Martin 000-X1 Concert

Satin finish "auditorium" size flat-top guitar, laminate neck, 25.5" scale length, 20 frets, solid spruce top, composite back and sides. Purchased 2006, no accessories included. This is the no-frills 000 size Martin. You get the name and the quality, but no artisan woodwork or mother-of-toilet-seat inlays.

A pretty versatile guitar for the styles I'm interested in - blues, and acoustic rock, mainly. This guitar would shine in country, bluegrass and fingerstyle folk music, too, if you wanted it to. The sound is bright, with great clarity and definition, sometimes surprisingly loud, but tonally very well-balanced. Played with a pick, the attack is pretty aggressive and the bright "chimy-ness" of the tone comes out. For fingerstyle playing I use just bare fingers, which yields a much softer, rounded tone, although the lower strings project a little more when played this way, and you have to work to balance the sound out. I love the clarity of the sound, even if it's not always the most forgiving of my (many) mistakes.

Although I owned and "played" a few guitars when I was younger, I never really learned much and eventually gave it up. So when I bought this, I was starting over from scratch, and I really didn't know squat about set-up. Now that I've started to figure things out, I realize that the guitar was set up perfectly to begin with. The action is pretty low and in dropped-D tuning the 6th string can buzz a little when plucked hard. There were no defects on this guitar - I looked it over very carefully before buying. It's definitely a no-frills guitar, with no inlays and no binding around the top.

Built like a tank. I've been shamefully indifferent about playing with belt buckles and zippers all up the back, but I still haven't scratched it. The strap buttons... uh, well it's drilled on the bottom for a strap button, but it was not included. I don't play with a strap, because I only play at home anyway. I would use this guitar on a gig if I had a gig, but let's face it: I'm a middle-aged beginner and nobody is going to be dumb enough to let me on stage in front of an audience.

Haven't had any repairs or contacted the factory.

Two years into learning guitar - the right way this time - I recently started to wonder whether I might find another guitar easier to play. I went to Guitar Center and played a variety of other acoustics, including some with 24.75 inch scale lengths, which I thought might suit me better because of my short fingers. My conclusion was that I bought the right guitar in the first place. It may look pretty plain, but the neck is great and the action is as good as or better than other guitars in this price. It's got a shallower body than most guitars in this size, which makes it comfortable to play, but not at the expense of sound. Most importantly, it sounds great. I intend to live with guitar for a long while.

Solid Spruce top (Smells Delicious!!)

Back and sides are Composite Material.. this is one of the 'eco-friendly' models.

The neck is also composite. made up of about 20 pieces glued together.. will NEVER warp.

Fretboard is Brazilian Rosewood. No dots on front of neck.. nice minmal look.

Has everything you need (if you don't need a pickup.. which i don't)

Well, it just sounds amazing. it was love right away.. bought it on the spot. Fingerpicked notes ring out as do chords.. well balanced sound..just about perfect.

Plays almost like an electric with light bronze 80/20 strings on there... low action. just great.

It seems very well built.. it's a Martin.. built in the USA. It's a stripped down guitar but all of the parts seem very solid. Especially due to the composite materials of the bridge and neck.. will never warp.

haven' t dealt with them yet.. bought used so not sure about the warranty.

Bought it on the spot. Can't say enough about it. I've been playing 600-800 dollar new Taylors, Guilds, ets...

Not sure how high up in price I'd have to go to find a guitar that plays and sounds as well as this one but it kicks ass on any guitar i've played in the under 1000 price range. Seriously.