# Gibson J-45 vs. Martin D-18



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Both of these guitars are loved worldwide and most of us would be happy with either one. Do you own one and which do you prefer?


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

I like them both, however they should have used a regular J45 to compare


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

A lot of musicians who in my opinion have great live acoustic sound, play the J-45 but unamplified, I found they sounded kind of "muffled". They must have really good pickups.

The new redesigned for 2012 D-18 sounded chimey and full. Much better than the pre 2012 D-18s.

I bought a 2014 D-18e Retro.

One interesting thing I've heard is that the J-45 is actually better for singer songwriter types as it's a bit "scooped" in the mids which gives the vocals some room whereas the D-18 is just full across the board. Maybe that accounts for the muffled sound. Not sure.






Here's my D-18.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

I have both and as much as I love my D18 the J45 does everything just right for me.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

I'd take a J45 over a D18 for live acoustic use, but I'd take a D28 over a J45. For recording I'd ideally have both a D28 and an M36 on hand.


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

All I know is that they'd sound fantastic being played together at the same time. It would be a pretty huge sound. That's only judging from what I got out of the J45 when I tried one out though. It was killer. No real experience with either though.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

I like them both. I’ve found I like a mahogany acoustic. If I had to pick, I’d have a really hard time, but the J-45 is my favourite. It would depend on the individual specimens available on the day.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

I listened to 3 or 4 minutes of the OP video and didn’t like either of them all that much notwithstanding that I have a D18 which I really like.

Not slagging Gibson but I’ve never played one of their acoustics in a store and said to myself “I have to buy that guitar” whereas with my HD35 and HD28V it was “I don’t want to spend the money but I can’t let this guitar get away.”


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

Can't find my category in the poll choices : Both are under 1 3/4" nut width, aren't they.
I guess I would like the sound of both of them but I prefer Martin OOO-18 and Gibson L-1/L-OO models I own...
I would like to compare Martin D-18 and Taylor 510, though.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

mawmow said:


> Can't find my category in the poll choices : *Both are under 1 3/4" nut width, aren't they?*
> I guess I would like the sound of both of them but I prefer Martin OOO-18 and Gibson L-1/L-OO models I own...
> I would like to compare Martin D-18 and Taylor 510, though.


Only the J45. The D-18 is 1 3/4". Martin has changed most of their nut widths to 1 3/4" in the last year or so. 

Martin D-18 - Maury's Music


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## Swervin55 (Oct 30, 2009)

I have both and my preference could change on any given day.


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## sitka.bc (Apr 14, 2018)

J-50 for me. Less overtones, you get more raw woody tone and that bassy thump. Space in the mids for your vocals. I do like the 00, 000, and OM Martins.


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fkingsound87%2Ffreight-train-gibson-j50


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https://soundcloud.com/https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fkingsound87%2Fthe-fellowship-of-the-acoustic


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