Martin 00016C-GTE

One of reasons I bought this guitar was the quality of the pre-amp. It features a Fishman Prefix Pro Blend: a dual mic setup. One mic is a standard pickup under the saddle, and the other is a minicondenser mic which captures the ambient resonance in the body of the guitar very well. With the crossfader you choose how much %gain comes from each mic.

I was originally looking to buy a Taylor, either a 514ce or 414ce depending on which sound I preferred, with my 2nd choice being Larrivee LV-05e or LV-03e, however this Martin blew away those others with the warmth of sound it provided once plugged in. Unplugged, the five guitars were somewhat comparable in sound (with the Larrivee LV-05e leading this pack in unplugged sound), but plugged in...

In more detail, the sound of this guitar strikes the perfect balance for me--I play a versatile repertiore and I expect the same from my guitar. Its annoying (and expensive) to have a specific guitar for a specific style of song, and its nice to know that there are guitars out there that are responsive enough to handle most anything you throw at it.

If there is one area it excels in, it is in fingerstyle--and this is uniquely complemented by the kind of pickup it has. Set completely to condenser (again, the beauty of the crossfader on the preamp), your every note resonates. The warmth of this guitar plugged in is almost unparalleled in this configuration.

Again I stress that the flexibility is found in the pickup. When I am playing covers of harsher music (bands like Creed come to mind) I will set the crossfade to saddle pickup, and a much brighter, grating sound will result.

All this great sound comes at a price: the kinds of strings the guitar will accept. Obviously you can string whatever you like onto it, but I found that this guitar is more "picky" than my others. It rejects all gauges but light, and tends not to like those kinds engineered for "long life". It saps all life and tonal response from the guitar if I put any of these strings on.

If you are looking to buy a Martin, it's almost useless to talk about the 'factory setup', since you're going to get it setup again the way you prefer it...so I'll spare you that. =)

I have owned this guitar for 2 years now, it remains in excellent condition.

This guitar, like all other Martins are great to gig. It has done quite a bit of traveling, and is now enduring its hardest test yet: withstanding the harsh elements of Tropical weather (Grenada, Caribbean Islands). I have been here for half a year, and the humidity and hot weather has punished the guitar, however it has withstood it nicely.

No opportunities for this yet.

I have been a musician for 20 years, playing the guitar for 8 of those 20. Of the guitars that I own or have played for long durations, this is among the best.
I would not hesitate to buy it again, especially at the price I bargained it for.
In review- Among the following guitars:
Taylor 514ce
Taylor 414ce
Larrivee LV-03e
Larrivee LV-05e
Martin 000C-16GTE

I found the Martin to have the best blend of unplugged/plugged sound. The versatility of the sound was the biggest selling point- the martin was able to produce warm resonating fingerstyle sounds, along with a good full sound for the standard rhythm guitar parts.

The Martin 00016C-GTE is a new model this year. It has a solid Mahogany back and sides and a solid Spruce top. It also has a venitian cutaway and comes with a built-in Fishman PU system. I was looking for a smaller body guitar in the $1000.00 price range and this beauty was tops in that range.

The combination of the 000 body size and the mahogany body make for a very balanced tone out of the guitar. Not too bassy, not to trebley. It is a wonderful fingerstyle guitar, but it also sounds good as a strumming guitar (not as good as a dread though). This particular guitar really sings. I have played several other Martins of the same model, but they don't measure up to this one. I'm not the only one who has noticed this either. I just got a pick of the litter guitar! Once I got the dead Martin strings off the guitar and slapped some Elixers on it, it really shines.

The guitar came well set up from the factory, and is very well made. The guitar has a gloss finish on the top and a matte on the sides and back. It is a very nice looking guitar. Basic and functional. Looks don't make tone!!

This is lighter than a typical Martin, but it seems to be constructed very well. Martins, of course, are tanks. They hold up better than about any other brand of guitar.

I've never had to call Martin, but they have a reputation of being very customer friendly.

This is a wonderful guitar in its price range. It was head and shoulders over everything else I played for my given budget. Let me put it this way, I did NOT want to buy a Martin, but ended up with one. I would definitely buy another if this one were stolen, provided I could find one that sounded as good as this one does. I have played many nicer guitars, but all of them cost about 2 to 4 times as much..