Martin D-15 Dreadnought

Martin D-15

I've always appreciated fine acoustic guitars and had been looking for one to add to my battery, along with my Alvarez Yairi and Gibson acoustic Songwriter deluxe.

Down at Firehouse Guitars, my local purveyor, I began to check out the selection. The guys there are super nice, as most musical people are, and bend over backwards to make sure you get the equipment you want with no pressure, rush, or any unpleasantness. They are always willing to sit with you and explain anything about any of their equipment, share knowledge, give suggestions, and point you towards something you may not have heard of.

My Yairi is my baseline model and it is a dreadnought with the full treatment. The Firehouse guys handed me a Gibson Super Jumbo 200, festooned with decorative mother of pearl inlays and deluxe appointments, which as the best guitar in the house ~ $4000 is sort of like my Yairi. This Gibson guitar has earned the moniker "King of the Flat Tops," among professional musicians, and it is easy to see why. All of the large Gibson Acoustics have similar scale length (25½”) and neck width (1.725”) so the commonality of playing ease is among the most consistent I've found. After a short session with the Gibson,I wanted a little darker, bassier tone, as the Martin guitars have.

In traditional American acoustic guitar playing there are two schools of thought; there are those who swear by the Martin and those who prefer the Gibson, forsaking all others - kind of like Ford and Chevy lovers, they rarely see eye to eye. I played a couple of Martins years ago, a six and a twelve string, D-28s, if I recall correctly. The Martin is renowned among country singers for its rolling thunder bass register. Lots of rhythm tracks are played with Martins and I liked the sound of the twelve string better, since it also had a good treble register to complement the bassy component of its sound. In appearance, Martins are usually a lot plainer than Gibsons, which tend to be flamboyant. So, if your personality is one that shrinks, you might be more comfortable with the Martin as it makes no big fashion statement other than being one of the best guitars made. But they are plain looking as a homely sister, in a flour sack dress. Just wanted you to know that.

The D-15 is the entry level Martin, which comes in around $900. It shares the Dreadnought body style with the larger Martins, but unlike the more expensive Martins, which have the light colored Spruce top, this Martin is made entirely of Mahogany, or as they call it now "Sapele" wood. The top, sides, back, and neck are all one color, a darkish brown. The Mahogany has an even darker sound than the Spruce backed with Rosewood of the more expensive models so you are mainly limited to bassy and midrange tones with this model. Perfect for rhythm and bass runs.

The playability of this model is a little off for my hands. I think the scale is about a inch shorter and the strings are closer together (width at nut 1.6875" vs. 1.725" of the Gibson) - these little differences make a HUGE difference to the feel - so I could not put my fingers down with the assurance that I would be hitting the right notes. If I was careful, I could get clean sound but the right hand feel is not sure for me either since the strings are closer together by just a smidge. For someone with smaller hands this might be just the guitar. Once I got used to the D-15 I could play pretty much anything I could on the Yairi, though.

The quality of the D-15 guitar is flawless, which you would expect with a guitar built by Martin. The tuners are nickel plated and the position markers are simple pearl dots. The rosewood fingerboard has 20 frets. A tortoise shell pick guard of classic design completes the appointments. All in all this is a well built, solid, all wood guitar that will suit anybody, that is, anybody whose hands it fits. The sound is limited to more mid range tone, lacking the booming bass of the spruce, and of course the treble, which to me almost all Martins are short of.

Since this is a hand built, all solid wood guitar, it will only sound better through the years and the more it is played. You would be well advised to play several quality all-wood instruments before making your final choice, as their handling and sound qualities can be VERY different.

My criteria are feel, as I mentioned in the string spacing and scale length, and sound. I play better the better the sound is, plain and simple. When the feel is right, I grab sounds with authority. My personal taste runs, all other things being equal, to a more fancily appointed guitar. I would choose the better looking of two instruments if they played and sounded exactly alike. There you have my taste.

The Martin D-15 comes with a Martin hard shell case at no additional charge. This could be the guitar you're looking for!