It has been a tradition for many years and you can see a majority of musicians playing on the Martin guitar. I have a 1971 D35 and it is one of the best guitars for all around bluegrass music. I like the resonance it projects on a PA system. You can hear my guitar on our website http://lewisandclarkbluegrass.homestead.com

The Taylor guitar is a beautiful work of art but it is good for country, many have traded in their Martin boxes for the Taylor but in my opinion, the Martin has greater value in bluegrass to get the sound needed for acoustic.

I bought my Guild D40 35 years ago because it was comparable to the Martins I was testing at that time. In fact the mid range was far superior. In my later years, I purchased several Martins and now understand what Martins are all about. Martins where the Holy Grail of instruments during my learning years, and only now do I fully appreciate their appeal. Don't misunderstand me...there is no way I would give up my D40. I have the Eric Clapton OOO-28 and a Koa OM-18. I wonder if a J40 is in the stars for me....

The reason I like the Martin is the sounds I get on stage and in recording, I have heard and played a couple of Guild before and I liked them, many like the Taylor guitar but what I have found is they do not have the sound that I prefer in playing bluegrass music, they are great for country though. Any way just keep on pickin

Just open our website and listen to the projection of my D 35 http://www.southernmobluegrass.org

So, if I were to fall into the spell of Martin Dreadnaughts, which one is the over all best? I keep hearing that the D-28 sounds better than some of the higher numbered Martins? I hear that once you get over the 28...it's just eye candy. Any truth? Thoughts? Mind you, I'm not playing only Bluegrass, although who can pass up Allison Krouse? How about custom ordering a dread directly from the factory and taking chances with what you get as opposed to test driving what's on hand at the local guitar center? :

I also like the D 28, if you can find an older D 18, you would have a real guitar, they had different wood in them than the new ones do. You can get the sound in a 28 if you can find a good one. the higer numbers do gat you a better sound. although the abolony trim make it more show on stage. many have the haring bone too. like a car the extra costs you extra.
I lookid a long time to find this 35, it was great when I got it but I have have had a lot of work done on it to get the sound it has. going to factory, I don't believe is the answer, I think you need to test drive the individual guitar and experiment and see which one has the sound that suits you.

I must be of your age Eric, and Kirby must be about 10 years younger...knowing that you are both deeply entrenched in the music industry and associated with the traditional Bluegrass roots, what are your thoughts about the newer types of Bluegrass groups. Nickel Creek, for example is a blend of new thoughts and expressions, but with traditional instruments. I know that the first time I heard them I was blown away with the thought that a less traditional form of bluegrass put a fire under my seat and made me want to investigate flatpicking a little closer. I started thinking that flatpicking could make all of my other styles faster, smoother, more expressive. It was only then that I started looking at the traditional bluegrass sound. I'm curious to know how you view the "other than traditional" groups.

I appreciate your interest in the traditional side of bluegrass, I started out at age 15, I am 65, Kirby is about 44, I liked the group Nickle Creek when they first came out, as the same with Allison Krauss, when we talk about "traditional" what comes to my mind is sticking to the roots, as most know, bluegrass was born on t he stage of the Grand Ole Opry in 1945 when Earl Scruggs started playing for Bill Monroe, the roots of bluegrass came from a variety of different styles and types of music, appalacian, country, mountain, old time, jazz and others. When you get away from the roots of the basic instruments and songs, in my opinion it has left traditional. Bill chose the five instruments as bluegrass, mandolin, guitar, banjo, fiddle and bass. Later Flatt and Scruggs introduced the dobro , now the electric bass guitar is accepted by some but still gets away from tradition
Thanks for your post