I went thru the same issue.. I have an old D28 (1967) that I pulled out of the
attic.. Anyway the sound was where I liked it with the mediums. But to much for
me to bar effectively.. My action was a tad hi ( about a half a mm) and my
luthier reccommended I try to live with it as we already had a bridge down to
where we couldn't do much.. So it was pointing towards a neck reset which would
be it's first ( no truss rods) . He told me to try going to lights for 3 weeks
then switching back.. to med's for a week or so.. In th eend I thik my board is
a little flatter then what I was used to. Anyway by the time I went back and
forth with the strings thru 3 sets of changes the issue was pretty much history.
So my hands and fingers got toughened up a bit and I managed to get used to a
little different fret shape we think.
If you have room to drop the saddle that's a cheep date..and reversible with
shims. I didn't think the 35's had a truss rod maybe they do now I don't know .

jimbo
----- Original Message -----
From: wayoutwaylan
To: acousticguitaristguild@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 11:20 PM
Subject: [Acoustic Guitarist Guild] Best strings for Martin D35





I recently purchased a Martin D35 2008 model.
Love the sound as it is now.
great intonation etc.
It has coated D Addario Mediums on it now.
It as far as I can tell has never been modified in any way other than the
string change.
The saddle is bone and is high.
Action is probably best described as medium.
Neck is straight. guitar is mint.
Only problem I have is playability
Open chords are easy enough but I would like to play the bar chords easier.
I have had some advise on what to do like--- lower the saddle, truss rod
adjustment, setup etc.
The problem I have with these recommendations is that - been there, done that
on other Martin guitars. It has always been a trade off for tone in my opinion.
I would like to get some opinions from some of you luthiers out there and/or
some people who have had the same experience on thier own guitars.
If I l change to lighter strings, I will lose some of the volume and tone will
probably change some.
Would be willing to try a shorter saddle but as far as I know, I would have to
trust this to someone who may file saddle down uneven or change the intonation
etc. Have researched on the net for some answers and can't seem to find any.
Any advise like as to what strings would sound and play better on it will be
appreciated
I'm trying to save a little time and frustration by asking opinions from a
great group of people who I think are more knowledgeable about acoustics than
are on most sites.

Thanks to all.




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