Martin Guitars: Here’s what makes them so popular…
Another big name when it comes to guitars is “Martin”! There are many learners who desire to own this brand some day, and it is indeed a great feeling to walk out of the store with your first Martin guitar. Just like the big names out there, Martin also puts the same amount of care and perfection in all their guitars. Martin Acoustic guitars are among the more expensive guitars, and are highly respected by many professional guitarists. Of late, this company have also started making less expensive models, aimed at beginners & intermediate guitar players. Top-class professional artists use this brand.
Martin Acoustic Guitars
These are some of the best selling Martin acoustic guitars on the market.
Martin LXM Little Martin Acoustic Guitar
The Martin LXM Acoustic Guitar is a perfect choice for travel, practice, and beginning students. Modified Martin body features a wood-pattern HPL top with “1-style” Sitka spruce bracing, Micarta fretboard and bridge, 23″ scale, Stratabond modified low-oval neck, and Martin’s patented neck mortise. Gotoh nickel-plated tuners and C.F. Martin script logo adorn the headstock. It includes Martin heavily padded gig bag.
Martin DX1AE X Series Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar
This solid-bodied dreadnought acoustic electric guitar produces the rich, dynamic sound and look that Martin is known for. It features Fishman Sonitone electronics. Its difficult to find a better sounding guitar at this price.
Martin D35 Acoustic Guitar
The Martin D35 Acoustic guitar is a three-piece back design with extra wide bindings, bound ebony fingerboard and ebony bridge. Tonally, it produces a particularly strong bass, making the D-35 ideal for rhythm playing. To accentuate the treble, Martin uses lighter 1/4″ top braces which give the D-35 its characteristic warmth and balance.
Martin Acoustic Electric Guitars
These are some of the best selling Martin acoustic electric guitars on the market.
Martin LXME Little Martin Acoustic-Electric Guitar (with Gig Bag)
Built with Martin quality craftsmanship, its capable of producing great sound in a smaller guitar. This Little Martin may be small, but it packs a sonic punch. It features Fishman Mini Q electronics, so it’s perfect for the bedroom or the stage, read more…
Martin DX1AE X Series Dreadnought Acoustic-Electric Guitar
With the Martin DX1AE acoustic electric guitar, you can get that rich & dynamic Martin sound that you always desired, without having to spend a lot of money. It comes with solid Sitka spruce top and Fishman Sonitone electronics, read more…
Martin 2017 D-28 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
Martin 2017 D-28 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar, the standard to which all acoustic guitars are compared. Classic guitar that you can enjoy for years, and then probably pass it on to some lucky kid. Look greats, sounds fabulous and is a pleasure to play. Rich tone and powerful projection makes it perfect for stage and studio. Open-gear tuners, an aged toner top, antique white accents, and faux tortoise pickguard. Solid Sitka spruce top, special East Indian rosewood (for back and sides). Forward-shifted bracing allows for greater vibration of the top, while a modern neck profile gives you improved comfort and playability, genuine ebony fingerboard and bridge. The 2017 Martin D-28 has been updated for a modern playing feel with no tonal compromise.
- Pros: Great Feel. Rich Sound. Construction is superb. woods are superb
- Cons: Doesn’t support heavy strings (but mediums are cool too).
- Uses: Practicing. Recording. Small Venues
The D-28 can be used to play various types of music – BlueGrass, rock, jazz (Martin guitars have been lauded by stars of the aforementioned types of various groups). The tone of the Martin D-28 is what distinguishes it from all other acoustic guitars. Its rich, resonant sound makes the D-28 well-suited for music styles requiring loud, powerful rhythm accompaniment.
Since its introduction in 1931, the Martin D-28 has remained the standard by which all large-bodied, steel-stringed acoustic guitars are measured, and its a favorite of almost every performing and recording guitarist. Its affectionately called the “tone cannon”.
So what has been updated in the 2017 D-28?
The 2017 D-28 blends the rich history of the guitar with Martin’s newest and most heralded innovations. The new D-28 combines vintage appointments, including open gear tuners, an aged toner top, antique white accents, and a faux tortoise pickguard with an updated neck profile to give D-28 enthusiasts a modern feel and comfortable playing experience. Martin has also added forward-shifted bracing to allow greater vibration of the top.
