Martin DX-1

Martins entry-level acoustic. 20/14 frets. No fret inlays or lacquer finish - but that's the reason it is priced inexpensively.

Rich, full sound - incredible bass tones. Great sustain. Not as bright or as loud as I would have liked, but there is no mistaking that this is a quality Martin sound/tone.

Action is what was the deciding factor for me. I went the route of 'Martin' replicas and some other sub $400 dollar acoustics: none came close to the incredible playability of the DX1. It has instantly made me a better player. The fretboard is smooth Black Micarta - feels like ebony. This was the 2nd deciding factor for me. No other guitar felt as good as this one.

Of course there is no real finish on this guitar, and that's one of the extras you skip to get the lower price. The back and sides are Mahogany Pattern HPL Textured Finish (fancy terms for 'not real wood'). So what? Ovations are some of the best sounding (and selling) guitars around and they do not have word backs/sides. It's the sound that counts and the DX1 has it.

No reason to beleive this guitar will not last as long as you want. The hardware is quality and it shoudl be no different that any other acoustic.

Haven't had to deal with them - but hey - it's Martin!

I've been playing 30 years and have a few quality electrics (Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker). Always had a 'beater' acoustic around for something to do while watching TV, so this is eqasily the best acoustic guitar I've owned. The non-finished look is growing on me (makes it look blonde instead of a shiney lacquered yellow) and the fretboard is the best feeling board I've experienced. Some inlays would have been nice, but again, price, price, price. It's OK - I can live without them. I'm sure if I looked around long enough I could have found something similar for less, but you can't go wrong with a Martin. They don't make any bad guitars.

Standard DX-1 setup. Solid spruce top. Laminate mahogany sides and back. No case. No inlay on the fretboard. Nice looking guitar.

This is what sold me on the DX-1. I played 20 different guitars in this price range (200-1,000 USD) and I kept coming back to the Martin DX-1. It has such a full rich sound. Most of the other guitars in this price range sound too trebly. I prefer and richer sound, and this guitar is perfect for that.

The action was high for my tastes. The strings were rough. My local dealer lowered the action and put new strings on and the problem was solved.

Unkown. Time will tell.

Again, unkown. Haven't had to contact Martin yet.

I've been playing for five months. Started out on a basic Johnson model. I was ready for a solid top guitar with a nice, full sound. Fell in love with this guitar the first time I played it but since I just started looking, didn't buy it right away. I spent the next month visiting every music store in my area and playing everything in my price range. I kept on coming back to this guitar. The sound was pefect, it was in my price range and it was a Martin. I know that shouldn't matter, but I couldn't help but get excited over a guitar company that made the guitar that the Beatles played. Someday, I will but that Martin D-28 but for the next few years, the DX-1 will be my main guitar. Buying a guitar or anything else is a very personal matter so my advice is always try as many different guitars as possible and but the one that sounds the best. For me, it was the Martin DX-1.

2002 dx-1 / this guitar needs no features
at the price you can steal it at. anymore and you would pay!

let me start by saying i purchaced this guitar right after i purchaced
a brand new taylor 410ce simply because i am frightend to death that
playing my taylor everyday will encounter a ding or chip. so i decided to buy the martin dx-1 for everyday use. i picked the dx-1 from
reviews submitted. it came with no case and that was fine with me
for i was going to hang it on the wall and grab it when ever needed.
wrong! after playing this for 2 or so more hours the case was ordered.
this is not a cheap sounding guitar by far! it will be locked away the same as my taylor but will be handled more simply because of the cost factor.
i do not play outside of my home and take care of my toys.
i dare you to try to beat the sound vrs. dollars.
it wont be done!

action ok but not a problem for playing. you still cant complain. finish looks good to me. real natural looking piece!

time will tell!!

i called about some glue that had been dripped on the sides.
support was great. but when i seen that i started to wonder.

THE PRICE!!!! THE SOUND!!!! KILLER!!!!!

