Martin D35...Opinions?

[coyoteblue]

Has anyone out there had a D35 for a while? What's your experience of this guitar? How does it compare to a D28, HD28 or HD28V? Are there good years or bad years for this model? Thanks.

[Evan Gluck]

Great guitars but there was a problem in the 70's with the bridges being
about 2/16th of an inch off. Not so good for intonation. The older ones often have binding seperations at the waist. I always liked the 90's HD28s for used and also the HD28 large sound holes. Also if you ever see a mid 90's JC40 they were awesome.
Hope this helps,
Evan

[kingsleyd]

I have a 1972 D35 that I've owned for almost 20 years. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I've also had a lot of work done by top-notch people. The main overhaul involved a refret, fretboard plane, and bridge replacement. The guitar was MUCH nicer after that. (and it played in tune!)

I'm not sure I've played enough of both to have a generalizable perception, but the good D-35s I've played seem to be a little less focused -- in a good way -- than D-28s. They respond a little better to the sort of fingerstyle and hybrid picking I like to do. (check out the sample of my tune "The Boy Who Loved Trucks" at www.alchemyrecords.com/kd.html for an example)

[Gazza]

The D-35 is my favorite Martin. To me it's the smoothest and most compressed sounding D they make.

[teleking36]

i almost jumped on one of these about 2 years ago. i was shopping for a nice D upgrade on my Taylor 410-MA. I wanted something with more projection and an overall more balanced sound than the maple bodied Taylor was giving me. I found one of these at Alto Music in Wappingers Falls, NY for a steal at $1599 with HSC, brand new. I thought it was a misprint, but the guy said the price was right. It sounded fantastic and played beautifully. Just the right amount of relief for me. Needless to say, I wasn't able to move my Taylor fast enough to pick it up, but it sure was a sweet dreadnought. I ended up going with a Gibson Hummingbird Artist that I've had for about a year now.

[alanbass1]

I have played a number of D35's and really like them. A friend purchased a new D35 in 2003 and this is not as open sounding, or as loud, as my 1992 D45. I would think the sound would open out more with playing and age, but the volume may be a consequence of the 'compressed' nature of the guitar that others have pointed out.

[davess23]

I don't have a D-35 now...but I owned a '72 D-35, bought new in '73, until 1994. Traded it for an unbelievable sounding Collings SJ which I still have, and never regretted doing so.

Obviously I like the Collings better...but I have nothing but good to say about the D-35. No bridge placement problems, no binding issues, etc. Just a very well-made, excellent sounding Martin that got better with age. Very sweet top on that guitar. Required a neck reset about a decade into its life, which is normal, and of course some frets at various intervals. It was as stable and healthy as a fine guitar should be.

As for comparisons to D-28's, frankly I couldn't see the big difference. I dug the bound neck, and the three piece back was pretty to look at. But aside from the cosmetics, my D-35 sounded much like the many D-28's I compared it to over a couple of decades of jams and occasional gigs. It did the big, boomy dread "cannon" thing assocated with the D-28 very nicely. For fingerstyle it was also D-28-like, namely not as responsive as a good OM or 000 due to the larger top but still more capable of subtle dynamics than a lot of other dreads.

In my book, the "good years and bad years" Martin thing is crap. If you're seeking a guitar this high on the food chain, you'd do much better to ignore the hogwash from self-styled experts who cite production totals and wood shortages, blah, blah, blah. You're going to pay upwards of $1200 for a good used D-35, possibly a bunch more, and you need to forget the mythology and concentrate on looking at individual examples of the model you're after. I've played lots of fine Martins from the supposed worst years of production, and dogs from what was said to be their golden age.

This is, after all, what you pay for. A D-35 isn't a cookie cutter 5-per-hour production piece, it's a largely hand-assembled guitar made from high grade materials and it's not going to be exactly like the next one off the line.

It may be hard to believe nowadays, with so many pricey Martin special editions and fancy collector-oriented models out now, but back in the day, the D-35 was exactly two models (D-41 and D-45) away from the very top of the Martin line, and Martin paid attention to how they built them. Most of the older D-35's I've played are pretty good guitars.

[coyoteblue]

Thanks for all the descriptions of your experience with a D35. I'm going to play an '89 D35 tomorrow. I'm hoping that it's the guitar I've been looking for. I was in a local store today and ended up buying a very nice Larrivee D03R. I played it next to a J45 and it more or less held its own at a $1000 less. I may well keep it, but I'm hoping I find the D35 noticably better. Richer, deeper. I also played a new D35 and it was a dog...after all the talk of the D35 being relatively bassy, the one I found in a store was thin and bright...go figure. Here's to being seduced by a well played D35.

[alpep]

i have a late 60's early 70's d 35 and d 35 12s

love both guitars. I had them both for over 20 years each

[JMintzer]

My D-35 turned 30 this past Summer. It will never, ever leave my possesion...


Jamie

[kingsleyd]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

My D-35 turned 30 this past Summer. It will never, ever leave my possesion...

Except when Jamie gives it to me to play...

(it's a nice one too!)

[BeatleFred]

I think the D-35 is a great guitar, I recently acquired a '77 and '75 on Ebay and I am very happy with both.

[coldfingaz]

Best singer/songwriter guitar in Martin's entire lineup

[Strat]

The three piece back of a D-35 is/was a response to unavailability of Brazilian Rosewood after the mid 60's, many of the earliest one had a narrow BR center and two Indian RW wings till even the smaller pieces ran out. It was never designed that way for sound considerations so the D-35 is a compromise design and really does sound as such compared to a D-21 or 28 from just a few years earlier. That being said they are still good sounding guitars for rythym work.

[doublee]

I have an '89 D35 for about 15 years now and recently also got a D18GE which is more responsive and easier to get sound out of. The 35 is much heavier, built like a tank. If I could keep only one it would be the D18 but the 35 has its charms. So....be sure to give a D18GE a test drive as a comparison!