Martin DX-1

great tuners, i love a guitar that you can just pick up and play anytime without worrying about tuning. Simple but very well made.

perfect sound, i played a few other martins, this one sounded better than all except one that was worth like $5000au. well balanced sound between the strings, good amount of bass, not too much, high strings very nice, clear and bell like, very beautiful especially for broken chords. low strings nice and bluesy with a bit of crunch when strummed hard.

Intonation is absolutely perfect all the way up the neck. action is a bit high for me but then again im used to playing an ibanez electric neck :/

the "fake wood" is bloody sturdy, i gave it a pretty good bang n didnt do any damage! but yeah cant say the same for the top :P

dunno

i was actually considering the taylor 110 as some have but they only sell the more expensive cutaway version of it. the cutaway version did sound very good so if you do manage do get the natural id consider it.

just make sure you try a dx1 with new strings, i tried a some others n i think the strings were old because it sounded quite dull.

i probably tried every acoustic guitar in sydney, seriously went to over 10 music shops! im very picky, this was actually the first guitar i favoured, i was in love with it immediately but i wanted to make sure there was nothing else better for the price out there. i came back to this one with a clear conscience knowing i had made one of the best purchases of my life!

New 2009 model. Composite neck feels perfect, no sticking as I have found with slick finishes. Moving up and down the neck is easy and precise. Some bemoan the lack of fingerboard markers. There are markers on the side of the neck where I can see them when playing. I don't look at the front of the fingerboard when playing and could care less whether there are markers for others to see where I am playing or not. Tuners are quite nice and hold tune quite well. Wish they were 16:1 to make them a little less sensitive, but they work just fine. The "plain jane" look really ends up making this an attractive instrument. I'm giving it a 10, because the features it has are "just right" for this category of guitar. Yes, fancy inlaying, binding and such improve looks. But not sound. On this end of the price scale, this is nicely done.

Sound is what attracted me to this guitar. I tried the usual group of suspects (Seagull, Epiphone, Yamaha, Alvarez, etc). None sounded as nicely as this thing. Every string rings clearly, loudly, and evenly. Some of the others are weak somewhere in one or more of the above. They might seem muffled, or perhaps dead on the low end, bright on the high end, etc. This guitar rings clearly everywhere. It has that classic "Martin" sound (not as bright as some, more dark/mellow like Martins in general.) It is also nice to play several chords, note by note, and have the chromatic tuner show green (in tune) for each note played. While hardly any guitar has perfect intonation up and down the fingerboard across all strings, this thing is really well set-up and will surprise you if you fiddle around with it and a chromatic tuner to see where it is out and by how much (or actually how little). Some of the others I tried (mentioned above) were "mostly red" (planet wave headstock tuner) on non-open strings. Best one-word description is "Wow". Under $500 bucks ($450 in my case) but sounds like much, much more.

Action is good. Probably a tad high on the nut end, but not by much. Ditto for Bridge end. Very playable as is, will probably lower it just a touch to make it even easier to play. The neck finish / material is quite interesting to look at, but more interesting to play since it feels so right when moving up and down the neck. The lack of binding means that there must be some exposed end-grain. But with the careful radiusing, it is not apparent and looks nice. The lack of sharp corners also makes it a touch more comfortable to hold and play. I'm not hung up on the HPL side and back. Looks nice. Is obviously quite strong / durable. The natural-finished top also looks nice. And sounds wonderful. It could look like the bottom of a 30 year old ocean-liner, but if it sounded like this thing sounds, I'd be happy. And this guitar is hardly "ugly". It isn't an HD-28 in terms of eye-appeal. But in terms of sound, it is very close. No cracks, no gaps. Just clean and simple.