The basic 2000 year DX1 dreadnought. 20 frets, 14 open. Made in USA. Spruce top, satin finish, with real wood fretboard (new ones are micarta I think) mahogany "patterned" HPL sides and back. NOT Mahogany laminate, but instead mahogany patterned laminate. Nice "grover?" tuners. Very plain in appearence. But then who cares what it looks like if it doesn't sound good ? I saw a beautiful guitar the other day, told the guy it was beautiful and he said "ya, but it sounds like s__t, wanna buy it" I said no thanks.

I have only played for 2 years, but this guitar sounds very nice. A highly skilled friend helped me choose between 3 DX1's the store had on hand and each sounded a little different. This one was the best we thought. My friend and a good friend of his both like my guitars sound a LOT!!!! One plays a Takamine, one a DXM, but we all agree the DX1 sounds the best. I have played higher priced Martins in the store since then and none sounded any better than mine. Some were clearly worse than mine for twice the money. I have not played a D28, but then I would hope the 28 would sounds better for 5 times the price.

No flaws, no problems, good quality overall. No complaint whatsoever but since I am still a newer player I won't call it a "10" for action, I will call it a 9. All I can say is it is easy to play bar chords, which is more than I can say for some guitars.

I take goood care of my guitar/s, the DX1 being my best, and again,, I have no complaints. The top does not seem overly soft as some have said. Mine seems good. Stays in tune !!!!!!!!

Life time warranty (limited). I did call Martin about the bracing, to understand it better and they were very very helpful. No repairs have been required.

Like some others have said, this guitar makes my so-so playing sound good. Yes........I would buy another. My 2 friends who are "real" guitar palyers love my guitar and want to trade all the time.

Nice simple dreadnaught. Solid spruce top, back and sides are high-pressure laminate.

Great sound for the price. Folk, blues, rock... good to go. Very deep, and resonates well. Purrs like a kitten, or like a Siberian Spider Monkey when you need it! Very warm, but not to the point where it drowns out the crisp high-end. It doesn't seem to play as well finger-picked as it does with a pick, though it still works fairly well for that (I might have a bias towards nylon strings for fingerpicking, though.) Also, the guitar seems to represent strumming and picking really well. You can get a good variety of sounds by picking/strumming in different areas (bridge, neck, soundhole).

A 10 for the sound in relation to the cheap price.

The DX-1 is unfinished, but very well constructed. No sloppiness here. Everything is very smooth. This is a sexy guitar. The action is nice and low, but not so low that you get fret buzz.

Here's where the sacrifice comes. While the guitar seems very well constructed, the body's wood is fairly thin, especially on the top. And as mentioned previously, it is unfinished. It isn't going to fall apart on you, but the DX-1 isn't something you can whack someone on the head with. Of course, the thin wood and lack of finish is what gives it that beautiful sound. For $450, you aren't going to get sound AND an incredibly solid build. That said, I'll take the sound anyday.

It isn't that bad though, and it definitely not a big deal if you're like me and you take care of your stuff.

While I mostly play a couple electrics (Strat, Epiphone SG), I do a decent amount of acoustic work. Renaissance-ish stuff (which is more of a nylon stringer's job), blues, folk, and rock. Sounds great for all of it. Sounds even better when I think about the price. If you're looking for sound for under 500 bucks, or maybe even $1000, give this one a try. If you're looking for a travel guitar however, you may want something that feels a bit sturdier, but you're probably going to pay a decent bit more if you want it to sound this good.

Very basic Dreadnought acoustic. Martin has removed ANY extra features from this guitar which makes it very basic and plain, but they have put the money and engineering into the SOUND which is what I was looking for.

Very solid bass sound without being overly boomy. Well balanced for for the style I play which is pick-strummed blues and folk-rock. I have a friend who plays this guitar finger picked and it would not be a great choice for that, price not with standing. I have an electret mike style pickup mounted to one of the braces right by the soundhole and its very clean tet with a lot of punch.

The action on this guitar was very good, and the neck has av ery solid comfortable feel for me. One of the areas where I feel the guitar is lacking is the finnish, or actually absence of one. The solid spruce top has no finish gets stained pretty easily. The neck could use more of a finish too. My only regret in ourchasing this is how it might look in four or five years. It seems very well made though.

