I'm just learning guitar in my 60s. I bought the D-X2E last week and decided it was too big for me. Swapped it out today for a OOO-X2E. If ever I'm questioning the quality of the guitar I'll come back here to get a reminder that it's not the guitar.
The whole body of that D-X1E, top included, is HPL material. The body (top, sides & back) is only faux grained/printed (think kitchen countertop material here) to look like mahogany, and you will be getting the sonic characteristics of HPL (whatever those are) not mahogany, whether laminate (plywood) or solid top.
yes yes yes... this video made it seem like there was actual mahogany on these, and no no no there is None, just HPL with mahogany appearance (color & grain, not sound or tone). Actually mahogany (the real stuff, not Sapelle) is becoming hard to get, some manufacturers still use it for necks, but Martin is mostly using "Select Hardwood" except for the D-15 (or 000-15 etc), sadly even some D-18 do not have mahogany necks now. And he could have built up the X2 better by explaining the neck+ fretboard are real wood, even if unknown and not mahogany, and the DX-1E has man-made neck+fretbd. But I did like his playing for the comparisons.
@@karlnation-m8f my point is facts, dude. I get that it's an affordable option. I like that it's weather resistant. I actually would like to have one for the beach and camping trips. But the guy said "The dreadnought has a *mahogany* top..." It does not. The top is HPL. He went on to wax lyrical about the sonic properties of mahogany versus spruce, which again, doesn't really apply here.
Pay the extra $50 or so and get the dx1ae with the solid Sitka spruce top, laminate back and sides and richlite fretboard and Carbonite kneck! I've played all 3 and the dx1ae sounds better and a little louder. You want the solid spruce top for sure!
MARTIN D2XE....excellent tone and great loudness...but the one i bought, the string height is too high and cant take it down much or else its buzzing..and as i stay in Inida, so no authentic Martin repair person i can find here... ALAS...!!!
Have you tried adjusting the truss rod. Get a notched straight edge (look it up online) and see if there is a convex bow. Ideally the fret board should be either perfectly flat or slightly concave (relief) Some weather conditions can change the neck and the fret board shape especially damp conditions like during your monsoon season. You can adjust it with the truss rod. It's important to remember to do this with the guitar tuned up and also the truss rod is not for adjusting action but just for adjusting the guitar necks Bow ͜͡or if there is a convex bow it means there is a slight hump in the fret board which can cause buzz. Also play the string that buzzes starting on the first fret and every fret down the neck until it disappears then you know the fret it disappears at is the culprit (at least one of them).
I've noticed that at least most of the solid top ones in the Martin X series have a 2 in the model number and like Thomas L. says you definitely want a solid top. There are plenty of solid top guitars around much cheaper than these with solid tops and you could save the difference until your ready to upgrade when you become slightly more competent and put it towards a good all solid guitar.
It's annoying that you don't specifically say whether the tops on these guitars are solid wood or laminate. You specify that the back and sides are HPL but with the tops you just say Mahogany and sitka spruce which made me think they must be solid (because you didn't say HPL or laminate) I later found out that at least the mahogany one is laminate, not sure about the other.
@@ronj9448 Thanks for the HU and that's exactly why I will not be buying either. I have £1K and by the summer when I plan on buying an upgrade from my Epiphone Hummingbird Pro I should have around £1.5K I think I'll probably go for a Gibson G45 or J45 which both can be got for £1K to £2K and they are all solid woods. I just don't want a plywood guitar.
@@sizzler271 That Epiphone of yours has a solid top so it actually has greater potential than these two. Why are you not happy with it? Maybe a tweak here or there could turn it around. You pay a premium for the name Gibson (or Martin). Have you considered Cole Clark or all solid wood Yamaha? You could get two of those for the price of a Gibson and sound just as good or better. Regardless a rule a teacher taught me is for every 500.00 you're spending you should audition at least 3 of the SAME model. So if you do go with Gibson and want to spend 1500 then try out at least 9. It helps you understand the tone that the model is shooting for. This way you'll be confident that the one you bought is really the best for you without doubts.
