Crayon Sky Music

When you look at the headstock on a Martin Guitar, you see that the company makes it clear that they’re not the new kids on the block. This is a company that’s been building guitars since 1833, so you figure they know a thing or two about building guitars.

When you look at the list of musicians who have played a Martin, it’s a pretty amazing list. Guitarists from Bob Dylan to Eric Johnson have been proud Marin players. It’s tough to pick a single instrument to represent a company with such a storied history, but the C. F. Martin HD-28 is a good candidate.

The Martin HD-28 is a modern version of their celebrated Herringbone 28-models. The guitars sports a solid rosewood back, Sitka spruce top, ebony fingerboard, and mahogany neck. Overall, the HD-28 represents Martin’s renowned history quite well.

The top trim is, of course, Herringbone, and is very well done. The guitar also features Martin’s scalloped X-bracing, helping the guitar’s top vibrate more freely. A top-of-the line hardshell case is also included.

When you first begin to play an HD-28, you’ll likely notice that this is one loud guitar. There’s a reason why bluegrass and blues players often favor Martins. It can definitely cut through a mix.

The sound is simply huge and one we fell in love with immediately. The highs, mids, and lows are all accentuated wonderfully. The guitar has a beautifully natural “EQ” that will work in a variety of situations. We were especially pleased with the chording and rhythm work that the guitar lends itself to. For acoustic strumming and flatpicking the Martin HD-28 is in a class by itself.

It works great for single-note lead work as well. However, we will admit that the guitar’s action was a bit higher than what we usually like. It didn’t take long, though, to sand down the saddle to bring it in line with our expectations. This adjustment didn’t affect the tone in any noticeable way.

The guitar didn’t come with any electronics installed, and since we didn’t want to mar the guitar with an intrusive installation, we attached an L. R. Baggs M1 pickup and liked what we heard. Sure, a bluegrass purist will likely want to mic the guitar. We think, though, that the guitar would respond well to a soundhole pickup like the M1 or an undersaddle pickup like an iBeam.

Perhaps the thing that stuck with us the most is simply how full and powerful a non-cutaway guitar is, especially a dreadnought. If you’re a fingerpicker or a flatpicking rhythm player, this could be the ultimate acoustic guitar for you. While it’s not our number one pick for acoustic lead work, it can shine in that area as well, but that’s more a matter of preference.

We recommend the Martin HD-28 highly for anyone seeking a classic Martin guitar and everything that comes along with it. This is a guitar you could keep the rest of your life.

Steve Howe – Starship Trooper – Middle Acoustic Section