral]

In terms of overall top stiffness, the order probably goes something like this:

HD-35 >> OM-28 >> D-35 >> HD-28 >> D-28, with the OM-28 JM somewhere to the right since it’s main braces are 5/16” instead of 1/4”. It’s interesting that for decades (from the 1940’s to the 1960’s) there was only one flavor, and now there’s a whole spectrum.

[Deliberate1]

Brilliant replies, gentlemen. And many thanks for the history lesson, Lefty.
David

[Glennwillow]

Hi David,

I'd like to add my thoughts and experience to this discussion...

I have a 1967 Martin D-35, which I like a great deal. My dad purchased this guitar for me when I turned 21 back at the beginning of 1969. I have compared my old D-35 to newer versions of the D-35 and the HD-35. My old D-35 actually sounds a little bit more like the newer HD-35 examples I have played, though my D-35 does not have quite the amount of bass that the HD-35 delivers.

I am mostly a finger picker, though I do use a flat pick occasionally. For finger picking, the HD-35, I think works well, at least for me. But I have a fairly light touch and a guitar like the HD-35 works well for my style of playing. In spite of my enjoyment of the sound of the HD-35 examples that I have played, I felt that the bass was a little more than I wanted.

At the same time I have heard recordings from good players where the HD-35 sounded completely wonderful. I think in the end a good player learns to get the best sounds out of his/her guitar. However, a good player doesn't try to pull sounds out of a guitar that it is simply not suited for. I hope that makes sense.

I think the HD-35 does not get a lot of attention partly because for a lot of players, dreadnought guitars are for strumming and particularly for Bluegrass. The soft, flexible, scalloped, forward shifted 1/4" bracing of the HD-35, which make this model very responsive for fingerstyle playing are not a good formula for the hard hitting, heavy flat-pick playing of Bluegrass. The D-18, D-28 and HD-28 work much better for this style of music, though I am not much of a Bluegrass player.

I can see why you are enjoying your HD-35. For me, it has a great sound and depending on how you play, it could be perfect. Enjoy it!

- Glenn

[6L6]

I've played some HD-35's that sounded overly bassy to me and others that sounded about perfect. I could say that about a lot of other models too. If it works for you, play the heck out of it!

Martin D-35's have always been my favorite Martin model ever since I played my first ones, brand new 1965's (first year for the D-35), at the old Denver Folklore Center. I was a poor college student in Boulder at the time and could only dream of being able to purchase one of the three I played at the store that day.

But eventually that dream came true and I've owned five D-35's over the years. My current D-35, built in 1974, is the best sounding D-35 I've ever played. I bought it at Gryphon and had them do a neck reset, install new stainless steel frets, install a new bone saddle, and install a K&K pup. It sounds and plays fantastically! And I LOVE the neck!

The other D-35's I've owned were built in 1966, 1969, 1970, 2006, and now my 1974.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi David,

I'd like to add my thoughts and experience to this discussion...

I have a 1967 Martin D-35, which I like a great deal. My dad purchased this guitar for me when I turned 21 back at the beginning of 1969. I have compared my old D-35 to newer versions of the D-35 and the HD-35. My old D-35 actually sounds a little bit more like the newer HD-35 examples I have played, though my D-35 does not have quite the amount of bass that the HD-35 delivers.

I am mostly a finger picker, though I do use a flat pick occasionally. For finger picking, the HD-35, I think works well, at least for me. But I have a fairly light touch and a guitar like the HD-35 works well for my style of playing. In spite of my enjoyment of the sound of the HD-35 examples that I have played, I felt that the bass was a little more than I wanted.

At the same time I have heard recordings from good players where the HD-35 sounded completely wonderful. I think in the end a good player learns to get the best sounds out of his/her guitar. However, a good player doesn't try to pull sounds out of a guitar that it is simply not suited for. I hope that makes sense.

I think the HD-35 does not get a lot of attention partly because for a lot of players, dreadnought guitars are for strumming and particularly for Bluegrass. The soft, flexible, scalloped, forward shifted 1/4" bracing of the HD-35, which make this model very responsive for fingerstyle playing are not a good formula for the hard hitting, heavy flat-pick playing of Bluegrass. The D-18, D-28 and HD-28 work much better for this style of music, though I am not much of a Bluegrass player.

I can see why you are enjoying your HD-35. For me, it has a great sound and depending on how you play, it could be perfect. Enjoy it!

- Glenn

This is such a great description!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by sinistral

This is such a great description!

Thank you!

- Glenn

[Deliberate1]

Agree, Glenn. Thanks for the great summary.
Could someone describe to me what "scooped" mids and a "woofing" bass (see Brencat above) sounds like? I don't know if that describes my HD35, or not.
By the way, when I got home and played the guitar with by go-to DR Sunbeams, I was not crazy about the action, so when in the Boston area again, I stopped by TME where I bought it. The luthier did a relief tweak, and mounted a set of D'Addario PB EJ19 - Bluegrass strings (12,16,25,45,56). In a word - perfect.
David