martin or taylor

[ivandlevine]

Hi guys, I'm planning to get a entry level guitar..
2 of my choice are

martin D-1E http://www.zzounds.com/item--MRTD1E
Tayylor 200 series

I'm concern about the resale value whether local prefer martin or taylor
Cause I'm definately going to sell it in the future to get myself a hummingbird.
Not getting it now purely because of the cost and most importantly I'm not good enough for it yet..

Both guitar cost around 1.5k and I like them both equally.

Any suggestion here between this 2 choices

 

[j_m_s]

in my honest opinion, neither. As a taylor owner, i feel that it's only worth it if you buy a 4 series and above, if not you're paying a lot just for the brand name. As for the martin.. I've never been a fan of martins except the OMJM and the Eric Clapton martin.

Resale value, both would hold decently i guess... But if im not wrong, there are more taylor owners than martin owners (then again I could be wrong ha).

I would advise you to get something even cheaper first. maestro is good value for money, some of the cheaper takas are really good for the price too, or tanglewood at TYMC. I did a fly-in gig once but couldn't take my Taylor 814ce along because of baggage limits. Borrowed a tanglewood OM shaped guitar at the venue and I must say that it played pretty well. They're available at TYMC! That way when you resell, you won't lose as much. I'd advise you to keep both though, so if and when you need a cheaper guitar to take out to smaller gigs/rougher venues/seaside/etc where the probability of it being damaged is higher, bringing the cheaper one would be better.

You can also check out www.bgwguitars.com they've got gibsons and many other brands, good stuff!

 

[ShredAddict]

get a used guitar so you won't have to worry about losing too much money in future.

 

[peter01]

The two are pretty different. The Martin 1 series have all solid construction, which might be a better option for you as opposed to only a solid top on the Taylor 200 series. Difference here is that the 1 series uses Mahogany while the Taylor uses Rosewood as the back/sides.

Wood choices aside, Martins generally have a more traditional tone as opposed to the very modern sounding Taylors. What you purchase will depend on your preference between the two. I do not think that the resale of either will prove particularly difficult but Taylor owners usually prefer to own at least a 300 or 400 series because of the all solid construction.

Personally, I'll take the Martin without pickups and install the LR Baggs RTS2 or LR Baggs Anthem depending on budget. Martins do age very well and sound better after they open up and age. Taylors do age as well, don't get me wrong, just not the way Martins do. Hard to put it into words, play an old Martin and you'll get it.

btw, what are you using now?

 

[ivandlevine]

thank you all for the reply.

I'm currently using a baby taylor installed with fishman pickup.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I've played the Taylor 214CE and a similar-priced Martin before. In fact the Martin cost about 1.9K, compared with 1.65K for the Taylor. The Taylor was very good, in fact much better than the Martin... Louder, more balanced, richer sound, better-made. But frankly at this price range, there are brands that offer the same for cheaper, or better for the same price. Maestro, Takamine, Simon & Patrick, just to name a few...

 

[champion]

if you gonna use the guitar for 2-3 years....buy a Big Baby Taylor...after the period you can still sell off in the market for about $500.00...

so in the end you pay only $195.00 to use the guitar for 2-3 years which is cheap...

cheers jarvis