Acoustic Guitars / Gear / NAMM
NAMM 2023 – Fishman AFX Broken Record Looper Pedal
by Designed by Fishman Specifically for Acoustic Guitar
Fishman high-quality 24-bit, 44.1kHz audio recording of up to 6 minutes
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Category: Acoustic Guitars
Reviews, essays, and articles relating to acoustic guitars, and related accessories.
Acoustic Guitars / Gear / NAMM
NAMM 2023 – Fishman AFX Pro EQ Mini Pedal
Acoustic Guitar Preamp & EQ Acoustic Pedal
Five Bands Include Low Cut and Brilliance, Plus Phase Control
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Features Include:
(press each pedal to learn more)
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Learn more at Fishman Electronics
NAMM 2023 – Gibson Keb Mo – J-45 50s Faded
Gibson Acoustics for 2023
Keb Mo 3.0 12-fret J-45
New for 2023 is the third Keb Mo signature model from Gibson guitars. It has a torrefied Sitka spruce soundboard with forward-shifted hand-scalloped braces, mahogany back and sides, traditional nitrocellulose gloss finish, and L R Baggs onboard VTC electronics. The traditional dovetail neck joint is set with hide glue. The guitar has a 25″ scale and the rosewood fingerboard has a width at nut of 1.805″(roughly 1-4/5″) to go along with the proprietary Keb Mo neck profile shape.
$4,299.00
More Gibson Keb Mo “3.0” info HERE.
J-45 50s Faded
The latest edition in Gibson’s satin finish models is the J-45 50s Faded, which offers similar construction to the traditional gloss lacquer version, including the rounded 1.725″ neck with a 24.75″ string scale and a hot hide glue set dovetail neck joint. It also comes with LR Baggs VTC electronics. The satin finish and faded sunburst evokes a “vintage vibe.”
$2,499.00
More J-45 50s Satin info HERE.
Acoustic Guitars / Gear / NAMM
NAMM 2023 – LR Baggs HiFi
HiFi Game Changer from L. R. Baggs
High-Fidelity Acoustic Bridge Plate Pickup System
If this is truly only the direct signal heard in this video, I must say this could be a game changer. This ship to dealers in May 2023. I look forward to the independent reviews.
Baggs claims that their new HiFi system offers two bridge plate sensors in a non-invasive design featuring high-fidelity electronics. The holy grail of dynamics, definition, and balance, is promised to be achieved with good feedback resistance. Peel-and-stick installation seems similar to the K&K method and the pickups are light of weight, enough to have no discernible effect on the natural acoustic tone. The onboard preamp is designed to get the best tone from these new pickups. It also comes with a tone and volume control accessible along the rim of the sound hole. $199.
NAMM 2023 – Taylor Builder’s Edition 814ce
Latest Builder’s Edition in their Flagship Size
Grand Auditorium with a Cutaway and Four-Piece Top
The latest edition in the Taylor Builder’s Edition series has elegant styling and ergonomic features like the beveled arm rest on the bass side of the lower bout, and a bevel built into the cutaway. The Builder’s Edition 914ce has 800 Series specs including an East Indian back has an attractive burst shading and no center seam, wood bindings and wood fiber purling, and a pearl sound hole rosette.
The soundboard on the Taylor Builder’s Edition 914ce made with four panels of Adirondack spruce. This seems to take a page from Chris Martin’s playbook of putting non-traditional woods or construction techniques on a showcase special edition guitar, as if to say, “Would we put this on such an important, expensive instrument if there was something wrong with it?” Mr.s Taylor and Martin are passionate about responsible management of natural resources and this new Builder’s Edition furthers that cause by showing how four-piece soundboards can look lovely and help create beautiful music.
More information at:
Taylor Builder’s Edition 814ce
Martin Guitar New Junior Bass Models and Strings
C. F. Martin & Co. adds to their award-winning Junior series
Bass models and exclusive Jr. Bass Strings
(click to enlarge)
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Taken from Martin’s official press release:
Martin Junior Series instruments are slightly smaller than our full-sized instruments, but you won’t have to sacrifice tone or volume, and you’ll gain plenty of comfort and portability. Whether you love the Dreadnought shape or want the Auditorium-style body with a cutaway, these new Junior Series bass models are ideal if you love to write and practice on an unplugged bass but also need the option to plug it in to record or play live with your band.
