Martin 000-15

Solid mahogany with sealed Martin tuners.....umm
that is about it & that is why I love it! BTW, it also
included a damn good Martin Hardshell Case.

Incredibly clear & thick acoustic tone. much warmer then the rosewood,
maple & spruce models. Truly a unique sound that inspires innovation &
songwriting. Excellent response to figerpickin'! Has great bass resonance
too. People normally pay well into the thousands to get anywhere near
this much bass. Higher notes are clear & creamy as oppossed to thin &
chimey. An excellent, original tone in a vintage package.

Medium action which seems perfect for this guitar. It was set-up excellent
from the factory & played incrdedibly easy. The auditorium size is pure
playing comfort & is an excellent alternative to the classic Jumbo and
Dreadnought designs. The neck is as stright as an arrow & the guitar was
in perfect condition from the factory.

I have had ot about a year now and it has withstood many years worth
of abuse. It has suffered no less then 10 serious falls, countless late night
bumps & bruises & almost daily beatings from a 3 year old. It is left on the
stand most nights & it "never" goes out of tune. It has been in the studio
& used at many, many a gig. It has survived all this with ease & sounds better
every time I pick it up. I am amazed at the durability of this guitar. A++ here!

I have never had to deal with Martin customer support.

First & foremost I would like to say that this may be the best value in
the entire acoustic guitar market. The 000-15 was tested against D-28's,
D-35's, DM's, DR's, many $1500+ Taylors, Gibsons & Guilds etc... etc...
etc.... I bought it for a few basic reasons. Most of which was the incredibly
rich, thick & classic acoustic tones. The playability was amazing and I
always have a hard time putting this guitar down. It is the first guitar that
I have ever owned that makes me forget about my Nocaster at my studio.
This guitar provides an alternative sound that you cannot get out of any
other acoustic at "ANY" price. That is unless you can find another all
mahogany solid top acoustic made with the attention to detail that we all
know is exclusive to Martin. This guitar oozes a 1920's vibe & really does
not have any direct competition anywhere on the market. It is a classic
reproduction of a masterful design & make-up. It quite simply sounded &
played better then any other acoustic I had access to! (and they were
plentiful). Money & brand name are never a consideration when I am
purchasing a new guitar but in this case Martin truly shows it's superiority
to all the other pretenders that like to refer to themselves as "high-end"
acoustic guitar companies. Bottom line is that this sweet axe has made it
onto the incredibly short list of guitars I will not part with. The only other thing
I have to say is don't be fooled & bullied by high price tags, rumors, & names.
Go out & play this guitar & see why everyone is raving & drooling.

It's an acoustic guitar. It has machine heads and makes a sound. What other features are there?

This was my first top quality acoustic guitar. I used to play electric most of the time, (an old US Strat). I love its sound. I listen to Nick Drake a lot and this guitar sounds EXACTLY like his. Which is great. My dad has a reaaly expensive Guild, but I prefer the sound of this. It's so sweet but very clear and ringing, and when the strings get old it sounds almost like a classical. Absolutely no complaints here.

The action is absolutely perfect. Low enough for comfort, but high enough so it doesn't buzz. Brilliant.

Nothing has gone wrong with it thus far. So...

This really is a fantastic guitar and I would recommend it to anyone who likes this style of guitar. It's all solid mahogany construction give it a very different sound to, say, a rosewood and spruce guitar, but I actually now prefer it. I love this guitar. Buy one. Now. You won't regret it.

This Martin 000-15 was made in 2000 I'm sure - serial #747046. All solid mahogany with sealed Martin tuners and rosewood fretboard and bridge as per spec. I looked at a D-15 at the store but when sighting down the neck from the headstock end, it looked like a roller coaster around frets 13-16 (where the neck and fretboard join the body). Also frets were not the same height in that area - I'm guessing trouble at the factory... I sure hated to see that since it sounded great. But then I saw the 000-15 and the fretboard looked much better, and sounded great also. Just looking the guitar over convinced me to spend an extra $100 to get a solid wood Martin. Then it hit me - this is a solid wood Martin for $600!!! With an accepable, if low-end Martin case! I asked for a discount since it was "scratched" - actually just the peel-off plastic sheet over the pick-guard - and got a token $20 off.

