50 Year Old Martin Guitar vs Brand New Martin Guitar - Which Sounds Better?

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The Martin D35 Standard Series is an incredible guitar with understated looks that don't detract from the incredible sound of this rather special guitar. The solid Sitka Spruce top with Indian Rosewood back and sides represent a tried and tested combination of tonewoods that offer a full range of tones from delicate and light to dark and subtle through to powerful and energetic.

Some guitars 'lend themselves' to a certain style of playing be it fingerpicking, strumming etc. Not so with the Martin D35 because it has all the dynamic range you could wish for and lets your playing style do the talking! Playability on the Martin D35 is superb as you would expect from a premium instrument from a Brand like Martin, with the low profile neck ensuring a comfortable positive grip.

The Martin D35 has a solid Sitka spruce top with glossy finish, special East Indian rosewood for the polished back and sides, and genuine ebony for the fingerboard and bridge. With its rich, resonant warmth and punchy volume, the Martin D35 is particularly well-suited to music styles requiring loud, powerful rhythm accompaniment. You even get a Martin case so its easy to keep your new guitar in the best condition wherever music takes you.

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[gwag]

I heard an old guy say one time, it takes a guitar 20 years to figure out it’s not a tree anymore.
Both guitars sound very nice.

[MercFlathead]

Back in the 1960s a girlfriend's father gave me a 1910 0-28 with the original coffin case. It had been his wife's guitar. Both case and guitar were in magnificent condition. I played it for a year and after I broke up with the girl, I returned the guitar. Just too much guilt keeping something like that. But I often think of it and hope it is doing well and entertaining people.

[rmyAddison]

Nice playing
My birthyear is 1949, and I've owned 37 Martins over 50 years of playing. Older is better, never owned a Martin that didn't sound better with time, wood changes, finishes gas, age mellows.

It's very hard to compare models from different decades, specs change too. FWIW I retired with my personal favorites (CS OM-28 Alpine/Madagscar, OM-18 Authentic '33, OM-45 TB Engelmann/Tasmanian Blackwood, CS 00-42 Adirondack/Madagascar). Age turned the dreads/jumbos into smaller sizes as with many older players, to me Martin OM's are the perfect do anything size. A life full of music is a well lived

[tonyfdesign]

Bottom line: new, or old, Martin makes a beautiful guitar. Bonus points for not banging them together on the 34 passes back and forth!

[gurleyz]

Age makes a huge difference in both electric and acoustic guitars, but its much more noticeable in acoustics. The woods just blossum with age it seems. Even old laminated Yamahas have an amazing sound which many prefer to all solid wood guitars.

[RCSmiths]

Pete and Lee are always an unpredictable and amazing combo in playing! Both guitars sound great!

[nickcoulter]

Whoa! Massive difference. The old one is definitely the guitar I prefer, but both are fantastic.

[kevinwest]

As long as it’s a Martin, I’ll love it. I’ve played every acoustic you can imagine over my 40+ years of playing and at the end of the day I’ll always choose Martin.

[larryrhindress]

Well done!!! The older Martin has my vote. My D28 has that similar warm sound.

[patmillen]

I crave warmth in an acoustic... the vintage one is an easy choice for me.

[marc_leblanc]

Love the warm full tone of a Martin guitar. I've owned a Shenandoah model (D-18-ish) and the D-45. Love them.

[dylanbrown]

Can’t beat the Martin sound, they sound so big and full. The best quote I heard about a Martin was 10 years ago, I was at my sisters house I had a cheap old guitar left there and I went there to show her my new Martin. She is a music lover but by far not a musician, she was blown away by the sound of the Martin but she then got the old guitar I left there and said remember this one?! And I played that one and to her untrained ears she said “the old one sounds like a cheap guitar but the Martin sounds like the full band is playing with it”

[Moonshot]

To my ears the new Martin sound much fuller much nicer, the old one looks pretty .

[casterman]

Cheers from the US! Great vid guys.! I bought an HD28 new in 2006. It gets warmer every year. Never leaves the case unless I’m playing it. Still has the smell. That smell is the best! I think at the end when the new one was playing rhythm and the old one was playing lead was just right. The older one has such flavor. The new one is super full and chunky. They sound amazing together. Cheers to the audio guys for getting it to translate tonally, on my crappy apple ear buds👍🏻

[andrewf]

The smile on Pete's face when he first starts playing Lee's guitar says it all.

[WalkenDead]

My high school chemistry teacher had an old Martin that he had to send back for repairs, can't remember the model or year, it was back in the early '90's. I mention this for a couple of reasons, 1) the captain did lol 2) brought back a good memory. He was a really cool guy. The chemistry class had a huge storage room and he would let us come in during the study halls we had and just sit around and jam in that room. Coach Voiselle if you are still with us thank you man! He also coached track

[tomjjordan]

I think the point for me is that I personally have enjoyed listening to my guitar age. An old one might sound beautiful, but it has been a pleasure being around for and experiencing first hand, the changes in sound in my guitar as the years go on.

[chaingangzta]

Do a "Gilmore's 3.9 million strat vs his signature strat"

[fergar]

Solution: buy a new one when you're young and enjoy it as it evolves

[MikeAshba]

The older one has my vote but both sounded great