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of the ABG's at GC and a couple local shops. I have an Applause have had for 15-20 years and it plays fine but has low volume and when playing with any other instrument are lost in the sound. the ones they had at my local GC was an Ibanez, a Laguna, a Breedlove, and a Fender (might be the victor bailey model i am not sure but i know it has a very colorful wood grain). of the 4 the Laguna was the loudest and and the Ibanez was second. The breed love and the fender were twice the prce and both could barely be heard. even so they were nto loud enough to conqueror even one acoustic guitar. So off i went to a local shop which only had Breedlove's (they had a 4, a 5, and a 4 fretless). this shop is a small kind of boutique shop owned by a very accomplished luthier. It is usually a fairly quiet shop as guitar shops go(nothing like the dull roar in GC) but, even in the quiet the Breedloves could barely be heard by themselves. so i continue on and figure i will have to drive to the other larger city near me on another day to see what they may have. as i drove up the street i saw anther local shop i had forgot all about (i go to this town only once every couple of months or so and am not current on what stores are still around.. I stop in.... hanging on the wall in the main room was an Oscar Schmidt. i plucked one sting while it was hanging and could tell it was nowhere near what was looking for. i go into their acoustic guitar room and there on a stand was the Martin in brown mahogany (same color as my beloved SR500).. i looked at the tag and it was a couple hundred bucks more than i had cash to spend, but, i decided to play it anyway. I sat down on a stool and plucked one note just to see how loud it was......the wife and i both looked at each other and was like.... OMG that is incredible. The tone was beautiful and deep like a bass should be.....and the volume was louder than any ABG i had ever played so far (i have been trying them out every chance i get for a couple years now). so continued to play.....and fell in love with it. The sales guy working there and i got talking and he is a bass player.....and he has the same bass. he told me he had taken it to bonaroo with him last year and had no problems being heard without an amp up against several acoustics, and djembes. I asked what the lowes they coudl go and it was still about $200 more than i had. SO i leave thinking maybe i will go to the little used shop on my street and try to sell one of my older basses to get the cash. then i get to thinking...my credit card has an empty balance on it and i have a $200 attendance bonus coming next month from work. I make another stop the wife and i had to make then go back to the shop....dammit they closed 15 minutes early. I go back Saturday morning first thing....talk to a different salesman and he gives me a lowest price $20 CHEAPER than the first guy. While there inspecting it closer (it did have a couple tiny dings on lower edge and VERY dead strings) a guy comes in helping a young man buy his first guitar. so he sits down and as a he plays i play the bass along with him and WOW...it came threw nice and clear and wasn't drowned out by the guitar. So i tell the clerk to get the case i will take it.....he comes back and says......we had one in the back i didn't know we had it has been in the case all along. I pull it out.....no dings, fresh strings,,,,,and he lets me have it at same price as the other one.

As for your observations on the sound hole I think they may have a lot to do with it as the Taylors and Tacoma's are supposed to be really loud and have small offset sound holes. I think also the bracing on the top has a LOT to do with it....the Tacoma's i know have very limited top bracing and when looking at this Martin the bracing is a modified style that gives a large area of the sound board more to freely move.

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Greg
Http://www.myspace.com/kybassmaniac
Http://www.youtube.com/kybassmaniac

*and it harm none,do what thou will*

it s exactly what i have been looking for. It stands up great against an acoustic guitar and sounds and plays like a dream.

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Greg
Http://www.myspace.com/kybassmaniac
Http://www.youtube.com/kybassmaniac

*and it harm none,do what thou will*

The list on it is $2099.99 and it seems the MAP on it all over is $1549 ....i got it for $1449 with HSC. quite a good deal i thought considering Martin's lifetime warranty.

I too had tried many and never found one with volume enough to play with an acoustic guitar without being amplified (which kind of defeats the purpose of being acoustic). I didn't even realize Martin made acoustic/electric basses til i found this one....a week later and a couple hours playing every night i still love it greatly.

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Greg
Http://www.myspace.com/kybassmaniac
Http://www.youtube.com/kybassmaniac

*and it harm none,do what thou will*