# Convince me that I don't need this guitar (Martin 00LX1AE)



## jfd986 (Nov 22, 2010)

Or convince me that I do.

I've always played dreadnoughts, but I walked into a music store and I played on it for 20 minutes and my 5'5 frame thanked me instead of punishing me with shoulder pain for minimal practicing. 

- Brighter and warmer than the Godin offerings,which sound muted and idk bassy?(words, shrug) by comparison
- More balanced than the GS mini (which I found sooo so bright, way too bright, idk why)
- Fits my body, some concert guitar bodies are not thin enough
- For some reason I'm a fan of the richlite, I like the way the neck and side-dots look when I look down at them, that jet black, and I defffinitely like how it feels and sounds. I'm a steel wool person so idk how I'm gonna clean it when I gunk it up, hopefully I don't gunk it up though. I know many are opposed to polycarbonate on guitars, so I'm expecting most of the flack thrown at this choice will come from there
- I like the coarse finish on the body

I play 3-4 times a week, for about an hour at a time, I know basic chords and a few songs and am working toward learning way more songs and scales, more cool fingerstyle and more shredding/improvisation/core guitar theory, with priority currently going toward building a reprtoire and learning guitar theory in bits and pieces as I pick up the new songs and look deeper into what each guitarist does with the song (this was John Mayer's advice, idk if it'll work but it sounded like it made sense)

I have done two open mics (technically three, let's not relive San Francisco) and I want to do more open mics with more success and better-sounding performances (listening to my live stuff with recordings from a Zoom H1) before I start trying to do gigs. I sold my Seagull dreadnought, my parents are clutching onto the other dreadnought because it's the first proper guitar they ever bought me, and so I have no current practical acoustic guitar, just my electrics.

Problems:
- Every move I've made toward diving back into guitar has been as budget as possible, and this guitar is simply not available for sale on the used market, at least not for less than what it's going for new
- This guitar is $809 Canadian? Plus tax,when I saw that, I was like "Is that in dollars ?!?" It's better Brand New from Calgary on reverb, but should I buy from Calgary if buying brand new? Or should I buy from somewhere local... Warranty? Paying that much for an acoustic is something I'm totally not used to, still trying to settle into that. I may sell off some instruments soon and unlock some music cash, and I do understand that people pay considerably more for acoustics, though I'm unsure I could understand where the value is and how I would be able to appreciate an instrument above a certain value, I mean idk if I'd be able to tell what makes the "over 1000" guitars worthwhile.
- And finally, I just haven't heard from all of you. What do you all like or not like about this guitar? Does anyone have one? I forum-searched and found no threads or mention of it. Suggest other guitars, tear this one apart, let me hear it. When you go shopping for this guitar, what do you end up buying instead? Perhaps a Toyota with 600,000 km on it?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

If you can find the same guitar locally, buy it locally. And try every local one you can. Odds are nearly every music store near you carries Martin anyway - try it against the other $800-$1000 guitars.

If you can afford it, buy it.

Sidenote: I got $200 trade in on a camry with under 400k km's


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## Distortion (Sep 16, 2015)

Acoustic's you got to play. Pick the one your ears and hands like.


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## Jimmy Fingers (Aug 17, 2017)

Buy it. You won't be sorry. Martin guitars are in a league by themselves. I have an OM-28e which is very similar to that guitar and it is amazing. Strum a chord on a Martin, you will hear Angels.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

You almost convinced me to buy one... so you are already committed to buy ! ;-)


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

If it isn't haunting you, keeping you awake at night, then it probably isn't the right guitar for you. At least that's been my experience. YMMV.


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## aC2rs (Jul 9, 2007)

It may or may not be an issue for you, but, the backs and sides of that guitar are made from HPL (High Pressure Laminate) instead of wood.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

If you have played it elsewhere and it sounds and feels right, I would not hesitate to buy online. Many will say that you need to play them before you buy they but they are all made the same from the same material with the same specs. What many people hear as differences are room differences, humidity, string life, their own playing better/worse at different times. They think this is the guitar when it is often one or more of the other things. If you don't mind driving to N. Falls, USA, you could likely find a used on in the USA and have it shipped to the UPS depot and pick it up there and save yourself a few hundred verses a new one but if you can get a new one for $809.00 CDN, that is not bad at all.


