Martin OM-28 - Andrew Snider, Johannesburg

March 30, 2018 2 min read

Martin OM-28 - Andrew Snider, Johannesburg

I want to express my gratitude for the amazing experience and fantastic service that I had with you and Guitar Gallery in the course of purchasing my Martin OM 28.  I had seen your website while looking around for a suitable guitar; I was unhappy with the ergonomics of my Dreadnaught and thought that a smaller body guitar would assist me.

We met at your house for the first time on 15 January 2018 and I was nothing short of dazzled by the array of guitars which you had set out for me to play. If memory serves there were at least 6 or 7 small bodied guitars, all of exceptional quality. The experience of playing them was absolutely relaxed and unhurried. Your knowledge of all aspects of the guitars, from a range of manufacturers, inspired a great deal of confidence in me.

When I left, after spending at least two hours with you, I felt confident in my choice of a Martin OM 28, although this was not originally the guitar I had come to look at. It emerged, by process of elimination, that it was the most comfortable body, size, shape and, for my ear, the best tone.  It was clear to me that you would spend as much time, and see me as frequently as I wanted to ensure that I was buying the right guitar for me.  Being the fussy person that I am, and seeing on Martin’s website that they had just come out with a slightly revised version of the OM 28, I asked if, instead of the one you had in stock, you would procure one of the new ones for me. Without any demur that is exactly what you did.

Notwithstanding that there were some delays in obtaining the CITES permit for importing the Rosewood which forms part of the guitar, which is clearly beyond your control, I got the sense that you were doing everything you could behind the scenes to prod Martin in South Africa to get the permit as quickly as possible.  You went the extra mile in every respect. From requesting Martin in America to select as “clean” a top as possible (which they did) to ensuring that the guitar had a set up before I took delivery. Although the process, in total, took a little over two months, you kept me advised on progress throughout.

As a final bonus for me, you gave me the financial benefit of the strengthening rand over the period of procuring the guitar. This was certainly not something I expected, and demonstrates a massive degree of integrity on your part personally and in the manner in which you run your business.  I am thoroughly happy with the guitar, it is exactly what I wanted and the experience that I had with you and Guitar Gallery was beyond compare.

Thanks Stephan. Hopefully our relationship will continue into the future although, all things being equal, the quality of this guitar might mean that it is the last one that I ever buy!