G.A.S.
- Thread starter RetiredUnit1
- Start date
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
SO, I finally got my Fartin Chitar Fake Martin Chinese D45 yesterday. Opened it up and the strings were tarnished and pitted. Looked like someone had removed them from the trash and put them on. Sounded like cotton strings, plunk plunk plunk.
And the logo on the head stock was covered with grey cloth that had been attached with rubber cement. wtf?
I removed the nuts and washers on the head stock and pulled off the makeshift logo covering. Used paste wax to remove the rubber (most of it came off with the cloth) and waxed the entire guitar. Put on some new Martin MA530's, which are my favorites and were discontinued during the pandemic, but ARE BEING SOLD AGAIN, and Son of a Gun, this SOB just rings like a bell.
I compared the streaks in the rosewood backing with the streaks on the inside, and they do line up, so it is not plywood and it sounds like it.
The guitar kicks the asses of my Martin D28 and my Gibson J185ec. I am literally STUNNED by the quality of this instrument. I could not put it down last night and had to force myself to go to bed at 2:22am. The D45 is smaller than my D28 and isn't as bassy, but it has a growl that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And it fits my hands perfectly. Going out on a limb here and saying this $377+tax guitar is the best guitar I've ever played in my 56 years of strumming................ someone pinch me I must be dreaming!
edited: the pins were supposed to be bone, but were plastic. Fortunately I had an extra set of bone pins with abalone dots so I used those when restringing. The nut and bridge were bone, and made that charateristic DINK when tapped with metal.
And the logo on the head stock was covered with grey cloth that had been attached with rubber cement. wtf?
I removed the nuts and washers on the head stock and pulled off the makeshift logo covering. Used paste wax to remove the rubber (most of it came off with the cloth) and waxed the entire guitar. Put on some new Martin MA530's, which are my favorites and were discontinued during the pandemic, but ARE BEING SOLD AGAIN, and Son of a Gun, this SOB just rings like a bell.
I compared the streaks in the rosewood backing with the streaks on the inside, and they do line up, so it is not plywood and it sounds like it.
The guitar kicks the asses of my Martin D28 and my Gibson J185ec. I am literally STUNNED by the quality of this instrument. I could not put it down last night and had to force myself to go to bed at 2:22am. The D45 is smaller than my D28 and isn't as bassy, but it has a growl that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And it fits my hands perfectly. Going out on a limb here and saying this $377+tax guitar is the best guitar I've ever played in my 56 years of strumming................ someone pinch me I must be dreaming!
edited: the pins were supposed to be bone, but were plastic. Fortunately I had an extra set of bone pins with abalone dots so I used those when restringing. The nut and bridge were bone, and made that charateristic DINK when tapped with metal.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
They do that in case it gets opened by customs. If it blatantly has the Martin logo on it then it will get flagged, if it just has a strip of tape where a logo would be they'll leave it alone. Some do more extreme concealment methods, some literally just do a strip of tape. Pretty common among the Chibsons I've purchased.
Glad to hear it made it to you okay and glad to hear you're enjoying it. Sounds like my D-15m's days may be numbered...
drgonzo1969
Well-known member
That top would grain looks great! Glad to hear you got it and I’m glad you like the sound of it. It’s always a gamble buying guitars online.
edit: wood..... autocorrect or maybe i was drunk... 50/50
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This is quite a story and I'm pleased for you that you got a good guitar. I don't like the idea of a guitar with a counterfeit logo but you are happy, it seems like a cool guitar and my opinion is irrelevant! I am impressed with this forum because others disagree but none of us has to be nasty or bring anyone down. Enjoy your new guitar! I've played a few Martin D41s and while they look good I actually prefer the sound of a D35! If I was to buy an acoustic now I suspect it would be a Gibson J185. They're so expensive now though.
