Seven Grammy Awards and now five Martin Artist Signature Editions
Specs include: 14-fret Dreadnought body size with all solid tonewoods throughout, Guatemalan rosewood back and sides; Engelmann spruce soundboard with Aging Toner; scalloped, forward-shifted 1/4″ Adirondack spruce braces with Golden Era shaping; one-piece mahogany neck with Full Thickness profile; ebony fretboard with 1-11/16” width at the bone nut; ebony bridge with 2-1/8” string spacing at the compensated bone saddle; high-color Style 45 abalone trim, back, sides, and top with full circumference soundhole rosette; large abalone hexagon position markers; grained ivoroid binding; gold open gear butterbean tuners; faux tortoise pickguard; numbered interior label signed by John Mayer
“…a clear and articulate top voice, with cavernous space behind it, good for reflecting reverberating sympathetics but also for allowing the main notes to stand up and out…But even brand new, the D-45 John Mayer already has considerable shimmer and glimmer to its it ring, and power in its bones.”
Torrefied mahogany debuts on the Martin 00-17 Authentic 1931
The most affordable Authentic model yet, and perhaps ever
“This 12-fret 00 generates tone that expands in all directions, filling the room with clearly defined notes and woody sympathetics, while creating a soundscape of inner depth that seems far greater in size than the physical dimensions of the instrument should allow.”
Now with the Standard Series new standardized neck, the D-41 remains exceptional
The addition of forward-shifted braces beefs up that scalloped bracing tone
This new D-41 (2018) and all the new Martins will have their written review published soon. I am putting out the video portions first this time around.
The long-awaited makeover of the Standard Series 000-28 arrives
The addition of scalloped bracing and Martin’s High Performance neck bring this short-scale 000 into the 21st century, while returning the appearance to a pre-World War II aesthetic
The in-depth written review of the 000-28 (2018) will appear once I produce the videos of the various 2018 Martins I recorded at the Martin factory on NAMM Day 2018.
The one many people have been curious to hear, the D-35 (2018) makeover is a winner
With the change to forward-shifted bracing the new it has a meatier undertone and slightly fatter trebles, but it is still a uniquely articulate dreadnought
The written reviews of all the new Martins will appear starting later this week. I am doing all the videos first for a change.
The NEW Martin HD-28 (2018) has pre-war looks and forward shifted bracing!
Combined with the High Performance neck
Since the mid-1990s people have said Martin’s Standard Series guitars should have the looks and sound of the Vintage Series guitars, especially those who kept saying, “I’d buy one if it didn’t have the V neck.” Well that is pretty much what has finally happened. So here ya go, Ladies and Gentlemen get your wallets ready!
WATCH ON YOUTUBE in HD1080 FOR THE BEST SOUND
The written review will follow in time, I am putting out the videos first this year, at least for Winter NAMM.
Specs Include: All-solid tonewoods, Auditorium size body with hide glue construction throughout; Venetian cutaway; Guatemalan rosewood back and sides; Adirondack spruce top with Large Sound Hole, scalloped 1/4″ Adirondack spruce braces; short-scale Big Leaf mahogany neck with Low Profile shape; ebony fretboard with 12″ radius, 1-11/16″ bone nut; abalone Diamonds and Squares position markers; ebony bridge with compensated bone saddle and 2-1/8″ string spacing; Martin’s Authentic Series Thin Finish package; Vintage Style 21 appointments including 1940-era rosette, purfling and fret markers, 1910-era rosewood bindings, ebony bridge pins with ivoroid dots; Gotoh nickel open-back tuners; faux tortoise pickguard
While this guitar was designed to have the fastest, sleekest neck ever put on a Martin acoustic guitar, Maury’s Music will accept orders for this exact same short-scale 000C-21 TSP with the neck shape, nut width, fretboard taper, and string spacing of your choice. In the words of the artist who designed it, a guitarist should be able to have whatever neck best suited their comfort or desire.
Watch in 1080p for best sound
I could not possibly offer an objective review of this Martin guitar. I am the man who designed it to be just so, according to my likes and needs.
But I also designed it with an eye and, more importantly, an ear and a hand toward creating a unique musical instrument that would appeal to and be genuinely useful to artists who pick up acoustic guitars for many reasons beyond providing background rhythm for singing songs.
So I will leave further information about this instrument to Maury’s Music, who is offering this Martin guitar for sale as a Custom Artist Edition, designed by me, your humble Spoon, and made in Martin’s Custom Shop. It will officially be announced at Maury’s on the 25th, along with the rest of the new Martins available for sale at Maury’s Music.
And there is also the notice I put on my personal website, tspguitar.com for those who wish to learn more about this guitar in my own words. Here below is an excerpt.
Forty Years in the Making
It has been over 40 years since the Jackson Browne album, For Everyman, made its initial impact upon my young, impressionable ears. More to the point, it was the never flashy but always evocative guitar work provided by David Lindley on that record that schooled me in how a sideman can so enhance a song without overdoing it with superfluous fireworks. And it has been less than 40 years since I read the interview with where Lindley mentioned that his favorite recording acoustic guitar was a 000-21 from the early ’40s.
If I wasn’t already drawn to Martin’s Style 21 instruments because of their esoteric status and utilitarian yet beautiful aesthetics, with rosewood a bit too wild and woolly in its looks for the staid Martin Company’s ship-of-the-line 28s, Mr. Dave’s endorsement sealed the deal.
It has long been my dream to create a guitar that would prove genuinely versatile for a musician who played as much Jazz and Rock on their acoustic guitar as folk or fingerstyle, while having a tonal heart that would have been right at home at the Martin Guitar Company of the 1930s and ’40s.
And this instrument has exceeded my every expectation.
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