This is a harder question to answer. I see nothing that would make me worry about failures of any kind. In fact, the sides and back are probably much more rugged/durable than a more traditional solid-wood guitar. Ditto for the neck/fingerboard. Laminated materials tend to be MUCH more stable than solid pieces of wood. That leads me to believe that warping/bowing/twisting is not going to be an issue. But it will take a few years to prove. Except for the natural finish on the top, everything looks bullet-proof. The natural finish is probably a bit sensitive to some sort of disfigurement, either from scratching, or getting something messy on it, etc. Gloss finishes wipe clean easily. But I like the look of this finish and accepted that since I tend to take care of things anyway.

Lifetime warranty for the original owner is quite a deal. No need to worry about neck angle resets, fingerboard warps, neck warpage, braces coming unglued, bridge pulling off, etc. So long as it is taken care of, particularly with respect to humidification (which some reviewers here seem to have no clue about from comments about sharp fret ends, top warping, etc) it would appear that this is truly a lifetime instrument. Takes a lot of confidence for a company to offer that kind of promise.

I have been playing off and on for almost 50 years (I started at about age 12 or so). I have not owned an expensive acoustic (I do own a Gretsch Country Gentleman bought in the 60's), but I have played quite a few over the years. This guitar seems to fit right in that class, even though it costs 1/4 (or less) of the professional guitar prices. If it were stolen, I would buy another without a moment's thought. I spent more than enough time before buying this guitar to convince myself that this was what I wanted. Nothing has changed that. The primary things that attracted me to it were (a) sound; (b) simplicity (I am not real big on gaudy things, I like things to be functionally excellent, and worry less about the frills.)

I love the finish on this martin. The washed spruce top is nice. The laminate back and sides kind of look like the top of a desk at school..but its not bad. It dents easy though so be careful.
Cant beat a martin full body dreadnaught!! Sound is amazing.
I love the neck.. very nice looking and makes the feel on this guitar AMAZING!! The tuners are very nice also... they stay in tune, except for the low E ( i jam reall hard on the low E though)
Mine was one of guitar centers last Made in America ones. There all made in mexico now.
I hate buying acoustic electrics.... I have a LR baggs m1 active that I use and is amazing!

This guitar is great for strumming and fingerpicking.. I am mainly a open chord strummer. Its not as loud and bright as the taylor 110( its competition on this price range) but the dx1 has a warmer cleaner crisper sound in my opinion. Overall better tone. I had a chance to get a taylor 110 for 299(used but barely played) and could of saved 200 bucks but I chose the martin! I use elixir lights 80/20 bronze.. Ive been messin around with millions of guitars lately... and the dx1 sounds as good if not better than any guitar out there. Theres some taylor and older martins here and there that ive really liked but for the money you just cant beat a dx1.

The action was low out of the box .. just how i like it. Very easy to play.
Guitar had no flawsss..Put elixir strings on it right away and was perfect!!

This guitar is very reliable durability wise...
I dont gig with it but im sure would work great. you gotta be carefull with the spruce top as it seems to get knicks and dents pretty easy.. but adds to the character right..
Seems very durable....

Never had to mess with martin.
Theyve been around since late 1800's soo dont think they are going anywhere soon and im sure would be more than helpful...

Have been playing on and off for 8 years. Just got back into playing seriously a couple months ago. If someone this guitar was lost or stolen I would be at guitar center at 11am when they open ready to buy a new one.
The only others guitars that compare in this price range is the taylor 110....the epiphone masterbuilts and the martin 000x1..
I played the crapp out of all of those before I chose and everytime i strummed a G on the dx1 right away my brain was like WOW. this is the one. SOunds better than guitars 4 times as much.
I wish it came with a nice case but I already got one... I love the sound soo much on this guitar, but dont like the fake laminate wish they make it look a little more real but you get what you pay for.

Like everyone else says, this is a very basic guitar -- solid spruce top, but the rest is laminate and/or high tech bonded material. Depending on whether or not you like fake wood wallpaper, you may not like the back and sides of the box. But the tuners really are fantastic, and the guitar stays in tune forever. I think the DX 1 responds a little too enthusiastically to high humidity, but that may just be my lazy fingers.