Every time I read of your wife's passing I feel so bad for you. It must have been devastating. It makes me glad to live in Australia. Having a debt like that is really rubbing salt into the wounds. When my dad went a few years ago I bought a Les Paul with my inheritance. It was something he had suggested to me while he still had his wits about him. He was no musician but loved music and I think he was proud that his son had become a musician so he suggested I buy a special guitar to remind of him. And it works! I play it often and always think of him. It's a guitar that I wouldn't have bought if not for the inheritance.
Every time I read of your wife's passing I feel so bad for you. It must have been devastating. It makes me glad to live in Australia. Having a debt like that is really rubbing salt into the wounds. When my dad went a few years ago I bought a Les Paul with my inheritance. It was something he had suggested to me while he still had his wits about him. He was no musician but loved music and I think he was proud that his son had become a musician so he suggested I buy a special guitar to remind of him. And it works! I play it often and always think of him. It's a guitar that I wouldn't have bought if not for the inheritance.
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
Well it was $50 + 45 days more to have a custom inlay in the headstock. I've been making jewelry since 1967 and can inlay a new design on the head stock. The current inlay is really bad anyway. I have a few pounds of turquoise left from 25 pounds of Kingman AZ that my dad bought back in the late 60's, so I'll probably do something with that.... Or I could use Tigereye. I have about 40 pounds of that....
For now, I AM very happy with this D45 and would have loved to buy it from Martin but $10,000 for an acoustic *just for the name* is rather insane.....
I hear you! I used to sell Martins and while I can see why people like them they're not for me. I don't like the sparkly jingle of them. I seem to gravitate to earthier, gutsier sounding acoustics, often with a shorter scale. I did have a Gibson J185 for a while which I should not have sold.
When I worked in the store a young fella would come in frequently after school in his private school uniform. He was a very confident opinionated bloke. He would tell me that the Martins weren't worth how much more they cost over the (in his opinion) equally good Yamahas. It got a bit tedious. Years later and this same young fella was playing in bands and running his own used guitar shop and rehearsal rooms. He played a lot of acoustic and his choice of guitar? Martin. He swore that no other brand got close. No Gibsons, Collings or Santa Cruz for him! I would guess no Yamahas either.
When I worked in the store a young fella would come in frequently after school in his private school uniform. He was a very confident opinionated bloke. He would tell me that the Martins weren't worth how much more they cost over the (in his opinion) equally good Yamahas. It got a bit tedious. Years later and this same young fella was playing in bands and running his own used guitar shop and rehearsal rooms. He played a lot of acoustic and his choice of guitar? Martin. He swore that no other brand got close. No Gibsons, Collings or Santa Cruz for him! I would guess no Yamahas either.
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
I use my Gibson J185ec for playing the blues lead. Thick and bassy, full sounding. I DO like this D45 tho. Strum a chord and it friggen rings for 90 seconds......
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
I've spent a lot of time looking at these on various websites, some show very large factories, some show much smaller, some show very small rooms that guitars are hanging, in various states of completeness. Two companies are so large they actually use their own logo. Some have been wrapped in almost yellow tape, some in beige.
I was up late last night playing again, man that fun. I haven't even plugged into an amp yet, maybe tonight.
RetiredUnit1
Well-known member
So I recorded this after (drum roll please) 8 shots of whiskey. Gaaa! Then I pulled the wave file out using AUDIOMASS which is a free online wave file special effects site, and used it's effects to normalize, add delay and reverb and some compression, then I put the wave file back into the video by using Microsofts free Movie Maker.
The song is Glenn Frey's "No More Cloudy Days". It came out ok. I'm not really sure I like "normalize".
And for those counting I just got over my THIRD CASE OF COVID in 2023. But I didn't suffer from long covid this time. It was like 8 days of feeling like a truck had run me over and then I was back to normal. It was wonderful being able to taste food again yesterday!!!!
The song is Glenn Frey's "No More Cloudy Days". It came out ok. I'm not really sure I like "normalize".
And for those counting I just got over my THIRD CASE OF COVID in 2023. But I didn't suffer from long covid this time. It was like 8 days of feeling like a truck had run me over and then I was back to normal. It was wonderful being able to taste food again yesterday!!!!
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