The Baby Martin

My son and I went looking for a small guitar for my grandson. We looked at the guitar at Wal-Mart. I did not like the cheap sound and I doubt seriously if it would stay in tune. He did not want to spend too much for a guitar because the boy is only 9 years old. Sorry I forgot the name of the guitar but it stunk so I really don't need to remember the name.

I talked him to going to my music store that sells Martin guitars. I would rather see him buy a backpacker than that junk that the kid would be spending his time tuning instead of practicing. I knew the backpacker would be too hard for the kid to hold. Grandma knew the smallest guitar was the Little Martin . I had played it in the store a few times. What I neglected to tell my son was the price, but that's fine. We all know you get what you pay for.

Well I had to do some real convincing but we settled on the LX1 . For $30.00 dollars difference in the price this Little Martin comes with a real solid wood top. The other Little Martins are all HPL or what they call high-pressure laminate and other synthetics. It maybe the smallest guitar I could find but the tone on this guitar sounded pretty good. I actually enjoyed playing this little guitar.

The Martin LX1 and the LX1E are the only Little Martins that have solid wood tops,I believe the top is spruce, the back and sides are still a very durable mahogany laminated construction. The only difference between the LX1 and the LX1E is the LX1E guitar comes with a fishman mini Q electronics. My son works nights so he chose the LX1 . The difference in price was about $100.00 with the tax.

The LX1 Little Martin cost $399.00. We probably could of saved a little money if we wanted to drive but with the price of gas it's not worth it.

The guitar comes with a padded gig bag. I really would have liked something better. Latter on hopefully he can find a better case to carry the guitar. This guitar is very versatile. It is great for studying and it has a better sound than the backpacker for traveling.

We did look at the Baby Taylor,a nice guitar also but it was $599.00, it is a 3/4 guitar bigger than the LX1 . Too much money to spend on a child.

Some more information on the LX1 the guitar has 14 clear frets, has a 23" scale length, modified X series X top bracing, body size O-14 fret, strings Martin medium (M550),tuning gear is enclosed, bridge and end pins are white with black dots. The warranty is a one year limited. The guitar is made in Mexico for Martin Guitars. The neck is low shaped oval, which has great playability. The nut is made out of corian. On the head of the neck is inscribed CF Martin & Co. EST. 1833 in a gold color. The bridge on this guitar is made from rosewood. This guitar has a foil type label that can be seen through the sound hole on the back inside of the guitar.

Overall, I enjoyed this day of shopping and playing this Little Martin LX1 . Hope my grandson likes his present. Thanks for reading.