Review

This all-mahogany guitar is a beautiful, vintage-inspired instrument with a rich, warm tone. It's made of all-solid mahogany, and the top, back and sides are all bookmatched. This means that the guitar is built so it looks like there's a mirror image of the grain on each side. 

Martin D15M features a bone nut and a solid ebony bridge, which go well with the understated elegance of its single-ring rosette.

Our Star Rating

Given its relatively low price and quality appointments, we think this is the best value guitar on the list. We give it five out of five stars.

Review

This is the most expensive Martin on the list, but it has an expressive tone and quality appointments. It was designed with popular guitarist John Mayer. This guitar has an OM body (short for "Orchestra Model," which is somewhat similar to Martin's Grand Performance model.

Its top is made of solid Engelmann spruce, and its back and sides are made of beautiful solid East Indian rosewood. This guitar has a slim neck that makes playing easy, and its abalone rosette, subtle fretboard inlays, and antiqued gloss finish make it a truly unique instrument.

Our Star Rating

Because of this guitar's unique, quality construction, we think it's the best high-end model on the list. We give it four out of five stars.

Review

This is another of Martin's orchestra model guitars, but it has a couple of advantages. Since many Martin guitars are vintage-inspired, many don't have cutaways. This model has a Venetian cutaway, making it easy to access frets that are further down the neck.

It's also an acoustic-electric, and it comes equipped with Fishman's Matrix VT Enhance NT1 pickup. It's made of all solid Ovangkol. This is a wood that sounds a little like mahogany, but it has an additional high end that's much like the clear high end found on koa guitars. It also has a beautiful grain.

Our Star Rating

Because of its electronics, cutaway, and distinctive appearance, we think this is the best guitar on the list for live performance. We give it five out of five stars.

Review

This classic-looking dreadnought is an affordable offering that can help introduce you to the world of Martin guitars. Its top is solid Sitka spruce, and the back and sides are made of sapele, a tropical tonewood that is an affordable alternative to mahogany.

Martin D-10E is also equipped with Fishman MX-T electronics. This system also comes with a unique feature--it has an onboard tuner that automatically mutes pickup output as you tune.

Our Star Rating

Given its build quality and included electronics, this is a very good quality guitar for the money. We think it's the best value on the list, and we give it four out of five stars

Review

Whether you want a quality small guitar for travel or want a well-made instrument for your child to learn on, the scaled-down Little Martin is an excellent choice. This one has a koa-pattern top, and the guitar is made with Martin's special high-pressure laminate.

Martin LXK2 also is made with Martin's special neck joint, which stands up to rough handling. This little guitar also comes with a padded gig bag, so it's ready to take on the road.

Our Star Rating

As travel guitars and smaller models go, this one is very well made. We think it's the best option for traveling, and we give it four out of five stars.

Review

The D-35 is a legend among Martins, and its enduring appeal matches its classic good looks. It's made with a solid Sitka spruce top and solid East Indian rosewood back and sides.

These features combined with its ebony fingerboard make it the perfect choice for fingerpicking and flatpicking. Martin D-35 is considered by many great players to be the ultimate acoustic guitar.

Our Star Rating

Given its quality and history, we think the D-35 is one of the quintessential Martin acoustic guitars. We think it's the best all-around model on the list, and we give it five out of five stars.

Review

For many guitarists, Martin sets the standard when it comes to dreadnought tone. And out of all Martin guitars, the D28 just might be the best. It's sometimes referred to as a "tone cannon," and it's been played by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Presley, and countless other world-famous musicians.

The D28's acoustic guitar tone is as classic as they come. The top is solid Sitka spruce, and the back and sides are solid East Indian rosewood. This combination is incredibly responsive to every nuance of your playing, and it creates an exceptionally balanced tone.

While the low end is very present, it's never overly boomy -- it's focused and delivers just enough punch. And of course, the brilliant overtones of rosewood add the right amount of natural sparkle to your playing. The D28 features a modified low oval neck profile with a high-performance taper, so it's easy and comfortable to play.

While this timeless dreadnought is a favorite of musicians everywhere, it's important to note that the D28 does not come with electronics. If you want to plug in to perform, it's a good idea to select a high-end system to faithfully reproduce this guitar's sound.

Our Star Rating

This incredible instrument's popularity has persisted for a reason. We think it's the best historic design on the list, and we give it five out of five stars.

Review

Along with the D28, the D18 is one of the most famous Martin guitars -- Andy Griffith even played one on his TV show! And while both are dreadnoughts, the D18 isn't the same guitar as the D28 at all. This one has solid mahogany back and sides for a warmer, midrange-heavy sound.

The D18's specific tone makes it perfect for playing in groups -- its treble and midrange won't overshadow a vocalist, and its bass response still leaves plenty of room for a bassist in a mix. There's a reason that so many session guitarists and recording artists like the Martin D18 -- it's an incredibly simple guitar to record, and a condenser mic can easily capture its essence.

