Best Overall Acoustic Guitar

If you’re looking for guitars that set the standard for what a guitar should be, this is my choice for the best overall acoustic guitar. Choosing a guitar can be a very subjective endeavor at times. It’s hard to tell what to buy with so many choices. This guitar site is dedicated to helping you find that guitar that meets your needs. If you are working with in a tight budget and are just getting started in guitar playing you may want to check out our write up of Best Guitars under $500 of which all are a fine guitar for beginners. If you have a little more money to spend you try to purchase the best guitar you can afford. Guitar is like most things in music, an inferior instrument can sometimes affect the progress of your playing ability when learning. It shines as a flat pickers guitar yet is still responsive enough for finger style playing.

Martin – HD-28
This is an acoustic guitar that can’t miss. If you don’t want to pour through dozens of acoustic guitars agonizing over price points and subtle sonic differences, you can buy this guitar and almost certainly will never look back wondering “what if”. It’s not the least expensive or the most expensive guitar but a “standard” that most guitars are always trying to pattern after and being measured against. This is why we consider it a best overall acoustic guitar.

Martin has been making guitars for a very long time and the D-28 guitar is considered their flagship guitar. While this is a very good guitar. The HD-28 (Herringbone Dread-naught) has 5/16” bracing vs. the 5/8” bracing and has been “Scalloped” to make it more responsive. The smaller bracing combined with the scalloped shape give this guitar a more modern sound. There are 5 main reasons why I feel this is guitar you can’t go wrong in choosing.

 

Classic Martin Tone –

 The dread-naught shape combined all wood design including East Indian Rosewood back and sides, Sitka spruce top, and Ebony fingerboard/Bridge give you that tone you can only seem to get from a Martin. They’ve been doing this a while and it shows with the selection of wood they use to construct this guitar.

 

Consistency –

  While Martin has had some issues with consistency in the past automation is making it into their production processes and the results of late are a much more consistent production of the guitar. Check out this video on how they ensure the perfect neck on each guitar.

 

Bone Nut and Saddle – 

Many of the competitors use a Tusq nut and Saddle. This is a fine choice of material however I believe the bone has tone and sustain that is unsurpassed. When playing the guitar you can feel the air move with the wall of sound or “Boom” that Martin dread-naughts are famous for.

 

Ebony Fret-board –

 Many like to use the rosewood fingerboard, I’m of the opinion that the Ebony has a smooth silky feeling and is easier to play on. The wood feels so smooth, it’s almost like it has soap on it.

 

Re-sale – 

I know you plan to never let this guitar go after you get it. However sometimes you may find yourself in a position where you need to sell it. Perhaps you find you don’t play as often as you like, you need money for other things, or you just decide guitar playing is not for you. This guitar is very much in demand and you shouldn’t have too much trouble recovering most of the money you paid to get it.

Choice of guitar is often like politics, if your not feeling the Martin HD-28, you may want to watch for coming posts about alternatives.

Order one now, and it can be at your doorstep!

Martin Standard Series HD-28 Standard Dreadnought Acoustic
12 Reviews
Martin Standard Series HD-28 Standard Dreadnought Acoustic
  • Solid, book-matched East Indian rosewood is used for the back and sides.