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## jfd986 (Nov 22, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> If it isn't haunting you, keeping you awake at night, then it probably isn't the right guitar for you. At least that's been my experience. YMMV.


Oh but it is, LOL



aC2rs said:


> It may or may not be an issue for you, but, the backs and sides of that guitar are made from HPL (High Pressure Laminate) instead of wood.


I'm fine with the HPL, doesn't take away from the sound for me. Having said that, one day I may play some all-wood guitars and go omg what have I been missing?! I'm not there yet, though.



Steadfastly said:


> If you have played it elsewhere and it sounds and feels right, I would not hesitate to buy online. Many will say that you need to play them before you buy they but they are all made the same from the same material with the same specs. What many people hear as differences are room differences, humidity, string life, their own playing better/worse at different times. They think this is the guitar when it is often one or more of the other things. If you don't mind driving to N. Falls, USA, you could likely find a used on in the USA and have it shipped to the UPS depot and pick it up there and save yourself a few hundred verses a new one but if you can get a new one for $809.00 CDN, that is not bad at all.


Will look into this Niagara option, do you have any specific stores in mind or is it Craigslist/Letgo Niagara region?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

jfd986 said:


> Oh but it is, LOL
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I always check out the used section of Guitar Centre. They have a store in Buffalo where you can have any guitar in the USA shipped to for a minimal shipping fee. If you don't like it, you can return it right there at the store and get your money back but they are up front with what they sell. Going back over the border you just pay the HST. Here is a link for you. You may need to go to the bottom of the page and change the country to USA to see the used products.

Used Acoustic Guitars | Guitar Center


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## jfd986 (Nov 22, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> I always check out the used section of Guitar Centre. They have a store in Buffalo where you can have any guitar in the USA shipped to for a minimal shipping fee. If you don't like it, you can return it right there at the store and get your money back but they are up front with what they sell. Going back over the border you just pay the HST. Here is a link for you. You may need to go to the bottom of the page and change the country to USA to see the used products.
> 
> Used Acoustic Guitars | Guitar Center


These people have every Martin Except the Martin I want. There's a guitar store in Edmonton that's selling it new and offering 5% GST only on the sale, I will likely go with them.

Thanks, everyone, for all your input. I'll buy it today or tomorrow


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

jfd986 said:


> These people have every Martin Except the Martin I want. There's a guitar store in Edmonton that's selling it new and offering 5% GST only on the sale, I will likely go with them.
> 
> Thanks, everyone, for all your input. I'll buy it today or tomorrow


That's a good deal too and if you want a new one, why not? Let us know what you think when you get it and play it a bit.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Steadfastly said:


> If you have played it elsewhere and it sounds and feels right, I would not hesitate to buy online. Many will say that you need to play them before you buy they but they are all made the same from the same material with the same specs. What many people hear as differences are room differences, humidity, string life, their own playing better/worse at different times. They think this is the guitar when it is often one or more of the other things. If you don't mind driving to N. Falls, USA, you could likely find a used on in the USA and have it shipped to the UPS depot and pick it up there and save yourself a few hundred verses a new one but if you can get a new one for $809.00 CDN, that is not bad at all.


I went through a period of buying a lot of guitars on line. Out of all the ones I bought on line I only have one that I'll probably keep for life. That is my D-28 Authentic 1941. However I've had enough bad experiences with online guitars that I will now only buy a guitar I can first see in person.
I ordered a Wildwood thin skin 56 strat that came with a broken truss rod.. Sent it back and decided to upgrade to the Wildwood 10 custom shop 54 strat. I was charged full tax and brokerage on the first strat. When I upgraded to the second strat I assumed I'd only get charged tax\brokerage on the difference in cash that I paid. I got charged full tax again. I got charged full tax on 2 guitars and only really bought 1. Thats the first reason not to buy online, at least in the US
Second reason. I bought a 52 thin skin tele from Wildwood. They gave a great review of it. When I got it the fret board edges were so over rolled and the frets were so bevelled that it was unplayable. The 2 E strings constantly fell of the edge. No more online guitars for me.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

jfd986 said:


> These people have every Martin Except the Martin I want. There's a guitar store in Edmonton that's selling it new and offering 5% GST only on the sale, I will likely go with them.
> 
> Thanks, everyone, for all your input. I'll buy it today or tomorrow


