u/Terrible_User4987

A month ago I bought a dream guitar...I didn't know the OM28 was the dream as I had dreamed about owning an HD28 which I bought but after a day of owning it, I realized the dread was too big and uncomfortable for me, swapped it for an OM28 as suggested by you redditors and the retailer and yes, it is perfect, wonderful and is a forever guitar.

But my question is, i've always read here or other guitar forums (I am an electric player, new to owning acoustics) that "you gotta get it setup by a pro" and "martins out of the box always need a setup" etc....well, what am I missing here guys?? the neck is perfect relief, fret ends are smooth as silk, nut slots are dialed and perfect height, the action is perfect...I had ONE fret that was a little high that luckily leveled out with my brass fret hammer, no buzzing, and the sound really is remarkable. I own a Taylor, Eastman and a shitty Chibson acoustic that is my campfire guitar so I do know a bad setup when I have it.

So-what am I missing, reading in here I was under the assumption all martins are not great out of the box, but this one is...hell, even the HD28 I had for 2 days was pretty perfect out of the box. And no, this isn't a post like you read on so many cheap guitars, especially chibson/chartin posts "its perfect!" and they never are.

Unicorn? or is the 'need a setup' overrated on these premium guitars?

Won't get into details, but had this guitar for 20 yrs, full on case queen, maybe 2 hrs of playing in it's life. in the last year ive been playing it more, but havent really loved it, tried a variety of strings-but never the Daddario XS, so I got some today and as the internet said-they kick ass, finally this guitar sounds great. (Martin Retros were the recent ones-sounded like ass).

TLDR: Anyone ever switch from HD28/D28 to an OM (OM28, etc) due to comfort reasons? all TONE aside, hows yer comfort on the dread, for a 6 foot tall not fat guy?

Finally completed a dream of owning an HD28, only the dream may not meant to be...so, I play mostly electrics (home enthusiast, not live performer)...i've owned a taylor grand auditorum for years, but never played it much because I wasn't in love with the tone, especially after trying dreads at guitar stores over the years and love the Dread tone, I always said 'someday I will get one', so I did.

Problem with trying them in stores, really quickly, is I never sat with one longer than 5 minutes. My Taylor was aways comfortable and I have a J45 copy cheap guitar that was always comfortable, so I never even thought about comfort or a dread being uncomfortable.

Anyway, I got it, and to my dismay, it is not comfortable for me, ive spent past couple days putting time in-trying some different chairs even! and this morning my anxiety is lowkey getting me "bruh, you can spend that kind of money and HOPE you grow into it, or get used to it, its not gonna work"...which is devastating because this guitar is gorgeous-the martin hype is real to me and it sounds so incredible. I think I can exchange for a OM28, even if it costs me more, etc, but I live nowhere near a guitar store that sells these, so the internet is real....most of the discomfort comes from chest-right breast to be specific (no man boobs), a little bit on my leg too, the edge of the body just digs in, even my strumming arm, under my bicep!

I am a grown ass man, 6 foot tall, pretty lean, low muscle mass, no issues with shoulder pain or anything, WHY is this guitar uncomfortable for me? pretty sad about it, went from such a high! But, if my grand auditorium and my janky china J45 are comfy-will an OM be as comfy? I also have a little parlor guitar that is obviously comfy, fun, but I don't love its boxy sound-which I know that is nature of the parlor beast and I was able to play a martin OOO at a store the other day-but it sounded as shite as my parlor.

Tone is important, I mean, I want this HD28 sound! its PERFECT and I know I went get it in anything else, but how can I get close? I am strumming chords of rock songs, singer songwriter stuff but I do want to learn how to be better at finger picking, but im a long ways from that.