Martin LE-Cowboy-2015

Made in 2015 only, the Martin LE-Cowboy-2015 sounds even better than it looks

A 12-fret 000 of tradition and innovation

Specs include: All solid wood construction; 12-fret 000 (Auditorium) body size; Gonçalo Alves back and sides with high gloss finish; high gloss Sitka Spruce top with Vintage Tone System torrefaction, 5/16” A Frame bracing, printed cowboy artwork by William Mathews, Style 30 multi-colored wooden “rope” marquetry; mahogany neck with satin finish, Modified Low Oval profile, 1-3/4” width at nut, 2-1/4” string spacing, and Martin’s Simple Dovetail neck joint; ebony bridge and fingerboard with short pattern Diamonds and Squares fret markers; grained ivoroid binding; engraved Golden Age Relic side mount tuners with ivoroid knobs

This limited edition Martin guitar is available for sale to dealers only in 2015.

We end our reviews for 2015 with a look a Limited Edition sold to Martin dealers only in 2015, the LE-Cowboy-2015. It is a most interesting guitar that will surprise many people with its pretty tone and charming personality, once it gets out in more shops.

“…a pretty musicality from a clear and spacious treble, and the wound strings report with piano-like authority across the midrange and bass, defined but with a quick bloom of bassy undertone resonance.”

LE-Cowboy-2015 side

Read the Full Review Here

Martin D12-35 50th Anniversary LE Review

Inspired by the 1965 original 1965, the D12-35 50th is a modern interpretation of grandeur.

A limited edition, 183 instruments will be made, equal to that first year’s production.

Specs include: All solid-wood construction; 12-fret dreadnought shape; Indian rosewood sides and three-piece back; European spruce top with M1 level Vintage Tone System treatment, including maple bridge plate; 5/16” Sitka spruce bracing; grained ivoroid binding; bound mahogany neck with solid headstock, 24.9” scale, 2-13/16” width at nut, modified low oval profile; ebony fingerboard and bridge with 2-5/16” string spacing; nickel open-geared tuners with butterbean knobs.

This is the Harley hog of guitars, agile but oh so powerful. I love how it handles across intricate fingerstyle passages and wide open straightaways of full out strumming.”

D12-35 50th bridge

Read the full review and see the video HERE

Martin D-35 CFM IV 60th – Review

A commemorative limited edition, the HD-35 CFM IV 60th was sixty years in the making.

2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Martin D-35. It also marks the 60th anniversary of the current Mr. Martin. And these two events have led to the creation of a unique guitar, the HD-35 CFM IV 60th, honoring the very successful career of Chief Executive Officer, Christian Fredrick Martin IV on the occasion of his 60th Birthday.

Specs include: Dreadnought body size; Indian siris sides and three-piece back with Indian rosewood center wedge; European spruce top with Martin’s Vintage Tone System; abalone herringbone purfling and Infinity Hexagon Outline fret markers; scalloped 1/4″ Adirondack spruce top braces; ebony fingerboard and bridge; grained ivoroid binding; mahogany neck with modified low oval profile and Performing Artist taper, 1-3/4” at nut and 2-1/8” at 12th fret; 2-3/16” string spacing; ebony headstock faceplate with mother of pearl Martin logo and CFM IV’s birth date; nickel waffle-back tuners; limited to 60 instruments

“The treble strings give off the tinkling chime of a music box, while the midrange notes stand firm and defined over a built-in reverb echoing from within…It is a voice of depth, color and definition, conjured out of a very interesting combination of woods and craftsmanship.”

Martin HD-35 CMF IV 60th pearl

Read the Full Review of the HD-35 CFM IV 60th

Martin 00-15E Retro Review

My review of the new acoustic-electric 00-15E Retro

Loaded with vintage Martin vibes, it is a seamless melding of the storied past and promising future of America’s oldest musical instrument maker

Martin 0015E Fishman Aura F1+

Retro Tone at Any Level

“Even without plugging in, the Martin 00-15E Retro produces satisfying tone, volume, and projection from its comfortably small acoustic guitar body. Regardless of the builder, guitars with a mahogany top share unique tonal properties, which have always challenged my skill at putting tone into words. Well this particular guitar provides a great specimen to practice on.”

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Martin CS-D41-15 – NAMM Knockout

An elegant powerhouse with responsive finesse and hearty dynamics, the Martin CS-D41-15 showcases Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce as the top-tier tonewoods they are.

The Martin CS-D41-15 is made in the Custom Shop, with a Dreadnought body size, in a unique version of Style 41, and available to Martin dealers only in 2015.

Specs include: All sold wood construction; Indian rosewood back and sides; VTS torrefied Sitka spruce top; Style 41 abalone top trim and rosette; Adirondack spruce bracing with Golden Era style scalloping; flamed mahogany bindings; flamed cedar neck, with a modified low oval profile and Performing Artist taper, 1-3/4” at the nut, 2-1/8” at the 12th fret; 2-13/16” string spacing; ebony fretboard and bridge; bone nut, saddle, and bridge pins; tapered ribbon marquetry inlaid on the back and head stock made from cocobolo and mahogany; ribbon fingerboard markers in mahogany, abalone, and mother of pearl; open back Grand tuners with flamed koa buttons.

