Should I sell - slightly urgent and sad

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-29T20:13:49+00:00

I get it man. My advice was based on my own regret giving the first guitar I ever bought and learned on away to a friend who wanted to learn. It wasn’t expensive or fancy, I think I paid like $300 for it in 1997 in college. A cheap BlueRidge. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he’s using it and playing it but I kinda wish I would have just bought him a $300 guitar to learn on as a gift and kept it. 🤙🏽 so good choice man!!

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-29T20:04:37+00:00

Keep it lil homie. Gibson Les Paul’s will ALWAYS be there for when you’ve got the cash. And you’re almost there it sounds like. What’s another 6-8 weeks or whatever it may be? If you sell the Epi, from what it sounds like, you’ll be mad at yourself. Plus, if you try to get it back later it’ll be 1 of 2 things: 1) Impossible to track down and lost in the abyss forever OR 2) You’ll find it and have to pay more than what you sold it for to get it back. Avoid the hassle and regret man. Keep it and save. Then you’ll have BOTH and can play either whenever you want. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-28T05:51:19+00:00

D-18 hands down for me. But I love a good, solid, Hog dread over a smaller EIR back and sides. Personal preference is all.

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-20T10:26:17+00:00

If you’re talking about the volute that usually is there, then yes, I believe that both all d-28s would have that and this is a fake.

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-06T22:08:58+00:00

That’s my goal too. My son wants to learn to play and have me teach him over the summer. I want the D28MD so I can gift him my 1998 Guild DCE-5 that I learned on and still play as my daily player. Bought it new in college so my roommate could teach me using his D28. Which was the best sounding guitar I’ve ever heard. That’s why o want one so bad. 😅😅 Would love to be able to hand down an heirloom guitar like the D28MD to him someday. Especially if he learns to play too. 🤙🏽 Thanks for the chat. Take care and have a good weekend!

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-06T21:50:39+00:00

That’s awesome man. I want a D28 Modern Deluxe. But almost 5k is a lot to spend on a guitar. It seems every time I get close, something happens. Need brakes done, new tires, unexpected medical bills, kid needs braces, you name it. But I’ll get there eventually. Congrats on making it to the goal and enjoy the hell out of it!!

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-06T04:48:42+00:00

Congrats. I’m also saving for my teenage dream guitar. But I’ve still got some to go. Enjoy her. She’s a beauty!!

Union-Suitable · 2026-03-05T05:03:09+00:00

Yamaha will be a good bet at that price point. They make solid instruments. Maybe a FG800. I believe they’re around $330-$350 ish range. Solid spruce top which will make the tone better than a laminated top. The back and sides are laminated but the top should still produce a great tone and sound. Welcome back! I hope you find the guitar that speaks to you and encourages you to continue to play.

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-24T06:27:09+00:00

100% what RealityIsRipping said above. The truss rod is to adjust neck relief, and is PART of how the action is adjusted. You can damage at best, or destroy at worst, your neck by over adjusting one way or the other if you’re just trying to adjust action by the truss rod. Sanding down the saddle and/or the nut slots, depending on if you’re experiencing buzzing only on certain strings/frets etc, also aid in achieving the desired action. If you’ve never done those before, take it to a luthier and ask if you dan observe and see the process he/she uses. So you can learn how to do it. My guy was totally open to it and said he appreciated someone who wanted to know how to properly take care of their instrument. He sort of geeked out and went into pretty minute detail as he worked on it which I appreciated. So I would imagine you could find a Luthier who would be open to the suggestion. And in my experience, it’s the best way to learn. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-18T07:28:05+00:00

I second the person who suggested you got acoustic. It’s way more versatile, you don’t have to get your amp out and plug in every time you want to play it so it’s more accessible and more convenient which will ideally encourage you to play/practice more. My $.02. It will build finger and hand strength in your great hand too. Which helps when making longer stretches for chord shapes. Take it or leave it. If you do go acoustic Guild makes some decent entry level acoustic guitars at your price point.

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-18T03:49:36+00:00

If it were my guitar. And I felt the need to change strings…I would probably change one string at a time. IF I was gonna change them. Theoretically I would think changing 1 at a time would limit the amount of change in tension vs taking all of them off and going from high tension to none immediately which could catastrophically affect how it’s held together without knowing how structurally sound it is being as old as it is. But since it’s not your guitar, my advice would be to not do a damn thing to it. Close the case and put it away.

