Thought this would have been very popular?

bermudianbrit · August 2018

Hi all,

I just saw this at Coda. I own one, bought new last year from GG, and the guy there also said they weren't particularly popular instruments. I wonder wy that is? I absolutely love mine and have gigged it with great results.

Just a random thought for those in-the-know.

https://www.coda-music.com/martin-gpc35e.html

stickyfiddle · August 2018

I'm guessing from the look of it that it's effectively Martin's attempt to make a "Taylor", but most Martin players don't like Taylors, and most Taylor players prefer Taylors, so it's sort of left in the middle with no-one that bothered?

That's not to say it's not a good guitar - it may well be.

Lewy · August 2018

stickyfiddle said:

I'm guessing from the look of it that it's effectively Martin's attempt to make a "Taylor", but most Martin players don't like Taylors, and most Taylor players prefer Taylors, so it's sort of left in the middle with no-one that bothered?

That's not to say it's not a good guitar - it may well be.

Spot on I reckon. People who want a cutaway acoustic to plug in either gravitate towards lower price points or Taylor (or both). And meanwhile, few Martin fans with 3 grand to spend on a new guitar are likely to look to a jack-of-all trades type of instrument..they're more likely going to be after one of the trad designs.

bermudianbrit · August 2018

How interesting. Weirdly that's one of the reasons I gravitated towards it. I wasn't a great fan of the Taylor sound or Expression System and loved the Martin warmth I got from it. It ticked my boxes perfectly lol.

stickyfiddle · August 2018

I recall Martin doing similar maybe 15 years ago when Taylor started getting big. David Gray and Coldplay were *everywhere* with cutaway 000s, which must have sold them a bunch of instruments.

But these days there are loads of aftermarket pickups from the likes of LR Baggs that make onboard electrics a little redundant on higher-end guitars, and I think most have gone back to more trad designs - I've seen D18/28/35s pretty much everywhere in the last few years. They're classics for a reason.

bermudianbrit · August 2018

true - though I like my cutaway lol. That's what put me off those for the most part.

earwighoney · August 2018

stickyfiddle said:

I'm guessing from the look of it that it's effectively Martin's attempt to make a "Taylor", but most Martin players don't like Taylors, and most Taylor players prefer Taylors, so it's sort of left in the middle with no-one that bothered?

That's not to say it's not a good guitar - it may well be.

It does kind of seem that way, even if Martin have been making 0000 sized (or their M series) guitars for quite a bit of time which seems to be 1977 when the M-36 first came out. Martin's GP models seem to be taking their 0000 shape towards the Taylor side of things.

crunchman · August 2018

Might be interested with a 1 11/16" nut, but not with 1 3/4".

That Aura thing puts me off as well. If I'm going to have digital technology, I'd rather have it externally. If you are buying a guitar at this price, you want it to be for life. You don't really want digital trickery that will be completely obsolete and unfixable in 10 or 12 years time.

axisus · August 2018

If I was getting a Martin, I'd prefer something that looks more like what I would associate with a Martin look personally.

meltedbuzzbox · August 2018

bermudianbrit said:

Hi all,
I just saw this at Coda. I own one, bought new last year from GG, and the guy there also said they weren't particularly popular instruments. I wonder wy that is? I absolutely love mine and have gigged it with great results.
Just a random thought for those in-the-know.
https://www.coda-music.com/martin-gpc35e.html

I played that one...
I left Coda with a different acoustic.

I cant remember anything distinctive about it to be honest. Not to say that someone else wouldn't love it.

I dont get the school of thought that a Martin has to look like a Martin. Surely how it plays and sounds are the two most import aspects?

richardhomer · August 2018

I played a couple of these when they first came out. My impression is it was a stab at Taylor’s market - but that it sounded neither like a Taylor, or a traditional Martin.

As Gibson & Fender repeatedly find - non-traditional designs from ‘heritage’ brands, tend not to do too well - regardless of whether the actual instrument is any good.

AliGorie · August 2018

nice little guitar - do u enjoy it ? - if so just get on with what it's for -

At £2.7K there's a LOT of competition out there for curvy cutaways,- e.g. Furch, Lakewood, Larrivée and so on for 500 - 1000 quid less - but if ya gotta have a Martin - ya gotta pay.

Did u try 'the competition' before buying. ?

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Thought this would have been very popular?

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