i have a 2004 OOOX1 that i think is probably the best acoustic guitar in the world. i've had about 50 guitars since 2013 and my current line up is a 66 j45 (i bought around 1975), a 69 epiphone texan, a maton ebg808TE and a larrivee OMO3zebrano (for sale) and the martin blows them all away. a couple of things though, these were supposed to be budget guitars made in mexico, i don't know for sure but i think the USA ones were prototypes for quality control (possibly why mine sounds so good). as far as i can tell HPL _could_ be actual laminate, but i suspect it's wood shavings and glue and the grain is printed on - mine definitely doesn't look like actual wood, laminate or otherwise,. mine sounds brilliant with old strings, really mellow with a nice deep bass and the trebles still ring like a martin should, but put new strings on it and it really is mind blowing, like i say it's at least as good as my J45, maybe the maton comes close when it comes to sweetness. but my advice is change strings as often as your pocket allows, when i had money i changed them every week and professionals change them for every gig. i have seven guitars atm so it gets expensive. the odd thing about my OOOX1 is - i bought another. i really wanted to know how and why mine is so good, so when i saw another up for sale i got that too, a 2014, so younger, with electrics (not that i use electrics) and it was made in mexico, so deffo not a prototype. it sounded complete;y different and nowhere near as good. ALL guitars are unique, i would bet money that two guitars made from the same woodstock at the same time by the same luthier would have a unique sound - it's all subjective, try every guitar you can lay your hands on and one day one will jump out and grab you, i've had my j45 for forty or more years and the martin will never be sold.
@HarryNicNicholas Thanks for sharing that Harry. They do sound surprisingly good don't they. Now that I've restrung it the sound is very impressive. One small problem is the action but I'm working on it. Thanks for watching. Cheers 🍻
i have a 2004 OOOX1 that i think is probably the best acoustic guitar in the world. i've had about 50 guitars since 2013 and my current line up is a 66 j45 (i bought around 1975), a 69 epiphone texan, a maton ebg808TE and a larrivee OMO3zebrano (for sale) and the martin blows them all away.
a couple of things though, these were supposed to be budget guitars made in mexico, i don't know for sure but i think the USA ones were prototypes for quality control (possibly why mine sounds so good). as far as i can tell HPL _could_ be actual laminate, but i suspect it's wood shavings and glue and the grain is printed on - mine definitely doesn't look like actual wood, laminate or otherwise,.
mine sounds brilliant with old strings, really mellow with a nice deep bass and the trebles still ring like a martin should, but put new strings on it and it really is mind blowing, like i say it's at least as good as my J45, maybe the maton comes close when it comes to sweetness. but my advice is change strings as often as your pocket allows, when i had money i changed them every week and professionals change them for every gig. i have seven guitars atm so it gets expensive.
the odd thing about my OOOX1 is - i bought another. i really wanted to know how and why mine is so good, so when i saw another up for sale i got that too, a 2014, so younger, with electrics (not that i use electrics) and it was made in mexico, so deffo not a prototype.
it sounded complete;y different and nowhere near as good. ALL guitars are unique, i would bet money that two guitars made from the same woodstock at the same time by the same luthier would have a unique sound - it's all subjective, try every guitar you can lay your hands on and one day one will jump out and grab you, i've had my j45 for forty or more years and the martin will never be sold.
@HarryNicNicholas Thanks for sharing that Harry. They do sound surprisingly good don't they. Now that I've restrung it the sound is very impressive. One small problem is the action but I'm working on it. Thanks for watching. Cheers 🍻