All user reviews for the Martin & Co 000-18 Golden Era 1937

This is an American guitar, made by one of the most popular manufacturers in the country. It is a reissue of a guitar from Martin's "Golden Era", which was the time before WWII. This guitar has a beautiful sunburst spruce top, a black ebony bridge, an ebony fretboard with 20 frets. The neck is also made of spruce. This is an acoustic guitar, with no electric capabilities unless you buy a separate pickup.

UTILIZATION

The top frets are definitely not easy to reach, by any means. That is the main drawback of this guitar. However, I doubt anyone who buys an acoustic guitar like this would be interested in playing notes so high up. The sounds that you can get out of this thing are more than enough. Plus, playing the guitar in general feels great, it's comfortable and not too much effort to play. I think that for the most part anyone would be happy with this. It's a bit heavy for an acoustic but nothing too crazy. It's a great guitar for fingerpicking, as the strings are pretty far apart. Interestingly, this doesn't make strumming chords for extended periods of time very difficult either, as the neck is built to accommodate both styles easily.

SOUNDS

The sounds that come of this thing are beautiful. This guitar is great for country, folk, even acoustic rock. The guitar, even though it's a reissue, feels like something out of the past. A rich, robust tone that is great for playing live and recording (though taking it on the road would be unwise, as it's about 3,000 dollars!). The tone has a great low end that doesn't boom when mic'd, or overwhelm the sharp high end. The high end, while clear as a bell and dominant, isn't grating on the ears as it can be with some other guitars. There's not a whole lot more I can say to describe the guitar's sound, other than the fact that it is phenomenal, whether fingerpicking or strumming.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the sound and comfort of this guitar. I think that it's one of the better ones that I have played in my career as a musician. But I think that the price is pretty crazy. 3,000 dollars for any reissue is a lot of money, even if it is a reissue of one of the company's greatest guitars. As someone who has paid a lot for a guitar and eventually been disappointed by it, I must say that this might be a bit of a ripoff. However, paying anywhere from $2,000-$2,500 for it is a lot more reasonable. Considering that people might sell it used for that price or less, it'd be a good idea to grab one if you can find it.

This Martin and Co. guitar is American made with a mahogany wood, and has an ebony fingerboard. It has 20 frets, but only fourteen are easily reachable.

UTILIZATION

One of the downsides to this guitar is it's lack of access to the high frets. It's hard to reach past the 14th fret easily, but because this guitar really shines as a rhythm guitar, it's not that much of a problem for me. With the 000-18, its really easy to get a great sound. It plays really smoothly, too, which is nice for people who'll be strumming on it for long periods of time. It's not too hard to carry around with the case, and it's a great, comfortable size for playing.

SOUNDS

I like the sound of this guitar a lot. It's very good for recording, and it sounds great acoustically. It's a warmer sounding guitar, with a darker sound than most Martins or Taylors. The mahagony wood emphasizes different frequencies than most woods. It's a unique sound that's hard to replicate with other guitars. It is a great guitar for playing more smooth, soulful music, it sounds comparable to Bill Withers' guitar on his classics. It blends well with my Fender Strat electric on recordings, too. The guitar isn't usually bright enough for me on its own, but that's because I tend to prefer a really bright guitar in general. It does sound great in a more dense mix though.

OVERALL OPINION

The sound of the guitar is probably the greatest feature of this instrument, followed closely by the ease with which it is played. These can run pretty expensive so buy used if possible. It's not worth buying at store prices if you can avoid it. I'd highly recommend this guitar to anyone who prefers their acoustic sound darker, and warmer than a Taylor. It's a good addition to any collection.