Subway Guitars Martin-Style Acoustic

Fatdog makes these from import bodies and necks. This is a copy of Matins D-28. The top is solid spruce and the rosewood back and sides are very nicely grained. Tuners look like Gotohs and do the job nicely. Plastic nut and compensated bridge. For the low bux this baby goes for, I was very impressed with the materials and workmenship.

My good buddy who does a singles act, was looking for a low cost, nice sounding acoustic for travel and busking. He has a very nice 1984 Taylor 810 and does not want to subject it ( rightly so! ) to the harsh elements of outside playing and air travel. He asked me for suggestions and I steered him the fatdog's website. He called and spoke with Fatdog and wound up ordering one. I must say, after throwing a set of medium guage strings on it, it really came to like. Very impressive tone for a $250.00 guitar. We compared it to his Taylor and my 1982 Larrivee L-09. Of course the Taylor and Larrivee are much richer, louder and complex sounding instruments, but the Fatdog sounds damn good for what it is. I tuned it down to DADGAD and the thing came to life! The neck is very comfortable and easy ( even with beefier strings ) to play. At work this morning there were three messages from my friend thanking me for turning him onto Fatdog. He is going to order the Mahogany version today as he is so impressed with the tone and quality. I hate to give ratings as it's not fair to the guitars in questions. I'm lucky enough to have a beautiful sounding older Larrivee and his Taylor is the nicest sounding one I've played. So, to compare this to those is the apples to oranges quandry. Suffice to say, it sounds and plays better than most of the $1000.00 guitars they have hanging on the walls at guitar center. If your looking for a travel / office/ knock-around guitar, do yourself a favor and contact Subway guitars. This is really a nice guitar.

As the other people said...Subway (Fat Dog)is a company in Cali that makes discount guitars from factory direct parts. Being a beginner and only experiencing the Martin feel, i found it on the internet and thought it looked decent and had a pretty good price..I still don't know too much about guitars but i'll try and you'll cope with it. It's a replica of a Martin D-28..same type of body..no pickup,solid spruce top and rosewood back and sides, 20 frets, enclosed tuning gears,came with strap and these cute little postcards..that's as much listing i can do myself for. Good quality everything but really nothing too fancy.

It's beautiful! I could compare it with my old Martin D-1...suits my style quite nicely (acoustic rock) It sounds pretty bright ..I can't really test out the full range of sound, but hearing other people play things on it, i think it sounds pretty good in all styles...there's only a problem with the 3rd string (g)It kinda "squeaks" at times..might be these strings (also bought from fat dog at 8 dollars for 5 sets..don't know if their good or not) Some buzzing on lower strings but that might just be me.

It's easy to play and pretty good for beginners like me. It was finished with plastic i guess so would that make it laminated? Looks fine but looks crudely put together inside..you can still see the glue they used..Everything is pretty good but the bridge pins really bug me. They don't go all the way in and "ping" every now and then when you tune up.

It hasn't really been that long but being as clumsy as i am, it's been pretty durable through all the klunks and pain i've put it through. It looks like it'll last me for a long time and sure..i can depend on it.

Never dealt with it. The way i ordered was pretty effiecient and they shipped it in great shape and in a very timely manner.

I've only been playing for a year so that's why this review isn't very complete. I choose this because I desperatly wanted a Martin but my price limit was $300. I love the thing and I love music in general..I hate being made fun of because of the big FATDOG printed at the top :)If it was lost or stolen I would be seriously depressed because I'd be guitar-less.