@@ronj9448 Of course I know that the top is solid spruce and actually epiphone now have a series called inspired by Gibson that are all solid and includes the hummingbird, it looks identical to mine but all solid. www.epiphone.com/Guitars/Collection/Inspired-by-Gibson-Acoustic there's even a 12 string version of the hummingbird. In answer to your question my hummingbird sounds beautiful, especially since I took out the under saddle pickup, added tusq nut and saddle and changed to Martin strings, I couldn't be happier for a £200 guitar as far as tone goes but that's just it, it is now around 2 years old and it probably will not improve further such is the nature of laminate guitars even when they have a solid top, whereas if you buy a decent all solid guitar it will improve year after year. I want an all solid guitar that I can keep and will improve for years. I have played a few and there is an improvement in all solid guitars the older the better It hasn't got to be a Gibson, I ,might even go second hand and get something even better. I change from week to week, one week it will be a Martin, the next week a Gibson and one day during the next year I will see the right guitar, go try it (hopefully covid allowing), and buy it. I might even go for one from the inspired by Gibson epiphone solids I linked to above. So whatever you say an all solid guitar is a definite upgrade from a laminate guitar even if it has a solid top and I will get the best all solid I can get for whatever money I decide to spend. So thanks for the advice but really not needed thanks, I like to spend my money my way.
Love the sound of these HPL Martins...didn't think I'd like them 'till this demo. Thanks!
Just bought the 00-X2E X ... now I know I won't regret the decision!~ Thank you!~
I like the chime of HPL back and sides. I have a DX1RAE and love it
Mahogany sounds great !!!
I'm planning on buying the 00X2E, you guys recommend it?
Just bought the dreadnought version. It's exactly as you described. Great comparison video man. Bang on
Isn't the mahogany dreadnought all HPL. This model shows as all laminate HPL on the Martin site. Cheers
yes
I ordered one of these and was wondering if this was the same HPL model as the koa one.
Nice comparison and very nice playing. The 00-X2E would make the perfect "couch" guitar.
This was informative and hope you will do more content like this.
You sir are immensely talented.
I'm just learning guitar in my 60s. I bought the D-X2E last week and decided it was too big for me. Swapped it out today for a OOO-X2E. If ever I'm questioning the quality of the guitar I'll come back here to get a reminder that it's not the guitar.
Than you
I have an older cutaway version. Do these have the same necks? I believe it is a polycarbonate material.
Multi laminate
The whole body of that D-X1E, top included, is HPL material. The body (top, sides & back) is only faux grained/printed (think kitchen countertop material here) to look like mahogany, and you will be getting the sonic characteristics of HPL (whatever those are) not mahogany, whether laminate (plywood) or solid top.
yes yes yes... this video made it seem like there was actual mahogany on these, and no no no there is None, just HPL with mahogany appearance (color & grain, not sound or tone). Actually mahogany (the real stuff, not Sapelle) is becoming hard to get, some manufacturers still use it for necks, but Martin is mostly using "Select Hardwood" except for the D-15 (or 000-15 etc), sadly even some D-18 do not have mahogany necks now. And he could have built up the X2 better by explaining the neck+ fretboard are real wood, even if unknown and not mahogany, and the DX-1E has man-made neck+fretbd. But I did like his playing for the comparisons.
Point is affordable dude
@@karlnation-m8f my point is facts, dude.
I get that it's an affordable option. I like that it's weather resistant. I actually would like to have one for the beach and camping trips.
But the guy said "The dreadnought has a *mahogany* top..." It does not. The top is HPL. He went on to wax lyrical about the sonic properties of mahogany versus spruce, which again, doesn't really apply here.
Just so I’m clear, this is the HPL top , they all sound the same in the line as the material is all the same?
Loved the video
Pay the extra $50 or so and get the dx1ae with the solid Sitka spruce top, laminate back and sides and richlite fretboard and Carbonite kneck! I've played all 3 and the dx1ae sounds better and a little louder. You want the solid spruce top for sure!
Carbonite!!! Isn't that what Han Solo was frozen in by Darth Vader? Then given to Jabba the Hutt??
