The torrefied Sitka spruce top and American Sycamore back and sides of the Martin D-18 Sycamore marks 50 years Martin guitars made on Sycamore Street.

With all the features of the popular D-18 and very special additions.

A D-18 with a difference, the D-18 Sycamore comes in somewhere between maple and mahogany in looks and in tone.

“It sounds like a more complex maple, with thicker top notes, more overtones and complexity over all, like mahogany, but with a maple-like bass that shifts the focus into the mid-range, which has the same kind of defined top notes and high overtone ring as the trebles.

I realize this description might make it seem more like a Jazz archtop than a dreadnought. It is not. It still has plenty of the complexity, resonance and sustain one looks for in a dreadnought. In fact, it excels at traditional flatpicking, with the kind of punch and “cut” that would leap out of a Bluegrass jam when it is time to switch from playing rhythm to a solo break.”

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