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Martin abgs?

#21
This thread reminds me that I should take some good pictures of my Martin 00C-16GTAE Bass.

It has a thin, concert-sized body with a cutaway. 34.15" scale with a spruce top and mahogany back and sides.

I love that bass! Alas, I dropped it off at the shop for a neck reset last weekend and I probably won't have it back until mid-July.

I'll just live vicariously through you all until then.
 
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#25
mikeoso said:
Tease!
Click to expand...
20230608_161922.jpg
 
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#27
I got a chance to check out the dreadnaught Jr bass at Music Pro in Barrie, Ontario yesterday.

The neck is perfectly shaped, and about 1 3/4” wide at the nut. The scale is longer than the Taylor GS Mini bass as well. That also gives it a more comfortable and less-crowded feel than the skinny neck on my Guild Jumbo Junior, at least for a big lug like me.

The materials (solid back and sides instead of veneer!) and the fit and finish made it look feel more upscale than the Guild. Ironically given the better lumber, nicer finish and higher price, either the saddle or the slot on the Martin needed work- plugged in, the D string was much lower in output.

If I hadn’t already read that the fingerboard was Richlite, I could have easily mistaken it for ebony. Martin’s proprietary strings have more tension than the D’Addarios that come on the Taylor GS Mini bass, the Guild, etc., and probably explain the darker, more mid-forward tone. Acoustically, the Martin was a little louder and smoother, with less growl and character in the tone.

Sustain was good on the Martin, and quite even across the fingerboard. Didn't "sing" quite as well as the Guild on melodic passages, but most people don't buy a non-cutaway ABG to perform Bach cello pieces...

Based on what I saw yesterday, I can't wait for the 000CJr-10E to show up in Canadian stores. If all else is equal, the cutaway might induce me to to trade up. If so, it would be my first Martin in 50-odd years!
 
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#28
Someone did exactly the comparison I'm interested in. Shame he didn't plug them in- maybe that will come later.



The 000 sounds great! Some fret rattle, though- I assume that his dealer will fix that on the next checkup.

I'm surprised at how close these two sound, but I just remembered that my Guild has La Bella CB40's instead of the factory coated D'Addarios. They have a mellow, singing tone with more sustain.
 
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#29
No Martin for me, at least this time.

I went on a shopping spree last Friday, and got to try 4 more Jr’s.

They really are nice, but I have a thing about even sustain in the upper register.

The Dreadnaught delivers, but both 000’s I tried (a natural and a sunburst) had a dirty great dead spot up around the 13th fret. Most people probably wouldn’t notice, but it was a deal-killer for me, as I wanted the cutaway so I could play up in the dusty zone.

BTW, Huber Breese Music in Detroit (great shop, with a fantastic selection) was nice enough to let me test-fit the set of La Bella CB40-BE’s I brought with me. The E string in particular was much improved, giving it more low end and a lot more harmonic content. The only downside was a loss of overall level when plugged in.
 
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#32
It fascinates me how different our use cases are, plus we all have different physical, mental and emotional characteristics and needs.

Martin makes great stuff. I've never been in a position where one of their products was the right fit for me at the time, but I don't write it off as a possibility in the future.

After all, God forbid that everyone else should have to wear clothes that were made to fit me! The same goes for everything else we own, which is why I get frustrated with "best bass for xxx" threads.

When you're shopping for new gear, no-one else shares your lived experience, has your exact preferences, talents, or shortcomings. All we can do is listen to each other, then launch out into the unknown.

Time will always tell...
 
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#33
steve_rolfeca said:
It fascinates me how different our use cases are, plus we all have different physical, mental and emotional characteristics and needs.

Martin makes great stuff. I've never been in a position where one of their products was the right fit for me at the time, but I don't write it off as a possibility in the future.

After all, God forbid that everyone else should have to wear clothes that were made to fit me! The same goes for everything else we own, which is why I get frustrated with "best bass for xxx" threads.

When you're shopping for new gear, no-one else shares your lived experience, has your exact preferences, talents, or shortcomings. All we can do is listen to each other, then launch out into the unknown.

Time will always tell...
Click to expand...
My Martin was my first bass, but that's because I got to bass via acoustic guitar. By the time I messed around through various makers, I knew Martin was my ride.

Jumbos.jpg
 
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#34
When I bought my Martin BCP4A eighteen months ago (a picture of it is on the previous page), I didn't expect to be using it for gigs as I'm mostly an electric bass player, having sold my upright five years earlier. Lately though, I've been using it for brew pub gigs with an acoustic guitar-playing vocalist plus a mandolin and a dobro player. Brew pubs are loud environments and with no bass in the PA, I've been plugging into my Markbass CMD121 amp. With a sound hole cover in place, I can get plenty of volume and tone shaping.

Since I never expected the Martin to be loud enough to gig acoustically, I've never been disappointed by the fact that it isn't the loudest acoustically. It does sound excellent amplified and the now well broken-in Thomastik-Infeld Acousticore strings that I've been using since acquiring the Martin give it a wonderfully warm, somewhat upright-like sound when played finger-style by the neck (I never use a pick). These strings are a vast improvement over the factory Martin bronze phosphor strings, IMO, or at least for my needs.

I don't have enough experience with the wide world of acoustic bass guitars to recommend a Martin over other brands but I'm very happy that I bought mine.
 
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#35
Barton Lee said:
When I bought my Martin BCP4A eighteen months ago (a picture of it is on the previous page), I didn't expect to be using it for gigs as I'm mostly an electric bass player, having sold my upright five years earlier. Lately though, I've been using it for brew pub gigs with an acoustic guitar-playing vocalist plus a mandolin and a dobro player. Brew pubs are loud environments and with no bass in the PA, I've been plugging into my Markbass CMD121 amp. With a sound hole cover in place, I can get plenty of volume and tone shaping.

Since I never expected the Martin to be loud enough to gig acoustically, I've never been disappointed by the fact that it isn't the loudest acoustically. It does sound excellent amplified and the now well broken-in Thomastik-Infeld Acousticore strings that I've been using since acquiring the Martin give it a wonderfully warm, somewhat upright-like sound when played finger-style by the neck (I never use a pick). These strings are a vast improvement over the factory Martin bronze phosphor strings, IMO, or at least for my needs.

I don't have enough experience with the wide world of acoustic bass guitars to recommend a Martin over other brands but I'm very happy that I bought mine.
Click to expand...
Yes! When I amp my Martin, it sounds just right!
 
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#36
steve_rolfeca said:
..."best bass for xxx"...
Click to expand...
Can we skip the bass and go straight to the...?

Barton Lee said:
...my Martin BCP4A...

It does sound excellent amplified and the now well broken-in Thomastik-Infeld Acousticore strings that I've been using since acquiring the Martin give it a wonderfully warm, somewhat upright-like sound when played finger-style by the neck...
Click to expand...
Make the bass fretless and it will really sound superb (just going by my experience with owning a couple of fretless Rick Turner Renaissance basses [4- and 5-string] with those strings on them).
 
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#38
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