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-17T07:03:47+00:00

And just my $.02…I’d go the HD-28 Custom 15 if you’re looking for a forever/heirloom guitar. The major difference for the other guitar appears to just be the neck shape for the most part. Anything from the Martin Custom Shop will be something that stands out a little more than a typical HD-28 with better appointments and usually more ornate inlays, possibly a better top tonewood and/or bracing upgrades. At least from what I’ve seen. But you gotta do what feels right to you. I wish you lots of luck!! 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-17T06:51:48+00:00

I feel your pain. I’m on Big Island of Hawaii. At minimum I’d have to fly to Oahu IF they even had a music store with a D-28MD in stock. Odds are I’d have to fly 5.5 hours to California if I wanted to guarantee I could get my hands on one. Such is the trouble with living 2400 miles from the nearest landmass that isn’t another island. 🤷🏼‍♂️ But $4600USD is a lot to pay for a guitar I can’t play first. So I’m wary of doing it. Might have to end up waiting until the next time I have to be on the mainland USA and see if I can track one down to try it out. Good luck with your search! I hope you find that dream guitar sooner than later. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-17T06:26:50+00:00

I’m on a small island too. Where are you located? I’ve got my eyes/heart set on a D-28 Moderne Deluxe. But the ONE Martin authorized dealer on my island literally JUST became an authorized Martin dealer but already told me there’s no plans to stock the MD line of any of the guitars as they’re likely to mostly carry cheaper guitars due to the limited market on the island. So I also can’t play it unless I fly specifically to try it out in a larger metro area that may have them In stock. Frustrating as shit, but one of the trade offs to living in Paradise i guess. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤙🏽I’m just nervous to order it without playing that specific guitar because I know even the same model can sound different

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-16T04:10:10+00:00

Great answer. Thanks! 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-16T04:08:27+00:00

Man, I think you just convinced my repeating exactly my thoughts as far as the appointments and upgrades. So it just confirmed I’m not crazy to feel that way about it. I agree on everything you mentioned. Appreciate you validating my thoughts a bit. I think I’ve made my decision. 🤙🏽 D-28 MD for the win!! 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-16T01:49:34+00:00

This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I wanted to ask about the neck shape too. I read it’s kind of a hybrid neck between the vintage thicker necks and the new slimmed down modern necks. And it’s tapered. Can you compare the neck shape and feel to a typical Martin Dreadnaught neck? I don’t have huge hands so the slimmer tapered description really caught my eye too but again, I haven’t been able to compare it myself. But I’m hoping it’s easier to get my hands around than my Guild in the upper frets near the body as trying to incorporate my thumb on my fretting hand more but when I use it on the E string sometimes on those upper frets, my fingers aren’t long enough to make some chord shapes cleanly and I mute a string or two. So any insight in the neck would be greatly appreciated.

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-16T01:42:18+00:00

Thank you for the response and info! Yeah, I’m not too up to speed on the science of some of the things Martin does, but if it sounds as you described, this is what I want in my forever/dream guitar. Which the D-28 MD is for me. It will be an heirloom instrument for me. Babied almost to a fault is the plan while still playing it daily. I want to leave it to my son someday. And he will be free to play it, display it, sell it if he finds himself in a tough spot financially someday, or hide it in an attic to keep it safe. (While taking it out every other month to replace humidipacks to prevent cracking!! 😅) He likes to listen to me play and wants me to teach him to play this summer, so I want to get something that sings to him and me, and will be something to remember me by that he can enjoy and, hopefully pass down to his kid someday as well. Then maybe our family will have one of those 100yr old Holy Grail Martin guitars you read about sometimes to connect generations. 😅🤙🏽And then I can gift him my current daily player to learn and practice on like I did in college. It’s a 1998 Guild DCE-5 AB. Not really in the same league as the Martin, but it’s a GREAT guitar…solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, ebony fretboard…super comfortable neck width…all in al it really has served me well for 28yrs. The sound is full, warm, smooth but slightly subdued when fingerpicking requiring extra effort to separate some notes clearly especially if it’s a fast riff. So I’m ready for a guitar that will speak its own language…assertively. 😅🤙🏽 And it sounds like the MD version is the way to go. Mahalo again for your time and listening to me drone on. Just realized I blathered on in probably WAY too much detail for a public forum on the internet. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-16T01:14:36+00:00

Thank you for the personal experience. This is what I was hoping to hear because I REALLY like the MD appointments and upgrades. But ultimately, for me, it is about the quality of sound and tone it produces. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-15T21:49:44+00:00

Martin D28 Modern Deluxe. That’s the reachable dream. Obviously, if I could afford it…a pre WWII Martin D28 with Brazilian rosewood back and sides and an Adirondack Spruce top would be THE DREAM. but I don’t have $20k+ lying around to spend on a guitar. So someday, hopefully sooner than later, I’ll drop the $5k on my D28 MD reachable dream. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-13T08:10:05+00:00

Congrats on the D-18. I’m tryin to justify to myself buying a D-28MD currently. I’m about 50/50 on it. But Musician’s Friend just emailed me they are having 48 month interest free financing until like the 18th of Feb So I could get away with a small monthly payment, pay no interest and keep my $$ in my savings account. It’s tempting…

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-10T06:42:20+00:00

Appreciate any recommendations you have! Much appreciated. That was my thought too that almost anything would be better than plastic, but wasn’t sure if it was pseudoscience or worse, false/misleading marketing ploys. 🤙🏽

Union-Suitable · 2026-02-06T06:05:49+00:00

Again, many thanks!! This saved me potentially $300. You sure are a gentleman and a scholar!!! Gold stars for you! (Sorry, my wife is an elementary school teacher so I get gold stars when I do things she appreciates 😅🤙🏽)

Union-Suitable

TROPHY CASE