In my title I described the guitar as a "sleeper." Many folks immediately go for the spruce top. Many folks immediately go for the dreadnaught shape. These sorts guitars are the "norm." This guitar is incredibly understated, yet also incredibly beautiful. But the real beauty is in the tone. The tone of this particular instrument is pleasantly and surprisingly unique. I'd describe the tone as "sweet." Incredibly balanced string to string and across the tonal spectrum, the instrument sings with a lyric quality. Especially suited for finger style or flat picking, it is also a a really nice light strummer, with enough body to cut through a mix, but not so heavy that it will overpower a solo voice.The neck plays like butter, and the body is ergonomically very, very ... MoreIn my title I described the guitar as a "sleeper." Many folks immediately go for the spruce top. Many folks immediately go for the dreadnaught shape. These sorts guitars are the "norm." This guitar is incredibly understated, yet also incredibly beautiful. But the real beauty is in the tone. The tone of this particular instrument is pleasantly and surprisingly unique. I'd describe the tone as "sweet." Incredibly balanced string to string and across the tonal spectrum, the instrument sings with a lyric quality. Especially suited for finger style or flat picking, it is also a a really nice light strummer, with enough body to cut through a mix, but not so heavy that it will overpower a solo voice.The neck plays like butter, and the body is ergonomically very, very comfortable. The guitar is lightweight - the lightest I've owned, and the appearance is honest. Not flashy, but robust in its color and the smell is incredible! This guitar remains true to the Depression-era guitar after which it's modeled. This is a real Martin. The finish is flawless. The fit is tight. The appointments are sumptuous. The bridge pins and end pin are ebony - not plastic. The nut and bridge are bone. The tortoise shell pick guard is beautiful.The instrument comes with a nice, hard shell case, too - all for less than $1300. This is just a sweet guitar that sort of becomes part of you when you play it. I'm so, so glad I made this purchase.I just bought the guitar a couple of days ago, so this review is simply all about my initial impressions of the instrument, as compared with other instruments I own, or with which I'm familiar (I used to sell guitars, so I've run across many in my time). I'm confident the guitar will improve with age, but out-of-the-box, it's a keeper.

I believe this is the best buy for the money if you want a real Martin Guitar. I've owned D28s and D18s which were and are great, but this 000-15 holds its own against them. It sounds every bit like a Martin should (the top of the line Mexican-made Martins are close but not quite there). The rich tones, overtones, and sustain are all there in spades - like you would expect from a true American Martin. What has surprised me is how loud it is - I don't know how Martin can get such volume out of a smaller box! It's very well constructed and set up well out of the box. All I've had to do is tighten the truss rod a couple of times. You get a Martin hardshell case and that distinctive Martin smell too for a great price.

Don't normally leave reviews but felt it necessary for this gem. Been playing for 12 years, nowhere near an expert but can hold my own and felt I was due for a solid American-made acoustic. Went to guitar center in the "nicer" acoustic small room, played prolly a dozen top line acoustics from Martin, Taylor, Gibson, anywhere from this price point up to several grand. This guitar was the best sounding and feeling guitar in the room by far, next to the Martin D41 but that's a $5k guitar. Those two sounded better than any other guitar from any brand in the room, no matter the price point. The 000-15m felt and sounded better than guitars two to three times it's price (other than the D41, but very very close). I think that's saying something, Martin really did something ... MoreDon't normally leave reviews but felt it necessary for this gem. Been playing for 12 years, nowhere near an expert but can hold my own and felt I was due for a solid American-made acoustic. Went to guitar center in the "nicer" acoustic small room, played prolly a dozen top line acoustics from Martin, Taylor, Gibson, anywhere from this price point up to several grand. This guitar was the best sounding and feeling guitar in the room by far, next to the Martin D41 but that's a $5k guitar. Those two sounded better than any other guitar from any brand in the room, no matter the price point. The 000-15m felt and sounded better than guitars two to three times it's price (other than the D41, but very very close). I think that's saying something, Martin really did something special with this one. Size is perfect and comfortable, the mahogany you lose a bit of volume and with the auditorium (000 sized) guitars you lose a bit of volume too naturally, but it's minuscule and it makes up for it in tone ten times over. Super balanced tone, not boomy like some dreadnaughts, the mahogany is responsible for that combined with the body size. The wood also helps deliver a very rich, but sweet tone. Smells incredible too. Nut size is a bit slimmer on this model compared to most other Martins of the same size (000-28 and 000-18) but my fingers and hands aren't huge so it's comfortable for me. If you have massive hands, might be something to consider. Incredible guitar, sound is very very consistent stays in tune like no other, a lot better than my Les Paul but those can be tricky to keep in tune without proper string-stretching and stringing techniques. Won't disappoint, incredible value for the price, the 5 star reviews on every website aren't lying. Buy it!!