The number one thing I look for in acoustic guitars is ease in playing on the fretboard and how close the strings are to the fretboard.This is called the “action”. I have tried out a whole lot of guitars at Guitarcenter, and I must say that this Martin, without question, has some of the fastest action of any black acoustic guitar within this price range. The ease of playing and sound it produces just cannot be beat. Like most musicians these days, I am a self taught guitar player who jams out on regular chords and plays melodies on a guitar. In other words I am not a professional. I play for personal pleasure. One of the great features on this guitar is making barre chords which because the action is close to the fretboard you don’t kill your wrists or your fingers to do this. Also the sound is great from producing good bass sound on the lower strings to great treble on the upper strings and when you strum this guitar it has a full ring.
Also this is not a large guitar, such as a jumbo, so it lays across your leg and waist comfortably and is LIGHT. I hate heavy guitars. The built in fishman electric adds so much to turning this guitar into an electric one and the sound is fabulous. Of course there are many good guitars out there, but I personally challenge you to find one better at this price range for ease of playing, sound and comfort. You will find yourself saying, Man I gotta have THIS guitar. And you won’t be sorry.
For a Martin guitar, this is as reasonable as it gets to get that beautiful Martin acoustic-electric sound. The high end Martin acoustic-electrics can burn a hole in your pocket, much less curb your desire to play the thing lest you scratch it up (not to mention there are very few black acoustic guitars made by Martin) This guitar, on the other hand, begs to be picked up and put through the paces. The light weight, thin and stylish body feels comfortable when it’s strapped on or when you place it in your lap. The moment your fingers lay on the low action strings and the just-the-right-thinness of a fretboard you’ll see it’s eminently playable and you won’t put it down for hours. Now the sound deserves special mention: even un-amp’ed the acoustics are tremendous.
But plugged in, the Fishman pro electric equalizer (settings for notch, phase, volume, base, middle, treble, and brilliance) can modify your sound for any occasion or genre! I cannot express how much of a joy it is to play this instrument!
