I thought maybe a couple of you may be interested in this. The old is a 1950 Martin 5-18. It belonged to my girls Mother. It now resides with us. She bought it new for something like fifty bucks. It's smaller than a 3/4 scale. It's called a Terz guitar. Terz means third in German and the E is tuned to a G and so on. Marty Robbins played one, he's the musician who did Ballads and Trail songs like "El Paso" and "Devil Woman". It's a really sweet playing and rich sounding guitar when tuned to standard pitch. Pretty close to a D-18 in tone.

Anyway here's the old.


The new is my Martin OMCPA4 performing Artist Series guitar. Another sweet playing and surprisingly loud guitar. I needed something acoustic/electric for the coffee house stuff. Really a beautiful sounding and easy playing guitar. Has a built in tuner and a Fishman F1 Analog mic system. Simple and very effective. I shot the photos. I get to play around because my photo biz is slow this week. I have mixed feelings about the pick guard.

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That's two nice looking guitars Supro! Love to have a Martin myself!!

The old is cool but the new I like. I keep wanting to buy a new Martin but theres so much I want and my daughters wedding is getting closer. I need to hit the lottery soon.

Thanks fhopkins. It's way different. I got a good deal on the new one at GC. I saved $129 with a 10% coupon and it came with a pretty nice case too. It's still the bottom of the line in that series. LOL It's a hard one to put down and inspires me to play. Now I want to get a proper acoustic amp. I've been looking at the Fishman Loudbox or Loudbox Mini. 65 SS watts would be plenty for the small acoustic gigs I do.


tbazzone, I know about the family obligations. This is the first new guitar I've bought since 1982.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Congrats on the new Martin!!!

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Thanks so much. The funny thing is I've never really owned a really nice acoustic because I just used to either borrow one if I needed good one or just use one of my many cheap beaters. I actually have an old Ibanez Concord that I've had since the early 70's. Now, I'm going to try and learn proper finger picking.

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I hope you really enjoy your new toy. I have an opinion that may not be popular. OK ... I admit I've got lots of those ... but one of them is that I believe at least half of a guitarist's practice time should be spent on the acoustic. It is just so good for your finger strength, your articulation, your acuracy and for some reason I even think it improves my meter or at least makes me more aware of it. I view practicing on the acoustic to be akin to practicing eight ball on a 6x12 snooker table. It forces you to sharpen up every aspect of your game. The wonderful thing about having a really nice acoustic is that it won't seem like a chore but it will be a pleasure.

Good times are coming for you!!

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

+1 congrats Supro

Oh man! If I had both of those in front of me I'd have no idea how to choose between them. I admit I kinda prefer the pickguard on the old'n, but Fishman systems are extremely good - I bet the new one sounds great raw or amplified.

NICE photos, by the way. Kudos on that.

Enjoy those geets!

Cheers - C

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Thanks guys. Hey Ceri, I prefer the pickguard on the 5-18 too. I hear that the pickguards are really easy to remove. It you don't wait too long the color will match too. I'll be playing a lot more acoustic stuff. A nice acoustic really helps. The Fishman sounds really nice, they have a better one that's a bit more complex in the upper end models. I like simplicity.

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The photos are nice. Love em both.That new one looks stunning. Bet it has a nice rich sound. Nice acquisition 63...........

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Thanks cherokee. It just plays so nice. I should have done this a long time ago.

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Both really awesome, really fine looking instruments.

And I totally agree with you BMW, I resisted it for years as a young player(well comparatively I suppose I still am), being in punk and hXc bands I didn't see the need. But once I started getting more into mellower music and expanding my playing horizons and actually picked up an acoustic I saw my finger strength and really every aspect of my playing improve. I started being more careful and deliberate with my phrasing, worked out a ton of nuances I never noticed playing heavily distorted and now I practice most of the time with an acoustic alone.

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Definitely liking the 'new'. When I bought my Taylor, I was debating between Taylor and Martin for quite a long time at the store. I still intend to pick up a Martin at some point though.

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congrats on the guitar and i'm still drooling over the old one...great pics..mucho appreciated

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