One of the best video on Neck Relief thanks Bryan

The good stuff right here! Thanks

Yes - I have a 71 D-18 Standard that is 1/8 inch less shroter than than the 25.4 inch typical D-18 neck .

Bryan would you want to start a new thread in the UMGF Technical Info section to post your new findings on these Vintage Martin's? Would you want to also measure the neck of your newest shop guitar that you really love, the CS-Bluegrass-2016?

If find this fascinating.

The ‘41A internals look like a work of art. So pristine.

Thanks Bryan ... not sure if i missed 1940 D18 bracing looked more tapered than the D41 Authentic. Do the bridge plate size across all three 1940 & 1941 & 1948 are they same? gain thanks for the great insight

I am an owner of a 60's D-18 and not a luthier but this is so cool to actually see what all of these features look like and how they make the different versions sound. Thank you for putting all the time and work into this!

Wow great resonation and clear tone!great year martin

Oh Boy !!! I am a D18 guy and this one shines sounds much better ..... But D28 1941 is my Favorite guitar of all time .... for lead guitar and for recording that 1940 D-18 is the best choice any day ... Shop 70 D28 is a good sounding one too but its more Boomer and got lots of base, i would suggest to make Shop 70 D28 with LSV (Large sound Hole) to bring up the trebles ..... Eagerly waiting for the next video thanks a lot Bryan

i like the sound of that 72 whatever you did to it was magic.

Yep, the 1940 -18 has got "it". Oh yes! ... I want to try the Strat. Anybody else want to try the Strat? What year is that bad girl?

Smart video well done. What I came away with was amazement at how good the ‘72 sounds. Sheesh. I’d say the ‘40 is more articulate, as you implied, where the ‘72 is more diffuse. Different birds entirely of course, which is why I sort of expected the ‘40 to kinda blast it! Suppose the Adirondack does brighten it up a little. Would love to hear my post-2012 d-18 compared in the mix!

Bryan, the strings are Martin MA150 (medium 80/20) probably 3 months old. There's a new set in the case. The nut is original from Martin, either from 1940 or possibly 1963 when they refinished it. That's why we chose to shim it up and keep it when Judge corrected the shaved fretboard. Sounds great in your hands! "...a strong, clear guitar..." That is a perfect characterization. It was not lacking compared to my other prewar guitars, just a slightly different version of prewar Martin D-18 sound. They all have their own personality.

You nailed it with the madagascar, I just picked up a rare 2011 HD-28 MP and the tone blew me away! I've had 50's, 60's and 70's D 28's and this has a tone that's hard to explain, but it is just so clear up and down the neck.

I think your 72 sounds best but they all sound good.

Good video. If you want that old 72' out of your way let me know, lol. 😉

The 40' sounds warmer than either the 72 or 41 A, also does not sound like it has as much mid range punch as either the 72 pr 41 A..This is surprising as most early 40's tend to have great clarity and articulation. The 72' is an incredible sounding monster, the 41 a is also a monster...Huge resonance, balance and bottom end. I believe the warmer sound of the 40' D18 may be due to the older strings.

Is that the one I played?

Bryan it's too bad that you didn't have D-18 Authentic 1939 Aged to compare to that nice old 1940 D-18. That would have been a wonderful comparison!

I live in Kansas City. What vintage guitar company are you referring to? I'd love to visit them.

Thanks for this video, my biggest concern is intonation. Local luthier told me its not gonna be 100% perfect. I have access to factory who built it and see what they say but their luthiery is gonna be more expensive of course and likely want to redo bracing.

I have a 2008 Martin D-28 Marquis. I've used Elixer 13/56 Phosphor Broze Nanoweb strings for years. They last a very long time and sound great to my armature ear. They feel smooth and are easy on the fingers. Look out for counterfeit versions.

Relief is nonsense when you really think about it. Each fretted note forms a straight ramp that needs to clear the next fret, any relief just makes this impossible. On electrics, I dont understand why bridges are not closer to the neck, which allows lighter gauges and lower action. The maxed out saddle springs rattle at that point and its annoying.

I first found out about checking relief with a straightedge from a Premier Guitar article by Chad Weaver titled _Precision Neck Adjustment: A Simple Method for Consistency_ from 2010. A notched straightedge should be able to do double-duty on the frets I would think but in general it seems to do the trick. Thanks for reminding me about this method.

Great info ! 😊

For me, the best lift-me-upper is some Fettuccini Alfredo with some fresh Italian bread but do recognize some good exhaustive physical activity is much healthier.