Hey Thomas… not in zero humidity Phoenix… go for the HPL, unless you like your guitars always in cases humidifying
well done
pure guitar technique and guitar player without musical thinking generally
MARTIN D2XE....excellent tone and great loudness...but the one i bought, the string height is too high and cant take it down much or else its buzzing..and as i stay in Inida, so no authentic Martin repair person i can find here... ALAS...!!!
action can be adjusted by anyone (might need a shave off the bridge)
Have you tried adjusting the truss rod. Get a notched straight edge (look it up online) and see if there is a convex bow. Ideally the fret board should be either perfectly flat or slightly concave (relief) Some weather conditions can change the neck and the fret board shape especially damp conditions like during your monsoon season. You can adjust it with the truss rod. It's important to remember to do this with the guitar tuned up and also the truss rod is not for adjusting action but just for adjusting the guitar necks Bow ͜͡or if there is a convex bow it means there is a slight hump in the fret board which can cause buzz. Also play the string that buzzes starting on the first fret and every fret down the neck until it disappears then you know the fret it disappears at is the culprit (at least one of them).
It's not hard to setup a guitar... save yourself money, and do it yourself. Plenty of tutorials on youtube
I’m torn between both ;)
Dx1e = Drs1 .....?
X series is a laminate, I believe. At least the one I have is a laminate
Some of them have laminate tops, some have solid spruce tops. You want the solid top, it's the most important part of the guitars sound.
I've noticed that at least most of the solid top ones in the Martin X series have a 2 in the model number and like Thomas L. says you definitely want a solid top. There are plenty of solid top guitars around much cheaper than these with solid tops and you could save the difference until your ready to upgrade when you become slightly more competent and put it towards a good all solid guitar.
The 00 X2e has a Solid spruce top and HPL back and sides.
50th like...DID I WIN?
Ma ing guitars, 😂 lets compeeee beeeeee
I didn't know Ezra Firestone could play guitar!
It's annoying that you don't specifically say whether the tops on these guitars are solid wood or laminate. You specify that the back and sides are HPL but with the tops you just say Mahogany and sitka spruce which made me think they must be solid (because you didn't say HPL or laminate) I later found out that at least the mahogany one is laminate, not sure about the other.
The top is so thin that you can it reflex when you push it.
For the record both of these models are HPL tops
@@ronj9448 Thanks for the HU and that's exactly why I will not be buying either. I have £1K and by the summer when I plan on buying an upgrade from my Epiphone Hummingbird Pro I should have around £1.5K I think I'll probably go for a Gibson G45 or J45 which both can be got for £1K to £2K and they are all solid woods. I just don't want a plywood guitar.
@@sizzler271 That Epiphone of yours has a solid top so it actually has greater potential than these two. Why are you not happy with it? Maybe a tweak here or there could turn it around. You pay a premium for the name Gibson (or Martin). Have you considered Cole Clark or all solid wood Yamaha? You could get two of those for the price of a Gibson and sound just as good or better. Regardless a rule a teacher taught me is for every 500.00 you're spending you should audition at least 3 of the SAME model. So if you do go with Gibson and want to spend 1500 then try out at least 9. It helps you understand the tone that the model is shooting for. This way you'll be confident that the one you bought is really the best for you without doubts.
@@ronj9448 Of course I know that the top is solid spruce and actually epiphone now have a series called inspired by Gibson that are all solid and includes the hummingbird, it looks identical to mine but all solid. www.epiphone.com/Guitars/Collection/Inspired-by-Gibson-Acoustic there's even a 12 string version of the hummingbird.
In answer to your question my hummingbird sounds beautiful, especially since I took out the under saddle pickup, added tusq nut and saddle and changed to Martin strings, I couldn't be happier for a £200 guitar as far as tone goes but that's just it, it is now around 2 years old and it probably will not improve further such is the nature of laminate guitars even when they have a solid top, whereas if you buy a decent all solid guitar it will improve year after year. I want an all solid guitar that I can keep and will improve for years. I have played a few and there is an improvement in all solid guitars the older the better It hasn't got to be a Gibson, I ,might even go second hand and get something even better. I change from week to week, one week it will be a Martin, the next week a Gibson and one day during the next year I will see the right guitar, go try it (hopefully covid allowing), and buy it. I might even go for one from the inspired by Gibson epiphone solids I linked to above. So whatever you say an all solid guitar is a definite upgrade from a laminate guitar even if it has a solid top and I will get the best all solid I can get for whatever money I decide to spend. So thanks for the advice but really not needed thanks, I like to spend my money my way.
Snooze fest