NEW 2021 -MARTIN OR COLLINGS SHOOTOUT -GUITAR REVIEW

Collings every time

Excellent Comparison! May I ask what are the songs and are the guitars in Standard or D Modal tuning? They both sound perfect (but different…) to my ear. I’d be unable to choose one and would love to own both of them! The Martin sounds a bit more ‘True’, ‘Serious’ or ‘Professional’, like James Taylor to my ear, while Collings sounds ‘Brighter’ and more emotionally positive, ‘Happy’, or modern. Cheers from 9 January on ‘24.

Not even a close contest. The worst Collings I ever heard is better than the best Martin. By a wide margin

I thought I’d vote for the Martin as my ears have become sensitive to trebly tones but the Collings is so much clearer that I’d have to go with it. The Martin might benefit from having the same bridge pins as the Collings, Ebony, or FWI or bone might sparkle it up a bit to go with its looks.

The Collins has the Taylor mid & treble sound, the Martin is more balanced, I’m 73, Alvarez yairy from the 70’s rules.

better clarity with the Collings. Martin definitely has more lows, but can sound muddy at times.

The Martin's bass is too overwhelming. It just masks the higher notes.

I’m a Martin guy, but that Collings really jumped out at me.

COLLINGS IS pronounced as it is spelled. Sound out the ending G. I live a few miles from the Collings shop and know some of the luthiers. It is Collings with a G. They hate it when it is pronounced “Collins”.

Froggy Bottom blow these away

By your smile I see you like more Martin 😉

Honestly the both sound killer, just depends on your taste

For me the Martin still best all round guitar in the world.

I have had both and now have a Martin HD35. I think the Collings to my ear have always sounded more sterile without the warm vintage overtones like the Martin. I have 2 Collings electrics. An I30LC and and I35LC and they are killer.

Martin, totally

Martin. Collings don't got a distinct sound unfortunately. They just sound like they are trying to mimic Martins.

Martin all day.... warm adn love the separate distinct note feel. Collins all the strings blend together too quickly, compactly. Perhaps depends on your goal : band backup, solo, singer songwriter, etc.

I prefer Martin, but they both sound great. The Martin has a warmer sound to me . The Collings is brighter a you stated in the beginning.

Mass produced Martin or hand crafted Collings 🤔 hard choice.....not 😅

Martin..

The Collings sound bright, punchy, and crispy. Maybe it will age with time. But the Martin sounds like aged fine wine with the dark, broken in, deep tone

Collings good but Martin sounds better to my ears.

Martin wins 😂

Martin has more depth and more pronounced notes

I think Collings won out for me, but with what you played here, I think the mic was already kinda biased towards the bass on the mix. It felt like you had to fight to get the treble to be heard over the bass on the Martin, and the strings jangled or buzzed more because of it. The Collings required no such effort, and the eq and woods (rosewood is biased for bass and treble, scooped mid) balanced out the bass nicely. Idk, just what my rando ears heard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’m bluegrass so Martin all day for me, but props to Collings sound. Just too tingy & sustained for Bluegrass

I'm sick of new Martins. Any Martin made after the late 1960's is a huge waste of money. The pre-war Martins are another story. The only issue with them can be summarized by the question: Would you rather buy a house or have a guitar? And that is no exaggeration. As for new guitars the Collings are vastly superior in every way. Some sound beautiful, especially in the hands of a good musician, but then, in inexperienced hands, any guitar sounds like crap. Am I biased? Yes! I have owned nine Martins, six of them vintage. The OLS Brazilian guitar are good, and compared to new Martins, well, there is no comparison. The above test is just hammering at cowboy chords on Oms, which doesn't demo subtlety, but Oh well.
Get the Collings if you don't plan on selling the guitar. Beware of new Martins, ESPECIALLY the "re-imagined" product line, and
under no circumstances consider the tragic "modern deluxe" series, where the sound is line playing a guitar with a plastic body covered in tin foil. Just awful, and loud and abrasive as well.

