Martin & Co SPD-16M

I purchased this guitar at Foxes Music Company in Falls Church, Virginia for $1175.00. The moment I saw the solid European Flamed Maple back & sides I knew I had to have this guitar! From the first strummed chord I knew it also had a sound to match!

This dreadnaught guitar has striped ebony fingerboard & bridge with modified abalone snowflake inlay on both, gold Gotoh tuners, solid European flamed maple back & sides, solid sitka spruce top with style 45 ablaone rosette and aging toner, full gloss body finish with tortoise binding on the top & back, tortoise endpiece, mahogany neck with a natural gloss finish and East Indian rosewood headplate, and the most wonderful balanced sound I have ever heard in a guitar! It has the best tones of rosewood and mahogany combined in one guitar, but very balanced. The trebles are bright and the bass is loud, but they compliment each other perfectly! This is one great guitar!

Frankly I can find nothing wrong with this guitar it is that special. If I had to pick one thing wrong it would be the pickguard. Martin's current tortoise colored pickguards are not the best in appearence and perhaps a Greven pickguard would look better. Other than that it's near perfect!

This guitar shows Martin's legendary attention to detail in fit & finish with no visable flaws. The soundboard, back & sides are perfectly bookmatched. The construction is solid throughout and this guitar should perform well in all situations. The action was perfect and on the low side for ease of play. This is surprising as Martin usually comes setup from the factory on the high side. This is one well thought out guitar!

If you are looking for a guitar that sounds as good as it looks then this is the guitar for you! Be forewarned though that maple Martins are rare when compared to mahogany & rosewood and are not as easy to find. I own a solid mahogany D-15 and a solid East Indian rosewood custom 000-16RGT and honestly prefer the sound of the maple SPD-16M over the other two! This guitar is truly C.F. Martin at its best! A true work of art & music!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com