Feature:
Composition case is protective, and lighter than those with my other Martins.

Quality:
A fine instrument.

Value:
You get what you pay for. I prefer the more subtle instrument. The higher end Martins add a lot of abalone I don't care for.

Desirability:
If you like quality materials and craftsmanship, rather than inlays and other gimmicks, this is your guitar.

Sound:
Very crisp, full ranging sound

Ease of Use:
Remember it is a dreadnought; a smaller body is more comfortable to play, but you will sacrifice sound depth and presence.

Support:
My local dealer, Bentley Guitars, has been terrific.

Overall:
I am very careful with it and expect to keep it for a lifetime.

• Submitted: 12/8/2007
• Style of Music: Rock and folk
• Location: Parkville, MO USA

Feature:
straight forward, made to play by people who play for people who play.

Quality:
exceptional workmanship

Value:
well it is 2ooo clams

Desirability:
uhhhh sex appeal?...you guys are weird man.....

Sound:
the old guys that lament the loss of sound in new martins are wood heads. The new instruments will age with time and care to be coveted 20 years from now. They are still the best and if you care for it and allow it to age well, will be the best rig you can play. They are mostly handcrafted and have a custom sound. you pay 2000 for a real musicians tool. You want flowers and crap all over your guitar then you probably cant play anyway.

Ease of Use:
great action, wish that they would support heavy strings, but mediums are cool.

Support:
i havent dealt with them, the thing works.

Overall:
gonna be buried with it

• User: a customer from yahoo.com
• Submitted: 12/20/2006
• Style of Music: folk blues
• Location: san antonio texas usa

Feature:
this is a great guitar. crafted beautifuly. it is not flashy but alot goes into making a guitar this good. a guitar made in china or some other asian country is probably more likley to have or develope neck problems. good investment -moneywise and youll play much more with an enjoyable guitar.

Quality:
you cant beat a martin or a gibson for the money. i prefer martin because the gibsons have tastless decore (like the dove).

Value:
very good for the money, you would have to goto a custom luthier for better and then you would get exotic woods that don't nessesaryally make the guitar sound beter

Desirability:
why are they asking about the sex appeal of a guitar. thats just plain weird

Sound:
the d28 has a nicer sound than the d18, but i have played other model martins where the mohogany sounds better than the rosewood. the d18vs sounded beter than the rosewood version whose # escapes me. try before you buy side by side . each guitar is different.you may get a crappy one in this model, or you may get a stupendus one in the very same model. they have to talk to you, if your paying big bucks it pays to be happy with your purchese . PLAY THEM!!!

Ease of Use:
if it needs it get it set up by a pro pay the extra money.

Support:
i didn't have to deal with the co. so i can't go either way

Overall:
forever,and maybe even into the afterlife.

• User: a customer from rock.com
• Submitted: 12/12/2006
• Style of Music: alt country
• Location: nyc ,USA

Feature:
Spruce and rosewood- great combination.

Quality:
Solid and clean with no defects.

Value:
As I said, worth every penny.

Desirability:
It is a simple no frills guitar with a great sound. I personally don't care about frills and embellishments.

Sound:
There are those who lament that today's Martins don't compare to the Martins of old and there might be some validity to that argument; but, this guitar does not sound like a cheap $150 guitar as some traditionalists have claimed. This guitar, simple in appearance, has a full rich tone that is distinctly Martin. It is a tone that can be downright intoxicating. Play a chord on it and the sound will linger with you forever. [I first heard one played in the 60's and wanted one from that time on.]The guitar is best strummed or flat picked-it is adequate but not great for finger picking. When I started learning finger picking styles I bought a 1967 Martin 0-16 New Yorker. The New Yorker's projection and intonation is far superior when finger picked. I should add though, that I don't use finger picks or cultivate long nails. That said, this is a beautiful instrument worth every penny.

Support:
I talked to Martin on the phone regarding a variety of issues. Their support has always been excellent.

