Am I crazy?

[Koamon]

Crazy? Depends...i always wanted a D-35 and was a Martin wannabe. I got the cash but no D-35 so I settled for a HD-28.  A great guitar, but  I never really took to it. Then i read a Gruhn article about tone woods and realized that I should be a Hog Guy. So I went looking for a D-18 and Elderly was selling a Martin GOTM D3-18, a custom three piece back Hog so I got it. That was 1991. I had known UnclRob for about 6 years. The whole time he thought i was crazy but was one special guitar. Then he started telling me about the Larrivees. @ the shop where he used to work and got me hooked and got a LV-05. Was fine until some NAMM Koas from Larrivee came in. Did a lot of test driving and soul searching, changed out my Martins to those Larrivees and never looked back. Koa to me is a Hog whose tone is more complexL

So I guess my point is that I made the switch from Martin to Larrivee based upon playing the the actual instruments i was going to get. Don't just cash out on the D-35 until you have played the specific Larry you want to get. Better yet, play as many Larrys in diffent woods and body styles and get exactly what you are looking for. If you don't you will probably regret it in the long run.

Btw, I never got a D-35 but recently went into GC saw one and went into sticker shock...unless you are wealthy, chances are that once you part with the Martin you may never be able to go back. Oh yeah Unclrob still thinks I amm crazy.

[flatlander]

If I had a NICE Martin as you say, I'd keep it. Good to have different sounding instruments.

[prof_stack]

In 1977 I sold a Martin D-35 (#295342 why do I remember the serial #?  ) after I got tired of the bassy nature of the sound.  I'd like to hear that guitar today.

I had purchased a 1974 LoPrinzi LR-20 (similar to a D-28 in build) which was balanced in tone and sweeter sounding, thus making the Martin expendable.

Not only was the LoPrinzi much less expensive (like 40%) less, but I STILL HAVE IT TODAY.

So get what your heart and ears tell you.

[bkg]

Hi,
I had a 00015SM all mahogany custom built from the Martin Factory it was really nice and an all mahogany Taylor GS mini I have sold the Martin to get a Larrivee 00 series with appointments from the 10 series. I couldnt fault the Martin but I sold it I had a Larrivee Parlor and that was also very sweet. I think you are right in what you are doing as long as you can replace the guitar you sold. Hope my 00 is worth the wait I know the build quality is really good with Larrivee   

[teh]

Since the four best guitars I own include 2 Larrivees (both 03 Series) and 2 Martins (both 35 series including a D-35) this has been an interesting thread for me to follow.

While I have shared this before, my D-35 (purchased new in 1977 when I was single) was my primary guitar for 27 years (1997 to 2004). Once my three sons were through college and they were gainfully employed, I saw an increase in cash flow that I hadn't seen in years. This enabled me to purchase my first Larrivee (Flamed Maple Parlor in 2004) and with the help of my wife and kids a special order 12 string in 2007).

As a result of those purchases and a lot of time spent at Trinity Guitars, I discovered that the 03 series is one of the best values in the acoustic guitar market place. Two years later, I had enough money left to put a sizable hole in the cost of my OM-35 and got to play lots of OMs before making my final decision. I plan to keep all four of these guitars and leave them to my kids. My son already has joint custody of the Parlor and I have visitation rights when watching my grandchildren).

Just for fun, I went to the websites of what I consider to be the big 3 guitar manufacturers (Larrivee, Martin and Taylor) and checked the differnence in list prices for comparable guitars. I limited myself to one body size (Dreadnaught) and using Larrivee as the benchmark, here is what I found. All of these manufacturers offer competitively priced guitars that makes comparison both fun and realistic:

Compared with the Larrivee Rosewood D-09;
Martin Standard D-28 price was $52 lower (Martin Standard D-35 list price was $48 higher) -(Rosewood and Sitka)
Taylor 710 list price was $23 lower (Rosewood and Englemen Spruce Top) Bolt on neck

Compared with the Larrivee Mahogany D-05;
Martin Standard D-18 list price was $191 higher (Mahogany and Sitka)
Taylor 410 was $50 lower (Tropical Mahogany and Sitka) - Bolt on neck

P.S Even though I only know him from reading his posts on this forum, the fact that Ducktrapper owns the same Martin D-35 (Shade top) from the same era as mine and he admitted that he would be crazy to sell his validates my sanity (or craziness).