But while the D18 plays well with other instruments, it's still a great choice for solo performers. The beautiful responsiveness of the spruce top and the added warmth of the mahogany back and sides offer an impressive balance that makes this one of the better acoustic guitars for accompanying a single vocalist too. This is another Martin guitar that does not come standard with electronics, but that gives you the opportunity to hand-select the best system for your playing style.

Our Star Rating

We think that the D18's versatile, midrange-focused tone makes it the best Martin acoustic guitar for playing in groups -- regardless of whether you're in a working band or just want to jam with friends. We give it a 4.5 out of five stars.

Review

If you're in search of the tone that only a Martin guitar can offer but want an instrument that's a little less cumbersome to handle on stage, the D16-E is worth a look. At first glance, it looks a lot like any other Martin dreadnought with its natural finish and understated appointments. However, this instrument's slightly thinner body helps temper the powerful bass response. In terms of tone, it sits somewhere between the sound of a 000 and a full-depth dreadnought.

The D-16E is also a Martin guitar that comes equipped with electronics. However, those electronics are much better quality than what you often find on less-expensive Martins. This guitar comes with the Fishman Matrix VT Enhance NT2 system. It's essentially an undersaddle pickup with an especially useful "enhance" feature that helps percussive playing techniques and nuances in your playing style translate to a larger audience.

Our Star Rating

We think that this slimmer dreadnought-shape guitar is the best Martin acoustic guitar when it comes to playing comfort, and we give it 4.5 out of five stars.

Review

If you haven't heard of ziricote being used on an acoustic guitar, you're not alone. This wood is more commonly seen in flamenco guitars, but you may also find it on a classical or two. This chocolatey-grained wood is sometimes compared to Brazilian rosewood -- its bass response is incredibly deep yet focused, and its glittering treble adds life to any genre of music. It's a good choice of wood or an acoustic guitar, especially if you're looking for something a little different.

The ziricote D13-E has a more traditional solid Sitka spruce top for impressive responsiveness when playing. And though its price tag is relatively low for a Martin guitar, don't be fooled -- it's made of all solid wood. When it comes to appointments, the D13-E is a little more snazzy than the typical Martin aesthetic -- the mother-of-pearl patterned rosette and fingerboard inlays add some sparkle, and the white binding adds some subtle visual interest. 

You may also be able to tell from the model name that the D13-E is an acoustic-electric guitar. It comes with Fishman MX-T electronics. These electronics are essentially upgraded versions of the Fishman Sonitone -- they simply have an added soundhole tuner. The MX-T isn't the best pickup out there, but if you want to enhance your live sound, you can always run it through a high-quality preamp for acoustic guitars.

Our Star Rating

We think that the all-solid, affordable D-13E is the best Martin guitar made with an unusual tonewood on the list. We give it four out of five stars.

Review

This guitar is one of Martin's Grand Performance models, and like many Martin acoustics, it has a solid Sitka spruce top. It's very affordable for a full-sized Martin, and it has high-pressure laminate back and sides.

Despite the low price, this guitar also comes equipped with Fishman electronics--it has the Fishman Sonicore system, which is one of Fishman's more affordable offerings. Even though it's fairly low in price, this is a beautiful guitar with a surprisingly rich sound.

Our Star Rating

We think this guitar is the easiest to carry (due to its compact size and HPL laminate back and sides) on the list. We give it four out of five stars.

Review

All too often, even respectable acoustic guitar manufacturers seem to forget about quality when making smaller instruments. But the LX1E can hold its own against Martin guitars many times its price. Thanks to its custom bracing pattern and solid Sitka spruce top, it still delivers a great dreadnought tone -- it sounds, unlike any mini dreadnought you've ever heard before.

If you care about the environment, you'll also appreciate the LX1E. It's made with plenty of sustainable materials -- the back and sides are made of Martin's lightweight and environmentally-friendly HPL, and the Richlite fingerboard and bridge look like ebony. The Stratabond neck plays quickly and smoothly. And even though this quality instrument is at home on the couch or around a campfire, the onboard Fishman electronics make it easy to plug in and play wherever you are.

Our Star Rating

We think this is the best of Martin's solid-top mini acoustic guitars, and we give it four out of five stars.

Review

If you're like most guitarists, you might look askance at acoustic guitars with laminate tops. But even though the DX1E is made entirely of Martin's high-pressure laminate material, it still plays -- and sounds -- like a genuine Martin. It's a full-size dreadnought, and the scalloped X bracing delivers the same signature low end you get with Martin guitars.

The Martin DX1E also comes equipped with Fishman MX electronics. This high-quality pickup also includes a soundhole-mounted preamp. It's ideal for performance, and you may even find that it works well for direct-line recording. You can select a DX1E that suits your aesthetic preferences -- though all of these acoustic guitars are built with high-pressure laminate, you can choose one that's pure black or patterned like spruce, koa, or mahogany.

Our Star Rating

We think this is the best of the all-laminate Martin acoustic guitars. We give it three and a half out of five stars.