This guitar suits my current needs: a very playable, well constructed, sweet sounding flattop guitar, while I wait for a semicustom handmade guitar which will cost about 5 times as much. I went for something I could perhaps travel with or let someone else play without suffering too much. As for the sound - it is a rich tone, somewhat muffled compared to sitka spruce and rosewood, yet with the beautiful tones ringing through. The low E sounds more like wood that metal, and the strings ring more as you go up to high E. BUT this is Mahogany, and it has its own tonal qualities. Great for acoustic blues and mellow fingerstyle. I think of Jerry Garcia playing "Casey Jones" (traditional song, not the Cocaine song) or Duane Allman playing "Little Martha". For fingerstyle, a thumbpick will bring out much more of the base strings, and for some songs I don't use it because the base strings should be a little subdued. My point is that this is a mahogany guitar and it can't be compared to an HD-28. It has a tone that is mahogany. However it can still keep up, and sounds great by itself. When I hold this guitar and tap it reminds me of a fine violin - it has less mass than a big D-28 type, and it feels fragile but really resonantes - feels and sounds like a finely made instrument should. I currently have medium Elixir strings on it and they sound very rich. I am sure that a set of light guage strings will make the 000-15 sound brighter. Because I love traditional southern acoustic styles, from Bluegrass to Delta blues, this guitar will get consistent attention from me.

After being in the showroom with many people playing it for several weeks or months? this guitar still had decent action. Since Martins are reputed to have medium to high action from the factory, I feel this one was a good one. I will be getting the neck and bridge adjusted ($100 worth) and will report later on how that affects action, tone, etc. This is just to get the best out of the guitar, as I really can't see much wrong with this guitar. I will eventually peel off the "rosette" decal or have the luthier do it. This is a simple and beautiful guitar. The finish is a no-gloss satin - clean with a damp cloth only. The only flaw I see is an imperfectly bookmatched top - but close enough. The neck lines up to the top of the bridge, and the heel joines the body precisely - no shellac in the joint, as it should be with a Martin. Fret job is beautiful as is the mahogany all around.

Since I do not play gigs these days I can only guess that this model is a little more on the fragile side than heavier rosewood guitars, although everything is quality. Everything is solid, and this is all solid wood, so I think it would be fine if babied a little. (Who would do a gig w/o a backup?)

Hopefully won't need it - Martin limited lifetime warranty but I hear it takes months to get warranty work done.

I have been playing for 25 years - have had a variety of flattop and classical guitars. This guitar is BIG bang for the buck, assuming you find one with a good fretboard. This is not the guitar for someone who is concerned about having fancy styling and inlays on the guitar, but what a steal for an a non-plywood Martin for under $600! It is not a professional gig box either, but a solid performer for home and with friends, or the occaisional open mike night. It is a fine example of Martin craftsmanship and smells of Mahogany! For $600 I rate it a 9.

I just got this guitar a couple of days ago, and it was advertised as new on Ebay so I assume it was made in late 99 or early 2000. The guitar is solid wood mahogany on the top, back, and sides. The finish is satin, body-style is the smaller auditorium size (as opposed to the D-size of most Martins I've been around). Tuners are sealed and held the guitar in tune from California to Indiana, and so far I have not had any problems keeping it in tune. Also comes with a very plush Martin hardshell case and the "Care and Feeding of you Martin guitar" booklet, as well as all of the warranty information.

I am primarily an electric guitar play (prefer Strats), with a desire to play the funky percussive stuff of Dave Matthews, which is the reason I wanted a quality acoustic. My acoustic playing will probably never see a stage, but I do play electric for a church band (contemporary Christain - Christain Rock style). I find that the Martin has an excellent sound for messing around the house, very balanced due to the mahogany bod and auditorium size, but not a real loud strummer guitar. I found that my playing on this guitar can get different sounds depending on the dynamics, which is true for all acoustics, but this one seems to sound sweet whether picking single notes or strumming chords. I don't think this guitar is as bright as my spruce topped acoustic, but my roommate uses a Martin D-15 and the 000-15 has a tighter sound. In other words, individual notes are clearer on the 000-15, and all of the notes in the chord stick out a little more. The D-15 is better suited to strumming hard, as it is simply a louder guitar, but all-mahogany guitars aren't really suited to loudnes anyway, so a spruce top dreadnought would probably be a better choice for simply strumming.

