MARTIN LOVERS--4 Martin Sopranos: Strum Test

pdxuke · Jan 5, 2013

https://soundcloud.com/pdxuke/martin-comparison-4-sopranos

Hi Martin Lovers:

A strum test of my four Martin Sopranos:

New Martin S-1 (Mexico) all mahogany soprano
New Martin 2 (USA) all mahogany soprano
Vintage Martin 1-M all mahogany soprano, c '30s to '50s
Vintage Martin Style 0 all mahogany soprano, 1948

Come back and tell me your thoughts. I know what I think, but would love to hear your reaction.

I am, however, a Martin lover. So I will tell you upfront I love them all.

But I do have some favorites...

Doc_J · Jan 5, 2013

Very interesting. The new Martin 2 was my least favorite, but it still might be opening up and the strings were new.

Thanks for putting this together.

connor013 · Jan 5, 2013

Huh -- not what I expected at all!

To my (untrained) ear, I was surprised by how close they are to one another, save the S1, which somehow sounds different. If I had to choose, I think the 1M wins, but by the narrowest of margins. And I'll admit, if you hadn't told me which is which, I'd be hard pressed to pick out the new style 2.

Cool test -- thanks.

connor013 · Jan 5, 2013

Doc_J said:
Very interesting. The new Martin 2 was my least favorite, but it still might be opening up and the strings were new.

Thanks for putting this together.

Doc, what didn't you like about the new 2? I thought it had some pretty good bark on it.

coolkayaker1 · Jan 5, 2013

They sound exactly the same.

hmgberg · Jan 5, 2013

Thanks for posting that, Thom. I like the vintage 1M the best, a little more than the O. The others sound darn good to me as well. I think the 2 sounds a little fuller than the S1. How do they play?

Nicko · Jan 5, 2013

I'd be happy with any of them. And so I'm happy that I'm playing an S1, at considerable savings.

That having been said, the vintage ukes are a bit brighter...more energetic.

Thanks for the demo.

N

Chris Tarman · Jan 5, 2013

I thought they all sounded really good. I was pleasantly surprised by both of the new Martins. For me, both the vintage 0 and 1 sounded very good (and I think I might have actually preferred the 0 slightly), but the new ones were very close. I probably wouldn't have been able to guess which was which on my own. I thought the new ones sounded a teeny bit brighter. Thanks for the comparison!
Very nice playing, by the way.

J'Ukebox · Jan 5, 2013

To my ears, just playing it thru once, the 2 "best" sounding were the new S-1 & the vintage style 0. Least fav was the New Martin 2.

HBolte · Jan 5, 2013

Thanks for the test. Surprising how difficult it is to tell them apart! They all sound good. I have a 50's O coming next week, hope it sounds as good as yours!

pdxuke · Jan 5, 2013

HBolte said:
Thanks for the test. Surprising how difficult it is to tell them apart! They all sound good. I have a 50's O coming next week, hope it sounds as good as yours!

Welcome to the Martin Club! I have no doubt you'll love your style 0.

I will comment on everyone's observations, which I really appreciate--but I don't want to color things with my opinion yet. I'm really enjoying what you have to say.

Chris Tarman · Jan 5, 2013

pdxuke said:
Welcome to the Martin Club! I have no doubt you'll love your style 0.

I will comment on everyone's observations, which I really appreciate--but I don't want to color things with my opinion yet. I'm really enjoying what you have to say.

I think it's interesting how varied are everyone's opinions of which sounds "best", "brightest", etc. It just goes to show how subjective "good tone" can be.

I have eight bass guitars. I have one or two that I play most of the time, but every now and then, I'll bring one of the others to a gig. And I usually think "Wow, that bass sounds FANTASTIC!". After a while, I realize that it just sounds DIFFERENT, and sometimes I end up thinking it sounds horrible. I used to play with a guitarist who traded his amp in for a new one about every six months, always saying "THIS amp gives me the sound I was looking for". Kind of like the old Steve Martin bit about the Googlephonic Stereo with a Moon Rock Needle....

Of course, it's not like that at all with ukuleles!

Doc_J · Jan 5, 2013

connor013 said:
Doc, what didn't you like about the new 2? I thought it had some pretty good bark on it.

I thought the new 2 was slightly quieter and with less sparkle and resonance, maybe because the new strings or it hasn't fully opened up yet.
It's not a big difference but noticeable.

Dan Uke · Jan 5, 2013

Doc_J said:
I thought the new 2 was slightly quieter and with less sparkle and resonance, maybe because the new strings or it hasn't fully opened up yet.
It's not a big difference but noticeable.

Less sparkle was the word I was searching for...It sounded a little too mellow for my liking. I personally liked the last one the best but my opinion shouldn't mean much as I am not a soprano lover.

we tigers · Jan 5, 2013

Surprisingly close! Considering the fact that the new ones are really new, give them a couple of years of playing, or maybe just an few months and they'll open up some more. That S1 is a great deal.

I wish you hadn't sold you Kiwaya KTS-4, because I would've loved to hear that one in the comparison as well.

Excellent collection!

coolkayaker1 · Jan 5, 2013

It'd be fun sometime (not that you didn't do a great job here--lovely thread) to record all four, a 15 second snippet, without telling us which is which, and putting one of those voting thingies on the top of the thread, and see which one the majority liked the most. That would be very, very interesting (did I say, very; oh yes, I did). Frankly, you and Petey are the only ones who could do it because (a) you both own the best mix of Martins, and (b) only you two can actually play them. lol

pdxuke · Jan 5, 2013

coolkayaker1 said:
It'd be fun sometime (not that you didn't do a great job here--lovely thread) to record all four, a 15 second snippet, without telling us which is which, and putting one of those voting thingies on the top of the thread, and see which one the majority liked the most. That would be very, very interesting (did I say, very; oh yes, I did). Frankly, you and Petey are the only ones who could do it because (a) you both own the best mix of Martins, and (b) only you two can actually play them. lol

I'll do it. I think it would be interesting as well! And when I do, I'm going to play SIX samples, like when you're at the eye doctor and they try to get you to decide, "which one is better? 1 or 2? 3 or 4?" And you just know that he's repeating! So I'm going to play at least one uke of the batch more than once.

NewKid · Jan 5, 2013

I was surprised at how good the S1 sounded in comparison with the other three. A little brighter but still the signature Martin sound. All were great! Thanks for putting this together.

nighthunte29 · Jan 5, 2013

How old are the strings on the 0?
If I had to choose it would be that one, lovely warm tone.
I would never be able to justify the cost of a Martin, to me it would seem 60% of the final cost is the name!

connor013 · Jan 5, 2013

pdxuke said:
I'll do it. I think it would be interesting as well! And when I do, I'm going to play SIX samples, like when you're at the eye doctor and they try to get you to decide, "which one is better? 1 or 2? 3 or 4?" And you just know that he's repeating! So I'm going to play at least one uke of the batch more than once.

Diabolical -- I'm ready to fail the quiz!

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