Martin D-15 Acoustic

Plain jane acoustics guitar. 20 frets, 14 to the body. The guitar is solid mahogany (two piece top and back). The finish is satin which concerned me at first but after playing the guitar for 2 months I have found that this was unwarranted. I am able to clean it with guitar polish without leaving any marks. Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. The frets are nicely polished and the guitar is setup low and without a buzz. I gave this a 5 because this IS NOT a feature guitar. All of the features it has are TOP SHELF!

Incredible sound. I was an electric only player and had never considered buying an acuostics guitar until I found the D-15. The sound is full, rich and sweet. Does not have the boominess that most acoustics seem to suffer from. (IMHO). The sound is what will make you want this guitar. Try IT!

Fantastic factory setup. Mahogany is a simple wood to bookmatch because of the small grain. You have to stare long and hard to verify where the wood was joined. Everything seems tight inside as well. The neck and body size are perfect for electric players looking for an acoustic fix.

The guitar is solid. Construction wise it will hold up to live playing. The only concern I have is that the satin finish will probably allow stains quicker than a gloss but for the price of this guitar "who cares!".

Lieftime warranty and they mean it! I sent the warranty card in and the person typing it into the system had a hard time reading my last name. (it has 10 letters). So she called to verify it so that my ownership card was correct. I always thought those warranty cards went into a black hole but I guess not at Martin.

I have played for 20 years. I would buy it again and again and again. I compared it to the fender ,gretsch, takamine and various other martins in the same price range. It comes with a nice hard shell case (which is unbelievable for the price). Personally I like the "plain jane" look of the guitar. Nothing flashy about it. Only the mahogany color will stand out.

My new baby is a 1998 model chocolate brown mahogany D-15 Dreadnought, of course made in Nazareth. Some comments have been made about the "plain Jane" appearence of this model, but I actually like it - I think the simplicity of the design, coupled with the beauty of the wood and the outstanding Martin craftsmanship, makes for an attractive guitar. I had a Fishman under the saddle pickup installed, but haven't really had a chance to try it out yet.

I traded a 70's Martin D-35 for this guitar. I was always slightly bothered by a certain "boominess" that the D-35 had. In contrast, the D-15 has a smooth, well-balanced and very sweet tone. It seems to handle both loud and soft playing well, though it gets a touch rough if I play it really hard. Overall, I love the sound of this guitar, and I'm very happy with it.

Hey, it's a Martin! The workmanship is close to perfection, the finish is beautiful, all the joints are silky smooth, the tuners are responsive and quiet, the fretwork is great. I am especially pleased with the action and the feel of the neck - it's a vast improvement ove the baseball bat neck on my old D-35.

I'm surprised that others have concern about the fragility of this guitar. It seems solid and well-built. I'm guessing, but I'm not going to hesitate to use this box out in the real world.

Haven't had to deal directly with Martin. The dealer, Acoustic Roots in Jenkintown, PA. is the absolute best.

I've been playing most of my life, total of about 30 years. This is my third Martin, and by far the best. It's a keeper. Also, I am mightly impressed at the value of this instrument - it's a real bargin.

A very basic traditional-style acoustic, whose most distinctive feature is the solid mahogony contruction: it is a rather odd dark brown colour. Finished in a plain but flawless satin texture, with a black pickguard. Made to a very high standard, but the rather minimalistic appearance will not be to everyones tastes.

It may have an anonymous appearance, but when you play it, this guitar stands out from the crowd. First, it is loud. Second, the bass response is awesome: rich, deep, and with piano-like sustain. Third, the unwound strings are bright and penetrating. Overall, it is very rewarding to play. It is not subtle, but it is hedonistic and well balanced.

Beautifully finished and set up to perfection. The intonation on my model was perfect.

It is not a gigging guitar. First, it is so lively that if you try and fit some sort of transducer or pickup, you are likely to be struggling to control the bass feedback. Second, it is quite fragile. I use a reliable, rugged Takamine EN-10 for live work, and keep my Martin D15 for bedroom/studio use. The strength of this guitar is its acoustic tone.