I thought you wanted us to talk you out of it.  Enjoy your new guitar when you get it.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> I went through a period of buying a lot of guitars on line. Out of all the ones I bought on line I only have one that I'll probably keep for life. That is my D-28 Authentic 1941. However I've had enough bad experiences with online guitars that I will now only buy a guitar I can first see in person.
> I ordered a Wildwood thin skin 56 strat that came with a broken truss rod.. Sent it back and decided to upgrade to the Wildwood 10 custom shop 54 strat. I was charged full tax and brokerage on the first strat. When I upgraded to the second strat I assumed I'd only get charged tax\brokerage on the difference in cash that I paid. I got charged full tax again. I got charged full tax on 2 guitars and only really bought 1. Thats the first reason not to buy online, at least in the US
> Second reason. I bought a 52 thin skin tele from Wildwood. They gave a great review of it. When I got it the fret board edges were so over rolled and the frets were so bevelled that it was unplayable. The 2 E strings constantly fell of the edge. No more online guitars for me.


You do have to do your due diligence. I have never had any of those problems. I will continue to buy online. I had one problem with a plastic fitting on a mic stand. MF paid the freight, shipped a brand new package of two mics and told me to keep the old one. Different strokes and all that.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Steadfastly said:


> You do have to do your due diligence.


Well here is the thing. "True Due Diligence" is not buying on line. We can only go by what we are told. Then things like broken truss rods and cracks in the body by the neck (to quote from another thread) can easily be hidden or missed by the seller.
Of course in the other thread the seller more than made up for their lack of disclosure. So even if I did buy online again, I would NEVER buy from Wildwood guitars.


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## jfd986 (Nov 22, 2010)

Steadfastly said:


> You do have to do your due diligence. I have never had any of those problems. I will continue to buy online. I had one problem with a plastic fitting on a mic stand. MF paid the freight, shipped a brand new package of two mics and told me to keep the old one. Different strokes and all that.


The store has a solid rep afaik, and in terms of playing before buying, I've sat down with the instrument in 2 different stores where I compared it against what each store had to offer, and plugged it and other A/Es into amps from both stores to compare against other guitars, and I've had about 40 minutes practice time overall on it, so idk what's gonna happen with the guitar itself but as far as online buying and trying first is concerned, I've had a decent amount of practice time with it.

I'm gonna take it to solo music in Toronto as soon as it arrives. I bought a kit from them a while ago and I've taken some of my Kijiji finds to them, they're good at that condition-of-guitar stuff, I'm learning as I go.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> Well here is the thing. "True Due Diligence" is not buying on line. We can only go by what we are told. Then things like broken truss rods and cracks in the body by the neck (to quote from another thread) can easily be hidden or missed by the seller.
> Of course in the other thread the seller more than made up for their lack of disclosure. So even if I did buy online again, I would NEVER buy from Wildwood guitars.


Due diligence is buying from people you can trust whether it is down the street or across the world, knowing they will make it right if there is a problem.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

jfd986 said:


> The store has a solid rep afaik, and in terms of playing before buying, I've sat down with the instrument in 2 different stores where I compared it against what each store had to offer, and plugged it and other A/Es into amps from both stores to compare against other guitars, and I've had about 40 minutes practice time overall on it, so idk what's gonna happen with the guitar itself but as far as online buying and trying first is concerned, I've had a decent amount of practice time with it.
> 
> I'm gonna take it to solo music in Toronto as soon as it arrives. I bought a kit from them a while ago and I've taken some of my Kijiji finds to them, they're good at that condition-of-guitar stuff, I'm learning as I go.


Martin has a standard setup that they do on all their guitars. They try to hit what most people like. You may get along fine with it out of the box. Try it first and if you like the Martin setup, you can just play it as is and save yourself a trip and any extra cost. Of course, if you don't like the factory setup, it's best to get it set up to your liking.


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## Larry (Sep 3, 2016)

That's $imple, if you don't have the disposable CA$H in hand, ........ "you don't need it",...........Wanting it is a whole other dilema.


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## Chitmo (Sep 2, 2013)

Man, this is a place of enabling... probably not gonna have too many people talking you out of it


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

In my experience, if you need someone to convince you, either for or against, you're probably not ready.
There could be twelve hundred reasons why you're not ready.

If the time is right and the guitar is right .... you'll know.
You won't need to ask.
You will post an NGD thread, not a thread asking yea or neigh.


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