Hardware seems good, and this guitar stays in tune probably better than any guitar I've ever had. The neck seems really solid but the body is really light though I'm not sure that means it won't stand up. Once again, I think the top is where you would have a problem. I play a regular version left handed and I started to dent the wood with my pick right away. I have an Ibanez PC300 that I've played that way for four years with no pickguard and no problems.

I e-mailed Martin to buy a lefthanded pickguard to stick on my right handed guitar and they mailed one out to me right away for free. I though that was pretty nice.

I've been playing bass and guitars almost 20 years, and acoustic seriously about 4 years. I really like the Martin sound but I didn't think I could afford one and I didn;t even no about this model until I got to the store. I went to buy a Gretsch Acoustic ELectric for about $600 and I played the Martin and there was no comparison in the sound what so ever. In fact, I felt the Martin sounded better than any other guitar they had for less than $1200. I also really like the understated quality of this guitar, not flashy at all but solid.

I think you have to really put it into prespective value wise too. FOr less than $450 this is one hell of an acoustic guitar.

US made 2001 model. HPL mahogany sides and solid spruce top. I think even the neck is some laminate wood.

A very plain looking dreadnought. Nothing fancy to look at. Satin finish close to no finish.

I actually went to buy a Martin D1 but tried the dx1 i found in the store and then there was no turning back. To be true I was in quite some agony because I didn't want to buy a guitar that plain but after a few hours contemplating I went back and bought the demo dx1.

The sound is just fantastic - doesn't sound like $400. The tone is deep and very warm with rich bass sound. This is not a loud guitar wich makes it ideal for home use but I've used it onstage as well where it sounds just as great.

I especially like the fact that the guitar is very forgiving of my stinky technique and makes my barre-chords sound chrystal clear.

I bought the demo ex from the shop since it was the last one they had but this way I knew was I was getting. The guitar was very well set-up. No flaws whatsoever.

Someone pointed out a small problem about the first string being a little to close to the edge wich sometimes dulls the string. I'm experiencing the same thing. I do not really regard this as a problem because it can easily be adjusted by applying the left-hand technique my teacher once tried to learn me.

The HPL sides and back makes it ideal for travelling and can take more harsh handeling than solid wood. But the almost non-existant finish on the top makes it sensitive to dings and scratches (the wood on the top is quite soft). The lack of varnish-coating on the top leads to it getting dirty easily as well but that doesn't really bother me. The one thing that do raise i small concern is however the top will withstand liquid (coffe, beer, water etc.) due to the lack of varnish.

On the whole it seems really solid and I do not hesitate to take it upon stage with me.

Nothing to camplain about. Came with the usual Martin limited lifetime guarantee.

I play a lot and have been playing for 20 yrs. both at home and onstage. I play both acoustic and electric and own far too many guitars (at least thet's what my wife says). The dx1 has become my favourite guitar today. I'm in the process of buying yet another Martin (spd16) but if I lost my dx1 I would probably buy another one. I would probably go for a dx1r (rosewood) but thats just because it looks better.

The main reason i chose the dx1 before the D1 was the, at least according to me, great sound. The fact that it's reasonably priced is a huge plus in that you do not have to pamper it like a baby.

The only thing I miss about it is dot-inlays in the neck but that's purely from an esthetical point of view.

2001 Model; US Made; solid spruce top; HPL back and sides; very simple finish and appointments; this is a purely functional guitar, nothing flashy here. I have to rate the features fairly high due to the fact that this each of this guitar's features serves a specific purpose - producing wonderful tone

I just recieved this guitar as a gift - I was always a bit wary of someone else buying a guitar for me - but since I recieved it I've fallen in love with it. So far I've found its full and responsive bass tones to be well suited to an even-handed blues style as well as a wide variety of modern rock and alternative styles. The DX-1 has that famous Martin tone that will cost you $1000+ from another company. Play a D-42, play a Taylor, then play the DX-1. Forget that it looks plain. It sounds great.

Right out of the box the action was superb. Bridge, nut, frets, all display superior craftsmanship. Martin did not skimp on the workmanship of this guitar in order to keep the price down. Can you find another guitar at this price with this kind of attention to detail?

