Anyone have personal experience with a Merrill guitar. Had heard Merrill originally had some problems, often requiring neck reset after a short time; but that more recently the problems had been cleared up.

Any experience one way or another?

Any experience with Merrill customer service?

Any experience with dealer's offering Merrill guitars?

Thanks,

Alex

I have a C-18 shaded top, vintage neck that was one of the early ones. It did have a neck reset early. It is one fo the finest dreads I own.

A friend who has a very fine guitar collection has an OM and he thinks its the best new OM he's ever played. I like the Franklin a bit better, but the Merril is wonderful.

Merrill has had some business difficulties over the years, but they always manage to come back and I've never heard a bad Merrill.

If your looking for a Merrill OM, Eric Schoenberg's shop in Tiburon, CA has in stock an OM18 and an OM28(Braz). I think there are pix of both on Eric's website.

I also have a Merrill Brothers shaded top C-18 that is a great bluegrass guitar. It is too strong (for me--may sound ok from in front of the guitar) in the bass to play in our small chapel for Catholic folk mass though. I also have a Merrill & Company OM-18 that seems to work for everything. Jim is a fantastic luthier and nails the vintage Martin vibe. I would really like to hear one of the few Gibson-style slope shoulder guitars he's made. I love the 2-5/16" string spacing at the saddle and hear his dreadnaught necks have slimmed down a bit for more universal acceptance. His OM neck is definitely nice feeling.

I also have a Merrill & Co. OM-18. There is something special in a very simple and musical way. No bells and whistles, no bling. Just a great guitar to play and hold.

I was recently at a workshop with Rory Block and she asked to check out the guitar. She had no idea what is was since the headstock (like the Martin OM-18GE) has no label. She played it for a few minutes and finally said, "wow this is a good guitar." I could see she was trying to figure out who made it.

I have owned a fair share of Collings, Martins and H&D's. The Merrill is my favorite with the exception of my Collings CJ.

One thing I find with many of the boutique builders is that their guitars sound "new". The Merrill has a woodiness and responsiveness that I have not seen in any other new guitar I have owned - Collings included. I can't describe it but when you play it and you hear it you know. I guess the best description is that it feels like an old guitar but it's not.

Hope this helps.....

Mike

I've had 2 Merrills, a C-18 and a OM-21. Both were outstanding guitars, built light with a great vintage tone from the start. As previuosly stated, Merrill has had its problems in the past but the research I did around the owners and dealers indicated that things are OK now. I sold mine for no other reason than the mindless pursuit of GAS. The peole who ended up with my Merrills both consider them to be amazing, "the best I've ever heard" guitars. They are a different beast to Collings and not up to the Collings standard in fit and finish but still world class. They are built light and need to be cared for appropriately.
Jim Merrill can be hard to get a hold of but I did get a couple of email replies and he was very helpful and obliging.
I got my C-18 from The Podium and the OM from Schoenberg's. I can recommend both of these dealers and if you can get to talk to Eric Schoenberg, he is most helpful and a wealth of knowledge.

Thanks to all for the information. Tried a new Merrill rosewood D recently that seemed like it had everything my D1A varnish had, plus more depth of tone, resonance, and a bit more sweetness to the highs. It had a few string rattles that I could not diagnose as low action, and set up needed some work, and my concern was for stability down the road (as I tend to be picky on exact set up).

Neck seemed wider than 1-3/4, and the bridge spacing seemed wider than 2-5/16, although I did not have a ruler with me.

It was a tremendously responsive and rich guitar, not boomy at all, clarity in the midrange.

But what would I do with the D1A Varnish (with vintage now neck, through saddle, and no popsicle brace, mint)?

Alex

quote:

Originally posted by Alex Z:
Tried a new Merrill rosewood D recently that seemed like it had everything my D1A varnish had, plus more depth of tone, resonance, and a bit more sweetness to the highs.Alex

Are you allowed to say this sort of thing on a Collings forum?

I've not yet found any guitar that I thought was "more" of anything than a D1A Varnish. Can you elaborate? How about the volume, more of that too on the Merrill?

I might need to re-think some things...

charlie, there is nothing like a merrill c-18 for volume. jim has got that old wood sound down pat. he also makes a j-45 model that is close to the real thing as you can get.

merrill has just raised his prices 15%. not to say that they are not worth it, but get them while they are still relatively affordable. they sell very well in japan through blue g guitars.

Hi folks, I just discovered this forum and wanted to help answer any questions that are being asked about us. First of all, thanks to everyone for the kind words and support. It means more to me than you could ever know. Yes, we have had some hard blows and tough times, but we are still alive and kicking. We are doing well and plugging along day to day trying our best to make special guitars. My goal is not to become famous, get recognition, or turn the guitar world upside down. I just want to build some good guitars and make people happy by providing them with an instrument that they can bond with and which will inspire them to better things, musically speaking. The "issues" concerning quality can be placed squarely in my lap because I call the shots and am completely involved in every step of building my instruments. The neck set thing is because I was replicating the pre-war Martins and I did what Martin did, but modern players didn't care for the vintage action. I had to change the neck shape somewhat to appease modern players as well. I had an ongoing problem with a dealer who re-adjusted my guitars to the point that I was getting calls from people who traveled a long way to try out our guitars only to find them with electric guitar action. That was not good to hear. Also, our email server was dumping incoming and outgoing emails so that people got upset due to my not being accessible. I realize that these things are inevitable, but I wish it weren't so. Feel free to call me if you want to chat and I will get back to you as quickly as possible. My number is listed in the Kilmarnock Va. phone book and I hope to be hearing from some of you in the near future. You all take care...
Jim

Jim -

Class act of replying and accepting all responsibility. I played one of your guitars that had amazing tone volume (mahogany dread) but the neck was very thick and I just couldn't get around that. A great local picker, Dale Adkins, has been playing one of your guitars for years and it's beautiful. He's played old D18's, a Collings D1A, and has apparently settled for your D. It's a great endorsement. Again, it was a class response.

Jim Kelly
Salem, Oregon

Jim, The original necks were based on a 1936 Martin D-18 that Steve Swann sent us to replicate. He loves the big necks and not too many other folks do, apparently! We will make custom neck sizes, but our standard neck is more of the lower profile shape. George Gruhn really likes our neck shape. I appreciate your response as well...
Jim