FABULOUS. After a year, it's revealed a lot more bass than when I first played it -- walking bass lines under a melody are really, really funky on this guitar. Perhaps a touch too round and full on the higher strings if you want a really jangly sound, but if you wanted that, you probably weren't going to by a dreadnought.

Great. Mine is set up low, so the action is fast and close all the way up the neck.

Already got some dings in it, but that's not the guitar's fault. It's doing just fine considering the abuse I deal out.

This is a really, really good guitar for the price. It blew everything away at its price point, and a few more expensive guitars, too. There's no reason to buy anything else at the lower ends, and all the other guitar makers should be ashamed of themselves.

quite basic and 'no frills' but it looks great this way, all of the important things are there - some people may not like the lack of fret markers but I personally prefer this.

I compared many guitars before buying this. The main choices I was left with in my budget were the DX1 and Taylor 210. Both of these guitars sounded and plated better than some more expensive solid wood models and I would have to say that the Taylor sounded very slightly better (richer tones, clearer and more volume) but I acquired the DX1 for around ??250 less than the Taylor and for the price it is QUALITY.

The action was far better than any guitar I played including other More expensive models such as the Taylor 210. It is easy to play all across the neck and it is also much easier to slide your fingers up the fretboard than many models I tried.

A few guitars I have owned required alot of effort to hold a pure bar chord on frets 7+, but this is effortless.

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for the price I paid for the DX1, the alternatives were models such as the Epiphone EJ200 OR FARIDA models. All of which were OK, but the Martin was far better and I doubt that there are many better guitars for the price.

Great tuners ,it stays in tune forever. My DX 1 has an ebony neck ,and after 5 years still has that new martin smell .Ahhhh

This guitar will fit any music style .Once you play it you will know what we are all talking about .

Great action no flaws at all. still looks like the day I bought it.Except for the pick guard.

I wouldn't be surprised if it lasts 100 years.

have not needed them

for the money you cant beat it . I have been playing 35 years and wish I could have found a acoustic guitar that sounds and plays this back then.

Incredibly basic guitar. No binding, matte finish spruce soundboard, back and ribs HPL (High Pressure Laminate) I bought the 'R' model that stands for Rosewood, it does look a bit like rosewood, but is fairly obviously not a wood guitar. Very basic purfuling around soundhole. Tuners look good quality, but are quite small. No case. Mine was a Nazereth made model, I think they are now made in Mexico. Mine has an ebony fretboard, later ones apparantly have a micarta fretboard.The neck looks very interesting.
I absoloutly love the simplicity of this guitar, the only thing I really miss are the fretmarkers on the fingerboard, they do place them on the edge, but its just not the same.
Overall - brilliant looking guitar.

The sound just blew me away. Wether it is the laminate or what, when you hold the guitar and strum a chord, you can feel it resonate through your own body, the bass is lovley. Intonation is spot on. Nicest sounding guitar I have ever played (and I have played more than a few.)

Action spot on, can't fault the guitar at all.

Seems to be well made and solid. I do use it for gigs without back - up and have every confidence in it.

Never tried customer support

I have been playing for over 40 years. I would have liked fret markers but otherwise cannot fault this guitar. I would replace it wth another like a shot if I lost it.

My Martin DX1 has a satin finish. Normal sized dreadnaught. It6 has Martin tuners. Has a stratabond neck of the right size for my hands, which are a bit small.No accessories came with it. It was made in the USA in 2008. Has 14 frets above body. No electronics. Sitka spruce top. laminated back and sides.

I mainly play country and bluegrass. It has a rich fill sound that fits in well with the music I play. It is plenty loud enough for stage play and just flat sounds great. While this is a no frills, blue collar guitar, it has an upper crust sound. My friends really liked the way it sounds. I am very happy with it and I'm a picky dude. For the money, you just can't do better.