Another great video! Thank you! I hope your break allows for some creativity with your music as being deeply involved in creative endeavors can be very healing as well as fun. Some of my favorite videos on KZbin are the ones where you are just playing... showing how you develop an arrangement to just playing a tune. I hope you find doing that type of videos to be enjoyable and can share some from time to time during your break from working on guitars. I would love to hear you take a Bluegrass tune of your choice and play it on several of your guitars to show where a particular guitar shines and where it struggles. I love your videos where you work on guitars but my favorites are when you compare and contrast a couple of guitars or just play. Take good care of yourself and I pray for lots of rest for you. You will be missed!!!

Thanks for this, I'm in the middle of building a neck relief gauge and was fighting in my head if I should build it to sit on the fret board or the frets. I appreciate your point about playing on the frets and not the board and now I can appreciate the need for both instances.

Good luck and welcome back!🙂

Sorry to hear of you taking a break, as I thoroughly enjoy your videos and insight, but you need to take care of yourself first! See you when you get back.

Have you ever compared an HD 28V to a Custom 15? I believe the Custom 15 was a custom shop version of the HD28V before it became a stock item in the Martin’s lineup.

Love my D-35 and D-41 - my personal favorites in the Martin line...

What do you think of the new way Martin have the bridge pins in line with saddle now?

Stress kills. We've worked too long and too hard at this point to not take the time to take care of ourselves. As much as we look forward to listening and learning from you I'd venture a guess we all completely understand and want only the best for you. Take a well-deserved respite my friend.

Excellent video, Bryan. I’m a Double Bassist, upright bass player and a luthier. I worked on many upright basses over the years, meaning, how to get a fat, loud volume……Martin guitars? There’s a lot of bad manufacturing business on Martin’s part. When I was living in the United States, I played so many Martin guitars, and the worst one I played was a Martin D45, a boutique instrument. But I played a standard D28 that you worked on, and everyone was shocked. The 45 didn’t stand a chance against your mod. But every Martin instrument is not the same, especially with the same model title. Physics and acoustics engineering is a very essential knowledge, and you’ve got that. Good on you, Bryan, and keep the great videos rolling. Best regards from Ireland…..🇮🇪👍

Sounds like my 1972 D-35.

I have a 2022 version of the HD-28 in the 1935 burst, and I love it, it's my favorite over all my other Martins. Has the MLO neck, which I love, I cannot stand the neck on the V's, sadly.

Great playing there Bryan. I think that guitar sounds and looks great. Love it! EE

Nice Guitar Sounds Great!

I love your block and clamps method for putting pressure on the neck. In the past i built something similar to the stewmac rig. I like your idea much better. Thank you. I gained a lot from your ideo.

Hi Bryan, I have a Hd28 and a OM28 with the same modified oval neck profile, the 2 E strings I find are very close to the edge, what do you think? I see this discussed on the Unofficial Martin guitar forum as well. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these very informative videos. Happy 4th of July from all in Ireland. john

The new 28s and 45s come with the cookie cutter scalloped bracing. Pretty much copying the vintage series body with the MLO neck.

Love your channel and your videos. This video too much story.

great news/ i thought that was really a great guitar. so many come through but i remember that was a good one.

Congrats on the new shop guitar. What a stunner!!! both in its appearance and sound. Your playing on it is as good as I have heard you play.

Sounds great congratulation for owning this beauty ..... One thing i am noticing it please share your thoughts all of this has one thing in common " Brace Material: Adirondack Spruce" please share your thoughts ....Large Soundhole do make a difference but that brace material is the magic sauce... back brace magic you did really good thanks Bryan

The tone on this is very close to an HD28-LSV...When I owned my 2000 HD28-LSV, Elderly had a new CS-BG-16 and I remember playing it and was thinking how close the tone was to my HD28-LSV even though the 16 was brand new..The new 16 did have noticeably less bass/bottom but had good balance and good mid range punch. The neck profiles were quite different.

I have never seen an ambertone HD35. I did not know they existed. That's beautiful.

Great review you're so knowledgeable people have a tendency to complain about guitar necks what happens is they get used to one type and if you put anything else in their hands they complain same thing with sound unfortunately that's why you need to play more than one guitar several quality guitars preferably I know everybody don't have access to do that but it will get you over that rut and you will find out what really suits you and what you really like I know people that swear by that Les Paul Gibson Style neck on electric guitar which I don't care for