They include a spruce top and sapele back and sides to deliver thumping Martin bass tones, whether you are unplugged or using the built-in Fishman® electronics. They also include a sleek, fast neck so you can keep the rhythm section tight.
Each model is strung with Martin short scale bass strings that are made specifically for the unique and comfortable 24″ string scale. List price: $749.
Thanks to Maury’s Music for the video!
DJR-10E Bass
DJR-10E Bass Burst
000CJR-10E Bass
000CJR-10E Bass Burst
M4750 Jr Bass Strings
Martin® Short Scale Acoustic Bass Strings are designed specifically for the Junior Series.
Featuring phosphor bronze wrap on a nylon core for enhanced playability, full note projection,
and tuning stability. Our impeccable standards for instrument tone are embedded in our string
design and precision manufacturing process. We make our own strings to empower the artist in
you to sound your best. List price: $29.99.
Visit Martin Guitar
Martin 000CJr-10E StreetMaster New for NAMM 2023
The Junior Series StreetMaster Cutaway 000
Solid sapele back, sides, and top with the Martin StreetMaster styling, the 000C-Jr StreetMaster is a fully-realized acoustic-electric guitar in a travel-friendly size that has a warm, mellow tone.
000CJR-10E StreetMaster list price $749
List price: $749.
Full Review Coming Soon
Martin CEO-10 Reivew
Martin Guitar’s CEO Thomas Ripsam presents his CEO-10 model
NAMM 2023 has a Best in Show candidate in this short-scale 000 CEO-10
CEO-10 specs include: Solid tonewoods throughout, 14-fret 000 body size; figured Guatemalan rosewood back and sides, FSC certified European spruce top with 1933 Ambertone shading and Style 42 abalone purling and rosette; 1/4″ scalloped FSC certified European spruce bracing with Golden Era scalloping, composite carbon fiber/torrefied Adirondack spruce bridge plate; solid South American mahogany short-scale neck with Vintage Deluxe profile and two-way adjustable titanium alloy support rod; ebony fingerboard with Higher Performance taper, 1-3/4″ width at the bone nut, 2-/8″ width at the 12th fret, abalone fret position markers in circa 1917 William Foden pattern; ebony belly bridge with bone drop-in saddle and 2-5/32″ string spacing, and Style 42 snowflake inlays; wood fiber accents and back strip; flamed European maple binding on the body, neck, and headstock; Guatemalan rosewood headstock face plate with abalone 1932 C. F. Martin & Co. script logo over 1930 Style 45 Deluxe abalone torch inlay; Waverly open-back butter bean tuning machines; Guatemalan rosewood pickguard with abalone Style 45 Deluxe floral inlay. Limited to 100 instruments.
“The Martin CEO-10 has a full-bodied voice with impressive bass response and an expansive, ethereal projection that sounds much more like a long-scale OM to my ear, than the typical gathered and punchy sound of a short-scale 000. Yet it offers the playability of the shorter string scale, made all the more comfortable thanks to the asymmetrical Vintage Deluxe neck profile.”
Full Review with Video Here
Martin Satin Finish Standard Series Models Announced!
More affordable Martin D-28 and D-18 models arrive
D-28 Satin, D-18 Satin, D-28 Satin Amberburst, D-18 Satin Amberburst, D-28 Street Legend, D-18 Street Legend take to the streets
C. F. Martin & Company breaks with the tradition and offers six new models in the venerable Standard Series made with a matte satin finish. The D-28 Satin and D-18 Satin replicate the classic D-28 and D-18 but with a satiny matte finish instead of the high-gloss finish used on previous Standard Series models.
(click to enlarge)
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These new dreadnoughts provide the design platform for their sibling models, the D-28 Amberburst, D-18 Amberburst, with the latest burst finish to come from the minds of Martin’s Instrument Design Department, and the visually impressive D-28 Street Legend and D-18 Street Legend, with spruce soundboards that have the appearance of some serious playing wear that is an optical illusion of sorts.