Very satisfied. I have played many acoustics over the last 10 years, but this has the sweetest and most satisfying tone. Tone is a personal thing, but this outperforms anything I've tried even at three times th e price. The caveat is that this is not a gigging guitar. If you play live, you'd be better off with a Takamine or Taylor fitted with a decent transducer and electrics. But for pure playing pleasure, it is hard to beat.

I think my guitar was made in 1998. Made in Pennsylvania, USA. Dreadnought, 20 frets, solid top, no electronics. Everything is mahogany with a satin finish that's as smooth as a baby's butt -- the fretboard and bridge are rosewood. The neck is fairly thin for a full-size acoustic. The tuners are sealed Martin tuners. It came with a really nice Martin case (all Martins do, I believe). I can't really give it a "10," this is a very basic guitar -- but it's supposed to be that way!

I play a combo of blues, rock, and country styles... this guitar is great for all of these styles. When I try to play some chords (Bm for example), I seem to get more buzz than my other guitars -- but I think it's me. This guitar sounds great. Very full and pronounced ... I sing and play with no PA or amp quite a bit and I have a hard time singing over this thing when I'm playing loudly. I can get a lot of great blues sounds out of this guitar -- it really hooks-up on my playing style and when others have played it, it fit their style well, too (of note, a friend of mine is a jazzaholic and it really responded well for him).
Kind of a funny story ... our local Alan Parsans wannabe -- recording guru -- was amazed at the tone of this guitar over the phone. Interesting.
The only thing I don't like is I'm afraid to put a pick-up (or anything else for that matter) in/on this guitar -- it's very beautiful and the wood is very thin ... I'm afraid I'll ding it up.

This guitar was made with great love for guitars. I played several medium to high-end guitars ($700 to $1500 range) before settling on this ... and it played better than all the non-Martins I played. You can image someone who takes the title "Luthier" seriously making this guitar -- someone that shivers and screams if called a "guitar maker."
The wood, the matching, the finish, the fretboard -- everything -- is amazingly perfect and beautiful on this guitar. And the SMELL!! This thing smells so damn good I want to take a bite out of it! This thing is a real work of art...

I don't think I'll be taking this to any gigs. It feels like it would hold-up to it, but it also feels like it could be hosed if dropped. The wood is very light and thin.
I think I could depend on it, but I wouldn't want to risk it. I keep all of my other guitars on stands or on the wall. This one only leaves the case to be played. Maybe I'm an overprotective parent.

lifetime warranty ...
haven't had to deal with 'em

I've been playing for about 16 years. I've got a Yamaha 12 string acoustic, a no-name 6 string acoustic, an '62 reissue SG, an '83 and '84 Ibanez Roadstar electrics, a Yamaha solidstate amp, an Ampeg 2x12 combo, a Marshall JCM 900 4100 and 4X12 cab, recording stuff ... portastudio, mics, etc. and, of course, Martin D-15 6 string acoustic that I'd replace in a heartbeat if it were stolen. The feel of it is my favorite feature ... plays really easily. For a guitar under $700, this is the greates thing I've ever played.

This guitar is a Martin D-15 model made in 1996 (I think) in Pennsylvania. 20 frets, no electronics, a purely acoustic guitar. It has a solid wood top and a lifetime guarantee. One thing I really like about this guitar is that it is entirely made of mahogany, and it looks and even smells great. Seriously, it smells like mahogany wherever I take this guitar. It came with a hardshell case.

As I was looking at a few other Martins in the store, this one was the cheapest, but I was very surprised to find that out of 3 or 4 I tried out, this one had the nicest tone. It has a very full and beautiful sound; the only thing I could complain about is that the highs and lows are stronger than the midrange. I use it mostly for classic rock, folk fingerpicking, and I also play it in church. Anything I have tried on it has been great.

No flaws I have found yet. The action is about average, no complaints. Very good quality wood, in my opinion.

It is very light, and I am VERY careful never to drop it. I can tell that it would be gone if I dropped it once, so whenever I'm not playing I keep it in the case. The strap buttons are fine. I think the finish will wear away after a while, but that doesnt bother me too much. I would play it live, but carefully.

Like I said before, it was the nicest Martin I tried in the store. Not to say there aren't a lot of nicer ones, but I am really glad I got this guitar. I will definitely keep it my whole life, really satisfied overall. Fantastic guitar for the money. But I hope I never drop it.