The Martin D 42

I can't claim to have ever truly understood the WHY of the D 42, but I don't pretend to own C.F. Martin & Co., or to have any stock in the company.  I'm just a huge fan - that's all.

Yes, of course I understand that it's $7,500.00 for the base level Martin D 45, and that lots of folks wished that they could afford a D 45...can't, and instead buy a D 42.

But come on!  It's five grand for a D 42!  It's just a prettier D 28!  Hell, that's what the D 45 is!

Oh, please don't, you D 42 owners, think that I'm not in love with your beautiful guitars.  I've never owned anything that pretty; and I love Martin instruments.   I only wish that the niche had been filled for a Mahogany dreadnought dressed up as pretty or prettier than a D 28....and were it me, I'd have called it...A D 42.

For the record - that's not me in the video.  I do agree with what all this fella is saying in every way.  I'm not someone that ever really understood the purpose of buying a brand new guitar, when used ones always sound better.  It's just physics, folks, and if you're shopping for something that's just "pretty" then you're not in the know of why folks love Martin instruments to begin with.  This dude's guitar sounds GREAT!

I talk to folks all over the entire internet all the time.  I'm not the least bit shy about that - and after watching that video up above - DAMN I LIKE THAT DUDE'S CHOICES OF MUSIC!

I'm going to take a moment and subscribe to him, and thank the dude for his video.

Lots of options available from the Martin custom shop! 

Bumbinga is a tonewood well worth exploring.  I am a

Earth lover, and supporter of alternative tonewood instruments - no, I do not much care for the U.S. Government's persecution of Gibson guitars, but I do support laws that are aimed at preventing the depletion of forests, and the loss of one single solitary species of tree.  Rosewoods are great!  I love rosewood!  I love rosewood so much that I don't ever wish for we Earthlings to be without it, fair enough?

For more on alternative tonewoods:

http://www.infobarrel.com/Alternative_Tone_Woods_For_Guitar_Soundboards

In the above video you can hear a D 42 fingerpicked a little, Martin dreadnoughts work just as well for fingerstyle playing as they do for flatpicking.  If you bother to look at that video on Youtube, and then look at the comments you'll see someone say something like:

"The bone nut, saddle, and bridge pins make all the difference"

Well, yes and no.  Martin guitars sometimes come with bone nut and saddles already, I'm not sure that any of them come with bone bridge pins, or not - I need to fact check on that particular, but I will say here that bone nuts, saddles, and bridge pins DO make a difference, and I personally endorse that upgrade for someone who is an audiophile like myself, and who can afford that upgrade.  If you can't do it yourself, any really good decent sized guitar store will have a tech that can install that stuff for you.