If you have been playing the guitar for some time, you would probably be aware that whenever the word “dreadnought” gets mentioned, the Martin D-28 acoustic guitar is definitely one of the guitars that gets talked about.
Since the past several decades, the Martin D-28 has been one of the most sought after steel-string acoustic guitars, and almost every other guitar gets compared with the D28. The Martin D28 Dreadnought produces an incredibly loud and rich tone that sounds perfect for most musical styles (although its used a lot for bluegrass and folk styles of play).
With the D-28, you get the unmistakable Martin Sound, known for its clear projection and robust tone. The solid spruce top gives a crispness to the high end which rounds out the tonal picture.
Guitar players love its boomy sound. Celebrity musicians like Bob Dylan, Elvis, Hank Williams, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Johnny Cash have used a D28 at some point.
The Martin D-28 acoustic guitar produces deep bass response (all the Martin dreadnoughts are popular for this reason). Its loud yet subtle. The powerful voice and full sound of the D-28 has made it popular in the bluegrass world, although you could use it for any genre.
Top is solid Sitka spruce for big projection and spectacular note clarity. Its back and sides are made of solid East Indian rosewood. A solid wood neck with solid black ebony fingerboard make it ease to play.
Although Martin’s spec sheet for D28 says it uses “select hardwood” for its neck, but it almost certainly looks and feels like mahogany. Out of the box, the guitar top is creamy, yellowish white, but with age, you can expect it to turn into classic, rich amber.
Martin D-28 Acoustic Guitar: Video Review / Demo
Video review of the Martin D-28 Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar
Features & specs of Martin D-28:
- Solid East Indian Rosewood is used for the back and sides to provide depth and definition to the sound
- Sitka Spruce top gives crispness, brightness, & clean highs
- The guitar has the classic Martin dreadnought shape
- Features elegant rosette and white binding
- The guitar uses the traditional Martin bracing style for excellent focus of sound
- Handcrafted by Martin master luthiers
- Top quality hardshell case is included
- you get Martin’s limited lifetime warranty
Martin D-28 costs upwards of a couple of thousand grands, but it has got a beautiful tone, has incredible build quality, you get to own a piece of music history. Remember, newer instruments will age with time (become better). If you care for it and allow it to age well, this will be the best guitar you can play. These have a custom sound and when you pay a couple of thousand dollars for a guitar,you get a good musicians tool. If you want flowers and all those nice designs on your guitar, you should look for a beginner guitar.
Buying Links
This is one of the best guitars that you will ever play. It has gorgeous tone and incredible build quality.
About Martin Guitars
Martin guitars in 1800 did a lot of innovations including the X bracing system, the system produces a classic tone on the guitar martin today. Even now, they use top quality woods that are expertly inspected. In the nineteen thirties, the company incorporated the dreadnought design for creating the most famous and revolutionary Dreadnought guitar, which other manufacturers later on started emulating as well.
Martin is a leading manufacturer of flattop acoustic guitars, and this brand is highly regarded for their steel-string guitars. However, they do have a good variety of electric guitars and electric basses as well.
The Dreadnought series is their most popular guitars. You will find lot of guitarists swearing by the Martin guitars. Be it Eric Clapton, Nancy Wilson, Bob Shane, Johnny cash, Sting, Buddy Guy, Paul Simon, etc and they are all big fans of martin guitars.
As mentioned before, Martin guitars can be really expensive, with some of them costing thousands of dollars. In fact, their vintage instruments often cost around six figures. But in case you are thinking the cost is only for their brand name, the reality is quite different and you need to experience it to realize it. Just visit a music store and play one of their acoustic guitars, and you will know that the sound generated is based on their years of dedicated and quality craftsmanship.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
HAYDEN HANES says
Purchased NEW MARTIN standard guitar. INside the body braces are unglued and DO NOT stretch across guitar body, awful buzz when strumming low e string !! Not worth the $ i paid! Very poorly built! Martin wants me to pay to have it shipped back east, $100 to ship ! I spent all my $ on this guitar thinking i could pass it down to next of kin. Not the case. VERY DISSAPOINTED IN MY MARTIN GUITAR!! DO NOT BUY A MARTIN GUITAR!!