The set up on this guitar is excellent, actually a fairly low action for my tastes. On my Strat I have my action fairly high to prevent buzz on Stevie Ray style aggressive rhythym stuff, but the action on the Martin has next to no fret buzz, even when attacking it pretty hard. I think it has to do with the smaller fret size on the Martin. Althought the fretboard radius is very flat, I have no problem at all grabbing chords easily on this guitar, and single note picking is also quite easy too. I haven't even touched my Strat since I got this guitar because it feels so good to play. As far as fit and finish, I'm not super particular, but no flaws stand out, so that speaks for itself. The frets are perfect, no blemishes on the body, and the satin finish really lets that awesome mahogany smell to stand out.

This guitar feels somewhat light and fragile when you're holding it, but I think mahogany is just a lighter wood than most other acoustic guitar woods. The bracing seems solid, and it has a lifetime guarantee, so I'm not worried about reliability. It'll probably outlast me, and I'm only 24.

I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Martin, and with the quality of their guitars, chances are I will never need them.

I've been playing for about 4 years, I also own a Fender acoustic (don't know the model, not really much of a guitar, although spruce top and rosewood back and sides, so it sounds ok). A highly modified Strat with a Warmoth v-neck, duncans and a lace pickup. My best amp is a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, I also have a couple of cheap amps, a Pod 2.0, a Dunlop Wah, Ibanez TS-7 Tubescreamer, and Boss Chorus. I love this guitar and will take this whenever I can only take one guitar with me. I will readily admit this guitar was an impulse Ebay bid, but I think it was fate because I couldn't be more pleased with this guitar, it is the best of all of the acoustics I have played in the last few years.

Made 1999,features as above reviews.All very well executed

The guitar sounds warm,yet the unwound strings have a nice ring about them.Open tunings are handled well,the guitar sounds nice when strummed,fingerstyle sounds ok but maybe lacks a little sustain,and bottom E lacks a little clarity.

When purchased,in spring 2000,action,measured at 12th fret was around 2.5mm,during the summer the action has risen considerably.I'm hoping this is due to humidity.I notice there is some bellying around the bridge area,I'll wait and see if action lowers during the winter,because when purchased action was perfect,but at the moment it's quite hard work.I've lowered the saddle to 1/8th of an inch protuding at the bridge action height is now 4/32 inch at 12th fret on bottom E string,a bit high for my liking.Woodwork and finish flawless inside and out.

As I mentioned earlier I'm a tad concerned about raised action/bellying around bridge,hopefully will improve when guitar dries out a bit in winter.Hardware seems durable,guitar is very delicate wouldn't really be 100% happy about travelling and gigging with it.

Not applicable,yet?

Overall this is a very sweet sounding guitar for the price.For fingerstyle string spacing is a bit narrow at the nut and bridge,however I now read that Marin are introducing the OM15 with wider neck geared toward fingersyle players.Compared to my Guild D25 this guitar is alot more lively and responsive although the guild had supreme playability it is not in the same league,sonically,as the martin.If I lost this guitar I'd be mightily upset but I'd spend the insurance money on the Om15,now there's a thought..............

Solid mahogany top, back, sides and neck with rosewood bridge and fingerboard. Unbound body, herringbone rosette decal. Not much here, but it's all top-quality.

It sounds like it should have cost more than it does. It has a sweet, rich and velvety tone and, like other Martin 000s, is very balanced with a solid but not overpowering low end.

It is definitely a Martin. The action is set up medium at the factory, but can go lower. On mine the sixth string sits a little high in the nut, but that's nothing unusual. I usually have mine set up professionally anyway, so it's no big deal. But the frets are perfectly done, nicely polished, no need to touch up at all. The fit and finish is flawless. I just love Martin's attention to detail.

I don't play live so I can't really judge. But the hardware is top quality. Like any other well-made acoustic, they should be treated with care, but it's not the kind of guitar that will fall apart on you. Comes with a lifetime warranty, and the older (1940s) versions of these guitars are still holding up well, so I expect it will live longer than me.

I have always have good experiences with Martin's customer service. They are just what I expect--courteous, informative, and very patient. I have had other Martins repaired under warranty with absolutely no hassle.

I rate this a ten. It's a real player, and at about $550 wtih case it's a real steal