One of the most important things in my life is music performance. I started playing the violin when I was four years old with the Suzuki method and completed the method and graduated book ten when I was a senior in high school. I consider it one of my life’s biggest achievements.
When I was a freshman in high school, I started playing guitar. I guess I wanted to play something a bit more popular than Vivaldi and Mozart.
Since then, I’ve been playing on the same cheap Alvarez acoustic guitar that I picked up at an estate sale for $150.
Recently, I started playing acoustic guitar for my local church, and now that I have a little purchasing power, decided it is time to finally get a decent guitar.
I went down to the Guitar Center and compared several off the rack. I ended up liking the Martin D-28 the best, so I bought it! Was very excited to take it to a guitar luthier to have electronics installed in it.
I took it to a local shop, and they immediately told me that the neck set on my brand-new guitar was bad. It came from the manufacturer already bad! This would be a $700 repair! Devastation! The guitar I was so excited about now had this fatal flaw.
After getting three different opinions on it, they all said the same thing. But the third luthier I spoke with had a well-taken-care-of Martin D-35 50th anniversary edition for sale! He showed me and I immediately fell in love with it.
isn’t it pretty?
What immediately jumped out at me was the slight flame on the soundboard of the guitar and the wave in the three-piece back. When I played it, it had a warmer, fuller sound than the D-28.
In the end, it was an easy decision to return the D-28 to Guitar Center for a full refund.
The used 50th anniversary edition D-35 was cheaper than the new D-28 from Guitar Center! And it’s actually better suited to the music I perform (hymns at church).
I get some serious joy out of playing this instrument, and I feel very blessed to own it.
Next time, I’m starting at a local shop. Having someone who deeply knows these instruments and their inventory helped me find the right one.