Martin D-18 questions - used price & general info

deejayen · January 2023

After many years I suddenly felt an urge to play an acoustic guitar!

I tried a few at the weekend, and am quite keen on a used Martin D-28 which is being sold by a dealer for around £2400. It seems to be a 2013 model with the slight amber tint. I'm just wondering if this is a fair price (new ones seem to be £2999; possibly a bit less with a bit of haggling).

From what I've read, Martin changed the spec of the D-18 around 2012, so this one is after that.

I visited a couple of shops, and they both initially steered me towards smaller guitars (I think 00 and concert) such as a Guild M20, but also a Guild F-55 jumbo. I also played some smaller Martins and an Atkins. As ever, each guitar was different, and I liked quite a few of them. The Guilds really appealed, too. However, I think the D-18 might suit me quite well.

Mellish · January 2023

£2400 but what condition?

deejayen · January 2023

It appeared to be in great condition. A guy in the shop pointed out a couple of tiny dings on the edge of the headstock near the tuners, but when I next looked I couldn't really see them. The frets seemed to be really good, although perhaps it had had a fret dress. It seemed to have a better set-up than some of the new guitars. The guitar looked like it had been taken care of, but I didn't see the case.

Mellish · January 2023

Them going by that (and assuming structurally sound) £2400 is in the ballpark.

Saying that, I'd haggle.

ESBlonde · January 2023

If you played it and liked it then that’s the best information you are going to get. You might find cheaper or prettier but will they play and feel as good?

Trude · January 2023

Just to point out, the D18 was updated in 2012, but I'm pretty sure it was a few years later before the D28 got the same updates (forward shifted bracing etc). If that matters to you...

ditchboy · January 2023

I think you could get cheaper. I let a D28 go for less than £2k recently and it was a 2018 model. There are bargains to be had and sadly this is likely to become more common as people struggle for money. Where are you based?

deejayen · January 2023

Thanks very much. I'm in the north of Scotland. The dealer isn't - I was passing through, and popped in for a general look. Ideally, I'd be able to go back for another try, but that might be difficult in the short term. I've bought electric guitars mail order before, but an acoustic is a different thing...

idiotwindow · January 2023

A 2013 D-18 in excellent condition sounds fully priced at £2400, to say the least. £2k is top end IMO. Coda have a sunburst D-18 available new at £2750.

All that said, a used D-18 at £2400 that plays and sounds great might be worth more to you than a cheaper one that isn't so nice.

Mellish · January 2023

I'm a big fan of buying the one that speaks to you....what I mean is: don't think "Oh, it's a D-18, any D-18 will be the same".

No it won't. For one thing, you can't get identical pieces of wood. Tonally there has to be a difference. Each acoustic is unique in that way.

What I'm saying to the OP is, try it first if you can.

SteveF · January 2023

May not be what you are after, but I have an HD-28 up in the classifieds for £2100. If you are down near Glasgow at all in the near future, you are welcome to try it if you are interested. I'd be willing to drive a few hours each way to hand over, but that would only be for a confirmed sale.

deejayen · January 2023

Thanks for all that.

I'm still mulling things over, and haven't spoken to the dealer about pricing etc. That particular guitar did appeal in terms of tone and playability.

I later tried a new D-18 at a different dealer, and it wasn't quite the same.

@SteveF ; I did see your advertisement this afternoon, and it kind of appealed, but in my limited experience (ie a couple of hours or so playing acoustics at the weekend!) an HD-28 sounded quite a bit different to the D18. Still, I'm fairly interested, and I might be in Glasgow in the next two or three weeks...

SteveF · January 2023

No worries at all. If it’s not gone when you’re down you’re welcome to have a look

Tannin · January 2023

Mellish said:

I'm a big fan of buying the one that speaks to you....what I mean is: don't think "Oh, it's a D-18, any D-18 will be the same".

No it won't. For one thing, you can't get identical pieces of wood. Tonally there has to be a difference. Each acoustic is unique in that way.

^ This. This in spades for a Martin. They vary a lot. People say things like "Only one in ten is a really good one", though the other nine are sort-of OK". I'm not entirely convinced by that. I agree that only some (one in five, maybe one in ten) really appeal to me, but I'm not so sure that it will always be the same one (out of ten) that appeals to me and appeals to you and appeals to the next player. Maybe, maybe not.

So I'm wary of paying top dollar for a D-18 or an HD-28 because someone says "this is one of the good Martins". On the other hand, if it is the one that appeals to you, five other ostensibly identical ones almost certainly won't, and you will treasure the right guitar long after you have got over spending a few hundred pounds more than you wanted to.

Mellish · January 2023

@Tannin ; thank you kind sir - have a wis......

Dave_Mc · January 2023

Tannin said:

Mellish said:

I'm a big fan of buying the one that speaks to you....what I mean is: don't think "Oh, it's a D-18, any D-18 will be the same".

No it won't. For one thing, you can't get identical pieces of wood. Tonally there has to be a difference. Each acoustic is unique in that way.

^ This. This in spades for a Martin. They vary a lot. People say things like "Only one in ten is a really good one", though the other nine are sort-of OK". I'm not entirely convinced by that. I agree that only some (one in five, maybe one in ten) really appeal to me, but I'm not so sure that it will always be the same one (out of ten) that appeals to me and appeals to you and appeals to the next player. Maybe, maybe not.

So I'm wary of paying top dollar for a D-18 or an HD-28 because someone says "this is one of the good Martins". On the other hand, if it is the one that appeals to you, five other ostensibly identical ones almost certainly won't, and you will treasure the right guitar long after you have got over spending a few hundred pounds more than you wanted to.

Agreed- especially for acoustics. Gibson is another one which can be very variable- I've said this before but some I've tried were up there with the absolute best acoustics I've tried... and some would have been middling at half (maybe one quarter!) the asking price.

My sister was very lucky with her Faith- it very much stood out above the others we tried, but it was a model from a few years before (with the worse electronics) that had been hanging around the shop, and it was also about £150 more (IIRC) than the going rate in the big English shops (which is a fair bit of difference when it only cost just over £700- and when the ones in the English shops were probably new ones). I didn't really feel it was sensible paying so much more for the older model- but also didn't really feel it was sensible ordering one we hadn't tried either, as we'd tried enough of them to know that most of them were pretty good, but there were a few standout excellent ones.

Luckily Black Friday came along a month or two later and it was reduced to the same price as the English ones. If that hadn't happened I'm not sure what we'd have done... I suspect she'd have folded and bought the dearer one (which is probably the more sensible thing to do). She has more sense about guitars than I do, lol.

That being said I also ordered my Dowina without having tried a single one and it's also great. So go figure...

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Martin D-18 questions - used price & general info

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