“Few if any Indian/Sitka dreadnoughts are as alive and dynamic and tuneful as the CS-D41-15.”

Read the Full Review

Martin CS-D41-15 review

McPherson Manhattan Skyline – Review

A museum-worthy piece of craftsmanship and design, the McPherson Manhattan Skyline is a towering achievement in the art of luthiery

Wonderful wood wrought into an ultramodern musical instrument, decked out in art deco spender

“… Playing this guitar was like knocking on the door of a spruce stable full of horsepower, chomping at the bit and so eager to sink its weight into that rich, fertile Brazilian tonewood, with its peppery, rose oil scent rising from the sound hole like freshly turned earth. The future owner of this McPherson Manhattan has my envy as the player whose personal style will most influence the training and feeding of this thoroughbred, as it comes into its own as the champion it so obviously will become. …”

MacPherson Manhattan

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Collings C10 Deluxe – Review

This one of kind Collings C10 sounds like it looks – magnificent

Bringing new meaning to the claim that Collings is the Cadillac of acoustic guitars

Part of the collection of the late Stan Jay, founder of the Mandolin Brothers Dream Fulfillment Center, this 1993 guitar was inspired by Stan’s own 1955 Cadillac

“Having not looked at the tag when I first played this Collings C10 Deluxe Custom, I assumed its pale blue body was made out of maple, and that I would hear clear, prancing top notes with dry open prairie behind them. I got plenty of Collings clarity all right, but I felt plenty of power in the bridle, and I was happily surprised by the warm presence rising from under the low-mids, like the comforting waft of just-baked biscuits filling a ranch house kitchen.

The back and sides are made out of mahogany, and that provides a dollop of richness to the otherwise clear and cheerful voice of this beautiful piece of luthiery. The top is made from very good Sitka spruce, my favorite top wood for mahogany, when it comes to accentuating its strength and subtle warmth. It is especially my favorite top wood for Collings mahogany, since the clarity and definition one looks to mahogany to provide is part and parcel of the default Collings build…”

Read the Full Review With Video

Collings C10 DLX Custom cut
photo: Mandolin Brothers

 

Martin CEO-8 Grand Jumbo Review

Facets reminiscent of various iconic guitars embellish core elements with some rarity about them, making Mr. Martin’s CEO-8 an appealing musical instrument that seems familiar yet very much its own entity.

Martin CEO-8 smallA Grand Jumbo body of sycamore and a Sitka spruce top torrefied with Maritn’s VTS – Vintage Tone System

“The fundamental notes leap out from the strings with a good deal of pop to them. They are quite solid, yet slender, with space between each, and between the fundamentals and the expansive harmonic tonescape humming below, around, and above them…

While not as warm as mahogany, sycamore’s tonal palette has extra presence down below when compared to maple or cherry, and the Grand J size makes the most of it. The large body promotes that bottom end, which is helpful to drier, leaner tonewood, so each plunk, thunk, and nuanced picking holds its own with the punchy mids and vivacious treble…”

Read the Full CEO-8 Review

Martin CS-00041-15

Custom Shop creativity exudes from the new Martin CS-00041-15

A Limited Edition of 75 Instruments

The Martin CS-00041-15 is made by the Custom Shop, in the 000 size, with Style 41 appointments, and produced only in 2015.

“There is a rich throb in the bass that is a bit fuller and more pronounced than typical for an Auditorium size Martin. At the other end, the treble lifts out from the voice, pristine and with thinner fundamental notes reminiscent of the old 000s and OMs of the 1930s. Framed between them, the focused notes of the midrange solidify like firm little gems. But during extended playing, the resonant undertone permeates up around the midrange, smoothing it out, as heard in other modern rosewood Martins with this body shape. And just like its voice, the feel and looks of the 00041-15 offer the sort of never-found-together-before array of facets that has come to epitomize the CS guitars.”

Read the Full Review Here

Martin CS-00041-15 cocobolo back w rosewood mahogany trim

Martin OM-28 Authentic 1931 Review

With all the projection and string-to-string balance heard from the legendary first modern acoustic guitar, Martin has resurrected their original Orchestra Model in the OM-28 Authentic 1931 – the most anticipated addition to the Authentic series in many years.

Martin’s historically accurate Vintage Gloss Finish makes its first appearance on this new OM-28 Authentic, and heard for the first time is a refined version of their Vintage Tone System of wood torrefaction, reserved exclusively for the Authentic series of vintage Martin reproductions.

“…I approved of how it responded at every level of attack, and how it felt in the hands, both in terms of the tactile experience of holding it, and how the strings pull and release, as well as the clarity of the notes and how they pop out, yet stay connected to the resonant undertone glowing behind them.

Even though this OM requires little effort to reach the “sweet spot” of optimum resonance with minimal resistance, this is not a frail instrument. In fact, it flourished with a certain amount of extra string tension from the fingertips. It was like it said, “Oh yeah. That’s the stuff!” when I would increase the pull on the strings, so it could convert that potential energy into kinetic energy, and ultimately full, unbridled tone.

That was but one of the subtler prewar Martin traits to be found in this new OM-28 Authentic 1931.”

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OM-28 Authentic 1931 torrefied spruce top
photo: Maury’s Music