My guitar was set up about as perfect as you can get when I bought it. I checked it over with a fine tooth comb and did not detect any flaws in it.

I believe it will handle live playing without any problem. The top has a hand rubbed satin finish, that I suspect might stain, even though it hasn't yet. I personally believe I could depend on it aqnd I would definitely use it on a gig without a back-up.

Haven't needed any customer support yet. Knowing Martin, I don't worry about it. It has a limited lifetime warranty. The experience I've had with Martin has been very satisfactory.

I've been playing for 59 years out of 72. If it were lost or stolen and I could find another DX1 that sounds as great as this one, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. The looks are rwally good, but the sound that comes out of this guitar is just flat out great. I did compare it with 4 other Martins and 3 Gibsons and 3 other brands. This one far and above better sounding than all of them. I'm really happy with this "blue collar" model, as I'm blue collar myself. Sure wouldn't trade or sell it for twice the money.

There's not much to be said about frills for the DX-1 guitar; it's about as basic a design as they come. No binding, no fret inlays, no electronics, onboard tuner, even binding, but the lack of features, weirdly, is why I love the guitar so much. Form following function at its best.

The clean, pure tone of the Martin is as good as it gets for this sort of money, clean highs, rich bass, the lot. This guitar simply sings. The sheer volume of the sound is astounding; you just can't beat that sort of tone with a stick. The bass can get somewhat heavy if you're not watching it though.

The finish of the guitar is very good, though I don't know exactly how it is straight from the factory as I bought mine used. The smooth, beveled edges of the sides, though a small touch, really improve the comfort factor of the guitar and give it a nice, clean look. The one problem I've experienced was just a hint of sharpness to the sides of the frets, though that could be fixed easily.

I've only had the guitar for about two months now, so I really can't predict long-term durability. Everything seems to be holding up nicely, though, and withstanding my somewhat abusive playing style.

I haven't had any experience with customer service, and probably won't ever need to.

This guitar, my third, was a fairly major step that I'm overjoyed to have taken. The DX-1 is a joy to play, beautiful and sounds just as good or better than guitars costing four times as much. I could well be using this guitar for as long as I play; I don't see any reason to do otherwise.
If this were lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy another. I just couldn't live without that sound in my life. My only major gripe, really, is the laminate, it just sort of feels like you're playing a desk. An astonishingly good desk, though.

Mine is the US model with morado bridge and fretboard. Martin was very efficient in scaling back the features of this model in order to put its resources into the tone-sensitive parts of the guitar. Some fine luthiery there! It has no fretboard inlays, no body binding, and I think the rosette is painted on. Not much to look at. My particular model had some after market work done to it: a Fishman Sound Matrix II and a heel strap button. Very nice touches.

I play a folkish country bluegrass breed of music and this guitar had the ideal sound for me. Very heavy on the low end while retaining a good sense of balance and clarity on the high end. Even with the mortise-and-tenon neck joint, this guitar makes some great sustain. I tried a number of Martins and Taylors while guitar shopping, many of which were definitely out of my price range, and this one instantly popped out as "the guitar with that sound."

Standard Martin quality in this department (despite the cutbacks on the finish mentioned earlier). I can't speak for the new ones that are made in Mexico, but this particular one is as good as any other Martin when it comes to the setup, as far as I can tell.

I feel fairly confident in the durability of the instrument, though I'm a bit cautious about the HPL wood. Not sure how well it will hold up on the road. It did ship from Canada to Kentucky, however, without a scratch on it. That's a good sign.

I'm very satisfied with this guitar thus far. I'm willing to make sacrifices in the features and cosmetics in order to get the sound this guitar produces. I've been playing for 17 years and have been playing to pay the bills off and on during that period (mostly off :) If I could find a guitar that sounds exactly like this one but has solid back and side woods and some fret inlays, I'd probably trade it. Otherwise, I'll stick with this guy until my fingers fall off.