Overall:
I expect this guitar to improve with age [I have owned it a little over a year]. Even though I'll probably buy other guitars, I'll never part with this one.

• User: a customer from nycap.rr.com
• Submitted: 9/14/2005
• Style of Music: Mostly folk and blues
• Location: New York's Capital District

Feature:
Nothing great, just a case and some tags.

Quality:
They are not awfully made.......they tend to be neat and without too many obvious flaws.....but the quality must be poor somewhere because they sound like a guitar you would purchase for $150.00....not $2000.00 and up. (Don't go near ANY of the 'affordable' Martins or the 'Cowboy pictures' etc......they are garbage as a musical instrument.

Value:
Martin no longer 'cuts it'!

Desirability:
An old Martin is worth a lot of money because it sounds GREAT! A new Martin is simply a poor investment and sounds like a $150.00 guitar.

Sound:
I am sad to say the 'new' (if built during the last decade or two)Martin Guitars just don't have it any more! I had a 73 D-35 that was very nice...but not as nice as the 60's Martins....and so on. I realize that much tone is gained as the guitar is properly aged...but the new Martin's sound like cheap imitations of the original Martin sound. I have picked up at least a hundred over the last decade and every single one sounded dead, uneven, and most sadly very little 'bottom'. That deep bottom was the siren that drove the company's fame. They don't have that 'sound' any more!

Support:
They can provide support if you have a manufacturing defect....but no one knows or can answer why they don't sound good any more.

Overall:
Would not purchase a new Martin..........

• User: a customer from bellsouth.net
• Submitted: 4/22/2005
• Style of Music: variety
• Location: Covington, KY USA

Feature:
The only "accessory" was the factory hard shell case. It is most adequate for the protection of this fine instrument. The materials, (Indian rosewood/spruce/mahogany/ebony) are well selected and perfectly matched. The binding is perfect. The tuners hold their tune much beter than my older Seagull.

Quality:
It seems fashionable in some circles to "Martin bash" on quality issues. I think this is due to the fact that the difference between the top names, (Martin, Gibson, Guild) and the competition is very much smaller than it used to be. Also because these top names have brought out popular priced models to compete. Suffice it to say that I have found the D-28 to be flawless. It is better than I expected, and more thanI hoped for.

Value:
I certainly haven't played every brand and model guitar available, but I've played a bunch of them, and the only one I would hold out against my D-28 is my neighbor's Schoenberg. (At a $400 or $500 price premium.) So, yes, I rate the D-28 as a huge value.

Desirability:
Acoustic guitars in general are a pretty generic lot in the "sex appeal" department. Gloss vs. matte, rosewood vs. mahogany, full body vs. cutaway- these are really personal preference issues. I can only say that of all the "Plain Jane" dreadnauts out there, I've fallen for mine! The inlays are very conservative, but perfectly executed. The finish has no blemishes I can see, (with my poor old eyes). The bindings, as previously stated, are beautifully done. Sexy? Yeah, to me it's very sexy.

Sound:
I do a lot of bass pick/strum or bass pick/pluck, (and some really elementry finger picking), and none of the sound gets lost in the process. The bass is strong, the mids ring and the tops strings are crisp and clean.

Support:
This is a brand new instrument with no "out of the box" issues, so I can only expect that my support will be there if I ever need it. Martin has de-centralized their support to a network of factory approved luthiers, one of which is very conviently located, so I anticipate no problems in this regard. (Back when support was rendered in Pennsylvania, my friend sent his D-35 in for some major adjustments, and received it back in perfect condition, with a note chastising him for his neglect, and suggesting that he take better care of his instrument in the future!)

Overall:
This is almost certainly my "run out" guitar. For one thing, I'm getting up there. For another, I could get much, much better that I am, and still not outpace the D-28. I expect this fine instrument to give me 25 years or so of pure enjoyment, and then I'll pass it on to some lucky kid.

• User: a customer from wmconnect.com
• Submitted: 11/20/2004
• Style of Music: Folk, blues and "Island Junk".
• Location: Cedar Key, Florida

Feature:
Shaymus: "Nice workmanship - you'd expect that for the price - not over done or too flashy...just my style."

