{"id":237,"date":"2013-03-23T23:54:17","date_gmt":"2013-03-23T23:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onemanz.com\/guitar\/?page_id=237"},"modified":"2014-04-18T12:51:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T16:51:54","slug":"pa4models","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/onemanz.com\/guitar\/reviews\/acoustic-guitars\/martin\/pa4models\/","title":{"rendered":"PA4 Models"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martin Performing Artist 4 models<\/h2>\n

List Price: $1,649 – $1,849\u00a0 Street Price: Under $1,300<\/em><\/p>\n

For a full review of the Performance Artist Series, go HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

The latest members of the Performing Artist Series bring Martin Guitar\u2019s innovative new line in reach of the player with a budget under a grand.<\/p>\n

Choice of Tonewoods<\/p>\n

Available in three sizes of cutaway bodies, the classic Dreadnought, the traditional Orchestra Model and the mini-jumbo Grand Performance, the PA4 were introduced with solid sapele back and sides in a satin finish, topped with solid Sitka spruce polished to a high gloss. Sapele is an African hardwood that looks a lot like mahogany while sounding somewhat crisper and brighter. North American Sitka is the dominant spruce used for guitar soundboards and its welcomed warmth fattens up the sapele lows nicely. The neck is made from Spanish cedar, which feels smooth and fast.<\/p>\n

Now, the budget-minded player can pay a little more to get their PA4 tier Martin in Indian rosewood or African Siris. Like Sapele, Siris is a promising replacement for the endangered South American mahogany. When it comes to tone, I actually prefer it to Sapele, because it sounds a bit less dry and has more bass response, at least in larger guitars, like the dreadnought size.<\/p>\n

And there is now a 12-string version, available in the Grand Performance size.<\/p>\n

These guitars look on-the-edge contemporary, with a scooped out cutaway and white microdots on the fingerboard, offset along the bass side of the neck, between the E and A strings. The fingerboard is made from Richlite, an environmentally-friendly composite and so is the attractive bridge, which is thinner and smaller than Martin\u2019s traditional design.<\/p>\n

As with all PA Series guitars, they have the High Performance neck with its “Performance Artist neck profile.” Slightly shallower than other Martin necks, it has a width of 1-3\/4\u201d at the nut, but widens to only 2-1\/8\u201d at the 12th fret. This gives the player a little extra room down in the first position, while offering a faster, sleeker neck in the upper frets. The strings feel almost parallel and with a low, easy action it is like playing an electric guitar. The Satin finish on these new PA4 necks make gliding from one position to another super quick and slick.<\/p>\n

Grand Performance deeper than OM<\/p>\n

The 2-3\/16\u201dstring spacing splits the difference between the norm for fingerstyle guitars and those played with a pick. They are made to be versatile and that they are. But perhaps none more so than the Grand Performance size, which is Martin\u2019s take on the \u201cmini jumbo\u201d guitars popular with many current recording artists. It has a lower bout that is wider and rounder than a Martin OM and the overall depth is nearer that of a Dreadnought. They have a tonal balance across the strings closer to an OM but with more bottom end.<\/p>\n

With a modern, Mortise and Tenon neck joint, the first PA Series guitars sounded a little anemic when played unplugged, compared to traditional Martins – the PA4s more so than most. They get pretty spanky and brash when played hard out. But laying off a bit makes up for that and soon I was zeroed in on the sweet spot and producing bright, forthright trebles and edgy, defined lows that had a decent thump when playing with a muted palm. As expected, the Dreadnought had the biggest whomp, the OMs had the punchiest mids and the Grand Performance had a bit of both.<\/p>\n

Sometime in 2013 the PAs (and most other M&T neck Martins) were upgraded to the new “simple dovetail neck joint,” which is a noticeable improvement over the M&T joint, both in terms of stability and in terms of tone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0[Read a more detailed explanation of the different Martin neck joints HERE<\/a>]<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In either case, when plugged in, all of the PA models sound pretty darn good. The PA Series was made with electrified performance in mind and the M&T necked Martins excel at having a big, clear ring without a lot of wavering resonance, so they sound very clear and and powerful through a PA system, while eliminating the feedback issues that are the bane of traditional dovetail-neck guitars. And even though the simple dovetail Martins have more body and resonance compared to their M&T fore-bearers, they also have less in the way of feedback issues. In other words, play a PA through a PA and you may think PA stands for Pretty Awesome.<\/div>\n

The PA4 models have the Fishman F1 Analog system. It has the Sonitone pickup, with its volume and midrange sweep controls mounted in the same interface used for the Fishman F1 Aura system on the more-expensive PA models. The interface consists of two flat dials and a readout window, all about the size of a nickel, set into the bass side where a player can adjust them easily.<\/p>\n

The F1 Analog won\u2019t sound as \u201ctrue-life acoustic\u201d as the Aura version but it does come with the on-board tuner and feedback-killing phase switch, for a street price $1,400 less than the PA1 models. The plugged-in tone of the PA4s is pretty impressive and ranks high among other acoustic-electric tone available in their price range and beyond.<\/p>\n

The PA4 models feel and sound like they were born to play the contemporary pop and progressive country hits of the new century. But at this price, many players with traditional tastes will find the sleek neck and Fishman\u2019s F1 Analog pickup system hard to pass up.<\/p>\n

Pro: Performing Artist Series design, High Performance neck and quality electronics, all for under a grand.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cons: Acoustic tone not as robust as other Martins, non-wood bridge.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bottom Line: The latest models in the Performance Artist Series bring the new neck, look and sound to dorm rooms and frugal rockers needing a decent acoustic to supplement their electric arsenal. But shelling out the extra hundreds for the PA3 tier Martin will get them the Aura+ pickup system.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin Performing Artist 4 models List Price: $1,649 – $1,849\u00a0 Street Price: Under $1,300 For a full review of the Performance Artist Series, go HERE … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":166,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-237","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nPA4 Models | One Man's Guitar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The latest members of the Performing Artist Series, the PA4 brings Martin Guitar\u2019s innovative new line in reach of the player on a budget\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/onemanz.com\/guitar\/reviews\/acoustic-guitars\/martin\/pa4models\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" 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