NGD: 2022 Martin HD-28V

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EOengineer

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As summer approaches, the urge to chill on the porch with some bourbon and a great sounding acoustic is calling.

A decade ago I owned a Blueridge BR-160A, which was a Chinese clone of an HD-28v and LOVED it. That guitar is long gone but I’m feeling like I might be tempted to make leap and grab the D28 or HD28.

I’ve also checked into the Recording King RD-328 and Eastman E20 - both look awesome, but I’m hoping I can land a used Martin in the $2k range.

Any Martin people here? What are you guys into? The 2025 line does look cool but I know the scalloped bracing on the D28 Standard is controversial.
 
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I inherited my dad’s D28, which is a fantastic guitar and very special to me. Played it in a bluegrass band with him for many years and there’s nothing better for that sort of stuff.

My everyday acoustic is a J45 I bought a few years ago. Overall, I’m a Gibson guy. I like the shorter scale, it's nice for fingerpicking, singer/songwriter stuff, acoustic classic rock, etc.

Having those two keeps me pretty much covered for acoustics. Would maybe like to pick up a 00 down the road.
 
i gave up on dreadnaughts cause theyre just too damn big for anything i want to do with acoustics anymore. e20s are great guitars- i have one and two martins (a OOO16s and a d18s), and ill play all of em... but the e20 OOs is really my favorite of em.

hd28 are amazing instruments for cutting through a bluegrass band, but theyre a bit like a trim carpenter owning a dually. you CAN do it, but its too much truck and ultimately people go... nice truck, whatre you compensating for? 😄
 
EOengineer said:
As summer approaches, the urge to chill on the porch with some bourbon and a great sounding acoustic is calling.

A decade ago I owned a Blueridge BR-160A, which was a Chinese clone of an HD-28v and LOVED it. That guitar is long gone but I’m feeling like I might be tempted to make leap and grab the D28 or HD28.

I’ve also checked into the Recording King RD-328 and Eastman E20 - both look awesome, but I’m hoping I can land a used Martin in the $2k range.

Any Martin people here? What are you guys into? The 2025 line does look cool but I know the scalloped bracing on the D28 Standard is controversial.
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dignlivn said:
USA Martin's are a great.
Just make your choice .
Enjoy the porch.
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AlbertA said:
I tried a D28 and a bunch of other Martins last week in a shop - The D28 is what I would get - in fact I'm considering trading my Taylor GA4 for it.
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Eagle said:
D28 is a great choice, had one in for setup yesterday.
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Yeah the Martin D28 and HD28 are both great choices. I had a HD28 that I had to sell when I moved into my current house. It was a amazing guitar. I got a lower end U.S. Martin name of Special 16 a couple years ago. It was a model run made only for Guitar Center and Musician's Fiend. It has satin back and sides and less fancy inlays. It does have scalloped bracing, but my old HD28 sounded better.

20250427_014638.jpg
 
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maguchi said:
Yeah the Martin D28 and HD28 are both great choices. I had a HD28 that I had to sell when I moved into my current house. It was a amazing guitar. I got a lower end U.S. Martin name of Special 16 a couple years ago. It was a model run made only for Guitar Center and Musician's Fiend. It has satin back and sides and less fancy inlays. It does have scalloped bracing, but my old HD28 sounded better.

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That one’s a beauty.

I’m sorry to hear about your HD28, I bet that hurt! I sold my Blueridge with a pile of gear to help finance a career change over a decade back and I mourned that thing for years. I still miss it. Guitars can be funny like that.

It’s funny you bring up the GC/MF specials. I had a near miss on a GC MMV 28 style last week and went down the research rabbit hole. Some of those guitars are a shocking value. The Special Adi VTS in particular caught my attention because I’m fond of red spruce.

I’m hoping for an HD28 but just had a studio owner and long time friend tell me to make an offer on his single owner 69-70 D41 that he rarely plays anymore. It’s probably outside my budget but we’re gonna talk about it. That would be cool to land.
 
TubeStack said:
I inherited my dad’s D28, which is a fantastic guitar and very special to me. Played it in a bluegrass band with him for many years and there’s nothing better for that sort of stuff.

My everyday acoustic is a J45 I bought a few years ago. Overall, I’m a Gibson guy. I like the shorter scale, it's nice for fingerpicking, singer/songwriter stuff, acoustic classic rock, etc.

Having those two keeps me pretty much covered for acoustics. Would maybe like to pick up a 00 down the road.
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The idea of a generational transfer of Martins is interesting to think about. Martins should come with a little log book so you can record a chain of custody over the decades.

The J45 is on my list, actually. I worked in a studio where a 60s J45 was our go to on almost every acoustic track.

I think we’ve got similar tastes. I’d love both those guitars and an OM or OOO size as well. Dreadnought can def be cumbersome with the size.
 
I’ve never gotten along with Martins, give me a j45 or a Yamaha FG.

But that’s just a personal preference thing, if a D28 is your thing grab one now and be ready when the weather gets nice.

The big question is which bourbon pairs best with a D28 on the porch?
 
metropolis_4 said:
I’ve never gotten along with Martins, give me a j45 or a Yamaha FG.

But that’s just a personal preference thing, if a D28 is your thing grab one now and be ready when the weather gets nice.

The big question is which bourbon pairs best with a D28 on the porch?
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I’ve been more effective at acquiring bourbon than Martins. Old Forester 1920 or Jefferson Ocean recently.
 
The D28 is a classic. My suggestion to anyone shopping for an acoustic guitar is to play the exact guitar in person if at all possible. Individual examples can vary and the best way to know what you like is to play a bunch of guitars back to back. Otherwise, buy from a dealer with a good return policy.
 
strings2000 said:
On my list of guitars to own. Just got an Eastman e8d. Heard there are some similarities.
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IMO the Eastman has a slightly different thing going on compared to the Martin. That’s in no way intended to shortchange the Eastman acoustics, which I personally believe are incredible instruments.
 
Just following up…I’ve been BUSY. In the last 2 weeks I’ve played the following Martins:

  1. 2024 D-18 Standard
  2. 2024 D-18 Standard Satin
  3. 2025 D-18 Standard Satin
  4. 2024 D-28 Standard
  5. 2025 D-28 Standard
  6. 2024 HD-28
  7. 2022 Special 28 Style Adirondack
I went into this heavily biased towards a D28. I have to give Martin credit, every D-18 I’ve played has been an absolute monster. The 2025 in particular with the golden era scalloped bracing is unbelievably good. I’m still looking for a 28, but a future D-18 is imminent now. So good.

Somewhat surprisingly I did not care for the 2024 or 2025 D-28. The standard bracing left things feeling a little anemic on the 24. The 2025 had tons of low end, but for whatever reason the specific guitar I played felt very muted and soft on the top end.

What I’ve learned is that I REALLY like the HD-28. The 2024 HD-28 was an a cannon but also responded nicely to finger picking.

The leader for me right now is a used 2022 special run of the D-28 Martin did for sweetwater. It’s effectively an HD-28 with the old chunky soft V neck and 1 11/16 nut spacing, and an Adirondack top. This thing KILLS. It has the bass depth of the 2025 D-28 but the Adi top gives a more detailed top end. I’m in love with this thing, likely heading back tonight to grab it. I’m a bit shocked as I was sure the 1 3/4 nut with was a must have but I’m preferring the narrower spacing and chunkier neck.
 
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If any of you have the stomach to buy a Martin sight unseen, there are a number of outlets that appear to be blowing out the 2024 D35 for $2499 right now.

It’s tempting but I’m thinking I’d want the GE bracing on a 35, so would hold out for 2025.
 
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