I played one of the dreadnaught Martin basses today. I was very underwhelmed with projection and volume. It is acoustically not going to keep up with any acoustic guitar. It was almost too quiet just playing around. The tone itself wise a dark thunky sound which I though had a nice jazzy vibe to it. The neck was thicker but ok.
Sitting next to it was a Taylor GS Mini koa. Just buy the Taylor. It blows the doors off the Martin in tone and playability. It even sounded better/louder then the full size Fender Kingman which I put back after several notes. The Taylor was able to keep up with my friend playing a medium sized acoustic. It had a nice clean and balanced tone. The midrange really helped it keep up with the acoustic guitar. Still not sure if it could easily keep up with several guitars. Ultimately all these little basses would benefit from a little mini amp as well. Maybe the Martin would have won out with a little mini amp to help it along.
Sitting next to it was a Taylor GS Mini koa. Just buy the Taylor. It blows the doors off the Martin in tone and playability. It even sounded better/louder then the full size Fender Kingman which I put back after several notes. The Taylor was able to keep up with my friend playing a medium sized acoustic. It had a nice clean and balanced tone. The midrange really helped it keep up with the acoustic guitar. Still not sure if it could easily keep up with several guitars. Ultimately all these little basses would benefit from a little mini amp as well. Maybe the Martin would have won out with a little mini amp to help it along.