Odd gear comment here. They both sound different. They both sound absolutely amazing. I'm about to jump on the Collings. I'm just getting into capos (I know. I held off for no good reason) and I don't recognize the model but I like the lack of protruding grips. Any ideas on the model? Totally appreciated

Martin of course.

Collings. Hands down.

as a confirmed drummer/treble freak i definitely go w Martin.Collings is a one trick pony (relying on treble)to me and in no way is able to justify the price considering they are copies of Martins.greed plays in to that one. I have played every acoustic guitar around and it’s just whatever one likes in the moment whether on stage etc.The Martin is the more versatile and mature of the two.🎼

Martin kills it.

I think your Martin is out of tune

Collings are around 5 to 11k too expensive. Unless you are a professional , you `d be fine with a taylor.

I wish you could stop strumming nonstop with OM

Nice comparison and playing! Thanks!

I like the Martin especially if you are a soloist acoustic player you need more Bass woody sound I’m hearing that on martin

For this video, Colling is the winner, very clear and sweet like heaven. But question is I also have a Martin OM42 myself and the one in ur video should have been brighter based on what I hear from mine. Could it be the strings?

obviously your choice of songs, your ear skills, picking and strumming techniques and strings have more impact than either guitar.. And neither are as good as a vintage Brazilian martin nor a modern Brazilian Santa Cruz, except maybe in your hands and given your choice of modern commercial quality songs. But of the 2, the Collings is the clear winner.

They both sound phenomenal. It’s hard to dispute Collings being the more clear/loud and beautiful sounding guitar. I think the Martin is just so ingrained in my head as what an acoustic is supposed to sound like. Which is why I have a Martin.

Collings in any case (beside of tone) ... if you need neck reset its much easier. Bolt-on neck will take you 45 minutes to do perfect neck reset . Luthier will ask you 100 bucks and for Martin (if you are lucky) 1,000 and huge risk that something goes wrong.

Collings out "Martin-ing" the Martin

both

I'd prefer it to see the models on the title to know if I'm interested to watch the review. Cheers

The Collings is clearly the winner here. Better definition, more open. Martin is a bit more muted. Sorry Martin fanboys ;)

They both have their place. The Martin in the back blending away, the Collings up front voicing away.

I honestly don't like the sound of f either one of them,Way to harsh loud but not great sounding.If you want the best sounding Martin the D-28 is the guitar and in my opinions Taylor makes the best sounding guitars in the world and Guild comes in at second,But my Martin D-28 1980 holds a very special place along with my 2015 614ceTaylor these two guitars are absolutely crazy good sounding guitars,I also have a 614ce builders edition v brace that is equally as great as the standard 614ce just really different it's hard to explain but it's amazing sounding and the 816ce Taylor is absolutely being with me till I die me and thing is connected big time,Then 814ce DLX is really the only guitar that does it all it's another one I'm connected with,My K-24 ce it's all koa and it just keeps getting better and better everyday and one of the most beautiful guitar ever built,Then my one I dreamed about and finally have it my 914ce which replaced the Martin D-45 this Taylor guitar is the best sounding and playing guitar I've ever owned and I have owned many high end guitars that you can almost name ,I am very picky abouty guitars and if I don't connect I can care less about a name it has to feel exactly right with playability and sound and I feel very blessed to have these guitars even my Baby Taylor and my Epiphone Dove are not going no where because I totally connect with these guitars,My guitars are very expensive,But people looking for a really decent playing and sounding guitar try the Taylor 114,ce or the Epiphone Dove or the Baby Taylor for the money there great guitars,High End guitars they get fancy and better materials in building but don't let thinking you have to have a over five thousand dollar guitar to play and sound good there's several cheaper really great playing and sounding guitars I personally recommend Taylors even there low end guitars sound really good.

Collins very bright, which I like (bright); but once the capo came on, Martin just sounded sooo good.
Collins sounded good to, very clear, very bright, but the Martin just did something, for me..

Both guitars are great! Martin for me. Thanks