Like the darker and well-loved Ambertone finish used on various Martin models, this new Amberburst is inspired by 1930s Martins made with a shaded top similar to Martin’s 1935 Sunburst that has faded over time. More of the grain of the spruce shows through this new burst and the center of the burst has is basically the same color as an unshaded spruce top.
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The new Street Legend models have the same satin finish but the spruce soundboards have received a realistic-looking digital painting replicating the playing wear on vintage Martins found in the collection of the Martin Museum. It looks similar to Martin’s Aged models in the Authentic Series, but is actually under the finish and a 2D painting rather than being achieved by someone physically distressing the lacquer and wood.
The D-18 Street Legend’s top features the wear actually received by the famous 1953 D-18 nicknamed “Grandpa” and formally owned by the late Kurt Cobain of the grunge band Nirvana. The D-28 Street Legend replicates the wear from a vintage D-28 with no particular celebrity association and not nearly a as much wear and tear. Both tops look amazingly like the finish has been worn way from decades of hard strumming, but when I ran my hand across the satin finish it was smooth “as a baby’s cheek.”
Pewter-colored nickel tuners add to the impression that these Street Legend models are old Martin guitars. They are otherwise in pristine condition, with no further “aging,” painted or otherwise.
These new dreadnoughts have a lacquer finish on the back, sides, and top that it is not polished and buffed out to the full gloss we are used to seeing on a rosewood D-28 and mahogany D-18. To the touch the body finish is identical to the satin finish that Martin has used for Standard Series necks since the late twentieth century. This may mean fewer layers of lacquer have been applied.
At $400 less than the high-gloss versions, it is wondered just how identical these new models are with the old, other than the finish. When I stopped by the Martin factory on Friday, I was given the impression they are indeed the same in terms of bracing, neck joint, and overall joinery. I expect to get some quotable quotes later today, as I will return to Martin at 9:00 AM to meet up with key designers and sample more of the 2023 Martin models.
Whatever differences may exist between these Satin models and their full-gloss counterparts, the effect on tone is noticeable immediately. Each Satin model has an expressive openness highlighted by clean top notes and a more ethereal undertone.
In direct sound comparisons at Maury’s Music, I found the traditional high-gloss versions to have a thicker, throatier voice. Not only do the new Satin models offer more-affordable Standard Series options, they offer a new kind of tone that will appeal to many players, perhaps more than the traditional full-gloss models.
Martin has used a satin finish on many models outside of the Standard Series and it is used with great success by other builders, most notably Lowden guitars from Northern Ireland, as well as many builders of high-end classical guitars.
NEW! Martin CEO-10 Review
More 2023 Martins to be announced soon!
Martin D-45 Modern Deluxe Review
The long awaited Martin D-45 Modern Deluxe arrives in splendor
Regal and refined, extravagant and divine
Specs for D-45 Modern Deluxe include: All solid wood construction; Indian rosewood back and sides; Vintage Tone System torrefied Sitka spruce top with Golden Era scalloped, forward-shifted, VTS torrefied Adirondack spruce bracing attached with natural protein glue; composite bridge plate of carbon fiber/torrefied Adirondack spruce; Genuine mahogany neck with Vintage Deluxe profile, two-way adjustable titanium alloy support rod, hand-fitted dovetail neck joint and solid mahogany neck block; ebony fretboard with High Performance Taper, 1-3/4” width at nut, 2-1/8” at 12th fret, abalone fret position markers, EVO Gold frets, solid bone nut; ebony bridge with Liquidmetal bridge pins, compensated solid bone saddle and 2-5/32” string spacing; European flamed maple binding; high gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish on the body, satin neck finish; ebony headstock faceplate with polished gloss finish, 1920s-style torch inlay; golden Waverly open back tuners with butter bean knobs.
“The piano-like report of the fundamental notes is solid and immediate, igniting astonishing natural resonance. The voice is huge and rich but never muddy or harsh. Every inch of this guitar earns the right to be called the Martin D-45 Modern Deluxe.”