I've played lesser quality guitars live and had no complaints, so I think when I get my DX-1 on stage I'll be more than pleased. I am concerend about the strength of the wood (HPL) that is used in the back and sides. If you don't have a hard case, go get one. The very thin satin finish is a nice addition in that if will allow the spruce in the top to breathe a bit. As far as humidification goes - I'm not certain that much is necessary as the back and sides are High Pressure Laminate. As with any Martin this guitar should be cared for. If taken care of and not abused I think the DX-1 should be quite dependable.

I've delt with Martin in the past and found them to be most accomodating. Don't be a jerk and try to hose them out of free labor or materials though. They won't bend over backwards for unreasonable customers. The warranty on this guitar is fabulous. Limited lifetime just like on their Standard Series guitars that sell for thousands of dollars.

I've been playing long enough to know what kind of sound I like out of an acoustic guitar. The DX-1 suits my tastes and my playing styles far better than a sub-$500 is expected to. If this guitar is stolen I will break down into a sobbing mess of tears and anguish because its the first guitar my future wife as bought for me and also because it is fast becoming my new best friend. I love that this guitar is simple and clean and elegant and is not pretentious or flashy. I love that I can customize it as I see fit - I've already purchased a set of Martin Style 45 abalone inlays for the neck and bridge to give it a personal touch. I love that it has such a rich, warm sound that didn't break the bank. I do wish that it had come with a case (from Martin they're running about $152) and a strap pin at the base of the neck would also be nice. But my complaints end when I hear it played.

Very basic features. Mine has a solid spruce top, laminate back and sides (which means pressed mahogany,) a rosewood fretboard and bridge and mohogany neck.
there are satin finishes on the back and sides and there is no finish on the top, which actually lets the guitar breath.
It has chrome tuners, a tortise shell pickguard and very understated features throughout. there is a strap button in the back but none on the neck so you gotta do the tie thing by the headstock. i don't rate by the number of features but by their usefullness so i'll be generous and give an 8 here.

it suits my blusy style well. a lot of bottom end for such an inexpensive guitar. the treble has that nice subtle martin quality. it really does not have the tin can sound of a lot of guitars in its price range, but it does not sound like a $1,000 and up martin either. pretty close though, and after about a year and a half of playing it, i can honstly say it still gives off pleasing sounds, even as my ear has improved. it's not really compelling for finger picking, but anything with a plectrum will sound great, especially open chords.

the finish is pretty much non existant, but again, it allows the wood to breath. the disadvantage is that the unprotected spruce top suffers dings very easily (mine has a few) and will also start looking darker over time.
also, the rosewood fingerboard will pick up finger oils and darken with age. as a matter of fact, it started staining about the second week of playing it. the action, like most martins, is pretty high, though not by any means unplayable. it has no flaws. nothing is poorly cut or oxidizing.

it's a light guitar. i would not recommend it for heavy gigging. it's more of a nice at home or practice guitar. it can hold up well to takamines and the like in a jam setting. (sounds much fuller than takamines in my opinion) i could also see it singing in the hands of a good lounge guitarist. but if you take it out, use a solid case or sturdy gig bag.

well, they gave this guitar the same warranty as other martins, i believe limited lifetime. that's pretty good, considering it isn't the most rugged guitar in the world. i did call with a question once and they were pretty helpful, though i did get the feeling they were not as accomodating as they would have been to someone who owned a $7k d-45.

Overall, I'd say its a fine-souding, but not dazzling, mid-priced acoustic. If you're looking for something with a nicer finish and better durability, it's not for you. but if you are looking for a good, warm, bassy sound, it is. after playing it for a year and a half, i have somewhat fallen out of love with the guitar and have upgraded to a taylor 710. (my new love) but my martin, she served me well. now i'm selling her and can honestly say i'm passing off a quality souding instrument for the price.

spruce top with laminated sides, workmanship is great, looks are plain

the sound of the dx1 is great, really great when strings are new

action was bad from the factory, but took it to a dealer under warrenty, and was taken care of, but first string is a little to close to the edge, and some times in a C chord my palm dulls the string. seems like the first and sixth are not the equal distance in

everything seems great

no problem with warranty setup

the sound is great, looks are plain jane, first string to close to edge, like it mainly for the sound