Martin HD-28VE Reviews 5

35 years as a musician, play guitar and percussion. Blues, rock, country, alternative, metal.

Purchased online for $2800.00

Te sweetest sound I've ever heard from an acoustic guitar. Excellent vintage looks.

Action too high, questionable quality control. The first one I got had a slight blem in the wood grain but Martin claimed it was within spec. Tried to get the action lowered by a Martin warranty repair guy but he said the neck needed to reset. Pretty bad for a brand new $3,000 guitar in my opinion. Two months after I sent my guitar back to Martin they finally replaced it with one that was perfect. I appreciate that, but I think they should all be that way for that kind of money. They use plastic brindge pins (?)!

Very nice soldi rosewood back and sides, sitka top, excellent grain and even color, totally awesome Gotoh butterbean open back tuners, and cool abalone diamonds and squares fret marker inlay. Bone nut, Tusq sadlle, replaced plastic bridge pins with Tusq.

Totally awesome sound, but action still to high so somewhat difficult for em to play. Would be best for hard strummers and blugrass, which is not my style. Sold it and got a DC-Aura.

Cwilder771 rated this unit 4 on 2006-08-06.

Mostly acoustic, some electric guitar, percussion and vocals. Have played in rocks bands for years and now solo.

Internet purchase, $2300.00 (supposedly dealer cost). They can be found from $2600-3000.

Beautiful tone, good action, excellent looks. Fishman Ellipse blend system is pretty good, and is excellent for a vintage style dreadnaught as it doesn't require cutting holes, except the end pin jack. It keeps the sound as natural as possible. The Gotoh butterbean open-back tuners are awesome, as is the glossy rosewood headstock overlay. The abalone (or blue paua?) diamonds and squares for the fret markers are beautiful.

All solid wood Martins are very pricey. I guess you get what you pay for to some extent though. Would like to see Tusq or bone bridge pins standard instead of plastic. A more decorative rosette would be nice, but this is an HD-28. You can get that on a D-41 or D-45 for another $500 & up to $100,000.

I actually had two. The first had a blem on the top in the grain, and the headstock had a satin finish. The neck had problems so I sent it back to Martin. After a few months of himming and hawing they finally replaced it with a new one which was very nice. Overall the fit & finsih and craftsmanship was very good.

The most beautiful sounding guitar I have ever played. It also has excelent looks to boot.

Wildman rated this unit 5 on 2006-05-03.

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