Quality:
Shaymus: "You can tell the guitar is well-made just by picking it up. It feels lighter than you'd expect, but that airy quality is what gives the D-28 its resonance and volume."

Value:
Shaymus: "...yeah, it's expensive all right...maybe not quite worth all the money, but people who buy Martins (mine was a gift) are the same people who want to own performance cars and other top of the line gear regardless of price. I think they could be offered at a lower cost, but some folks just believe that if it costs a lot it must be good - in this case it works out - but I still think it could be offered at a lower price to real musicians who want the sound but can't afford such a high price tag."

Sound:
Shaymus: "I really like the tonal range of this instrument. I've played so many acoustics over the years, but this is the one I keep coming back to. It's very sensitive to soft and expressive finger-picking but it also really lights up when strummed. It's chimey, mid-range rich, and bass-boomy all at the same time. Probably the best tonally balanced guitar of all time."

Overall:
Shaymus: "It's a great guitar...really - like a good friend of mine, which I guess you can't put a price on. Nevertheless, if I were to put a price on a friend, I'd probably make it a little lower so that other folks could get one too."

• User: a customer from shaymus.org
• Submitted: 6/10/2004
• Style of Music: Boston Folk, Pop, R & B
• Location: Boston

Feature:
The only features I had installed on my D-28 is a strap pin, and a Martin thinline gold+ active pickup. The materials, design, and craftsmanship used in making it, are what make it one of the superior guitars still made today.

Quality:
I believe the Martin Guitar Co. has a very high standard for quality control. I have a guitar that not only looks great, but as long as I take reasonable care of it, will be able to go on the road and last my life time.

Value:
The quality of the guitar, which should last a lifetime compared to the retail price makes it s great value.

Desirability:
The guitar looks great. It carries also the name and model that is widely known and sought after. Putting this together with the rich sound it creates gives it a great sex appeal. It took me from I want it, I want it, I want it, to I GOT IT!

Sound:
The Martin D-28 has a rich, strong and loud bass without sacrificing it's crisp sharp treble. It has the ability to give the needed sound quality when it is the only instrument being played when my wife and I perform live as a gospel duet. It has the ability to stand alone when it is the only instrument being played. I have played with other musicians and it blends well with other instruments. My D-28 is equipped with a thinline gold plus active pickup. It delivers great high quality sound no matter if I'm amped up in a recording or sitting out in my back yard. When we are performing I am usually plugged into my P.A. system or some times patched into a church's system. The best way I know of to improve sound on my Martin is to keep a fresh set of strings on it when needed.

Support:
I have had no dealings with the Martin Guitar Co. directly, but the retailer that I bought mine and my wife's Martin Guitars from, and the authorised repair shop both were very helpful and easy to work with.

Overall:
I don't ever expect to replace it. Before getting my Martin I already had a 6 string acoustic cut away, a 12 string acoustic and a back packer. I have made the purchase of the guitar that I always wanted so I do not desire to replace it.

• User: a customer from cameron.net
• Style of Music: Bluegrass, Country Gospel, & Contemporary Gospel
• Location: Kingston, Mo. USA

Feature:
The only reason this gets an 8 is becuase it isn't an ornate instrument. I like the clean lines of it, but Martin offers more inlay on some other products. It doesn't lack in itself, but in comparison to others in the Martin premium line, it cannot be a 10.

Quality:
Not a blemish on it.

Value:
Quality American craftsmanship at an affordable price. If it's worth having, it's worth saving for. This is a guitar that will last a lifetime and is worth every penny.

Desirability:
I love the feel of it.

Sound:
Full and rich.

Support:
Have never needed repairs, but questions have always been answered promptly and courteously.

Overall:
I've owned 2 Martin D-28's in the past 11 years. My standards for a guitar have been raised since owning these. It has become the benchmark for every acoustic I try.

• Style of Music: Rock