Martin D16E Dreadnought w/Matrix VT Acoustic Guitar

First off ! I highly recommend this 12 string to everyone! i have now owned this guitar for almost a year now. Before I bought this Martin dx2e I shopped around and went to a bunch of different guitar stores to compare different brands and see the difference.I was after a really good full sound with no string noise , I definitely did not want a lament top and real wood sound that would appreciate more and more in time.I compared a taylor, and it was great but the price was a little crazy, for what was affordedI didn’t care what brand of guitar i was going to choose, all that mattered to me was the tone and feel ,I tried a guild 12 string and again it was really nice as well but I found it had a lot of mid high tones .Again I was looking for a certain sound that ... MoreFirst off ! I highly recommend this 12 string to everyone! i have now owned this guitar for almost a year now. Before I bought this Martin dx2e I shopped around and went to a bunch of different guitar stores to compare different brands and see the difference.I was after a really good full sound with no string noise , I definitely did not want a lament top and real wood sound that would appreciate more and more in time.I compared a taylor, and it was great but the price was a little crazy, for what was affordedI didn’t care what brand of guitar i was going to choose, all that mattered to me was the tone and feel ,I tried a guild 12 string and again it was really nice as well but I found it had a lot of mid high tones .Again I was looking for a certain sound that would cater to my own sound, style and feel .After shopping around I chooses this Martin DX2e for its great natural sound and the feel , the price was definitely unbeatable and I still can’t believe how good this guitar sounds! Amazing guitar!The next big factor was now where to buy it , Sam ash? Guitar center ? I found American musical “AMS” was amazing to purchase this Martin from, it showed up in just 2/3 days protected and the customer service was unbelievable!I love this guitar and love AMS and again I highly recommend this guitar you will not be disappointed!Thank you AMS for making my decision easy and effortless !

Bang for your buck

Sound:What more do you want at this price point with free shipping. Well built, sounds good.Fishman MX electronics, already installed heel joint strap button, Tusq saddle and nut and bridge pins.Overall:Nice guitar. I can easily tell the difference between this model which I just bought, here, from a USA made one: then again one could buy a few of these ones for the starting price of a new USA made Martin 12 string.Very nice gig bag. Well constructed. Fishman MX electronics with the batter door where it should be at the output jack plate.Plek'd at the Martin factory, but I am going to have my tech adjust the action, not bad just a little higher than I like.

Can't go wrong with a Martin

I bought this particular 12 string because I'm not sure that I'll ever be happy with a 12 string and didn't want to spend a lot in case I never enjoyed playing one. I also bought this one because being a long time Martin owner there are certain qualities that will be inherent in a Martin regardless of the price range. The neck thickness for instance is not fat from fret board to back of neck. It's wide but has to be to accomodate all 12 strings. Although it's not an expensive Martin the sound quality is pretty good considering the back and sides are not solid wood. Sounds good through the amp although I rally have need to use an amp and it's pretty loud with out it. If your busking or gigging this box will sing either way. The main things I'm always concerned with ... MoreI bought this particular 12 string because I'm not sure that I'll ever be happy with a 12 string and didn't want to spend a lot in case I never enjoyed playing one. I also bought this one because being a long time Martin owner there are certain qualities that will be inherent in a Martin regardless of the price range. The neck thickness for instance is not fat from fret board to back of neck. It's wide but has to be to accomodate all 12 strings. Although it's not an expensive Martin the sound quality is pretty good considering the back and sides are not solid wood. Sounds good through the amp although I rally have need to use an amp and it's pretty loud with out it. If your busking or gigging this box will sing either way. The main things I'm always concerned with when buying guitars online are the neck profile and the intonation. If the guitar meets these criteria first you'll be able to play it and tune it. Set up can be tweaked for better playability and tone can be improved on to an extent. But, if it has a neck that doesn't feel right and it will not tune due to poor intonation quality I've wasted my money. Bling and super high sound quality are expensive features. Bling has nothing to do with sound quality. Bottom line is that Martin has always had the basic qualities I want regardless of the price range. I like this guitar a lot and if I can gain some profeciency with the 12 and decide to upgrade it will be a higher grade Martin. You can't go wrong with a Martin.

I would buy this guitar again and again

I bought this beauty about a month ago at Sam Ash. I visited three or four times and spent several hours playing different acoustic electrics in their acoustic room before I decided on this guitar. Not only is it easy on the eyes, but it sounds so good especially amplified. It has a great tone and really nice low end. At first I had some buyers remorse, but now that I've played it through multiple amps and have used it to record, I'm confident I made the right choice.

IMO, The Best of the X-Series !

I got this one in a trade just yesterday which involved my Martin OMCX1E, which I had only bought brand new, not even 2 months ago. The previous owner had bought it brand new a few months ago but didn't take a liking to it, because it was too big for him to play. At least that's what he told me. He much prefers Auditorium sized acoustics while myself at heart, am a dreadnought guy, so this trade benefitted us both. The guitar was in immaculate condition and was already set up, so the inly thing that I did was to slap on a new set of Martin 2.0 lifespan strings which made a difference. First of all, the tone on this one , easily blows away the OMCX1E and I just love the Burst finish along with Massascar design on the HPL back and sides, which IMO, make this beauty ... MoreI got this one in a trade just yesterday which involved my Martin OMCX1E, which I had only bought brand new, not even 2 months ago. The previous owner had bought it brand new a few months ago but didn't take a liking to it, because it was too big for him to play. At least that's what he told me. He much prefers Auditorium sized acoustics while myself at heart, am a dreadnought guy, so this trade benefitted us both. The guitar was in immaculate condition and was already set up, so the inly thing that I did was to slap on a new set of Martin 2.0 lifespan strings which made a difference. First of all, the tone on this one , easily blows away the OMCX1E and I just love the Burst finish along with Massascar design on the HPL back and sides, which IMO, make this beauty stand out. Plus it also came with the heavy duty, Martin gigbag which is a huge plus. This one is without a doubt, a keeper.

IMO, The Best of the X-Series !

I got this in a trade a couple of weeks ago which involved a Martin OMCX1E which I had bought brand new, a couple of months ago. The previous owner had bought it brand new around a couple of weeks before and for some reason, never took a liking to it. I don't see why not because, this has a solid spruce top, which the OMCX1E did not have, being all HPL. I feel that I personally got the better part of the trade with this one. Besides the Spruce top, the neck is hardwood as well, which adds to the great tone on it. I do love the Macassar design back and sides even if they are HPL. because they make this guitar stand out from any of the other X-Series models that I have ever seen. It to it's credit, does stay in tune forever and thanks to the Fishman pup system, sounds ... MoreI got this in a trade a couple of weeks ago which involved a Martin OMCX1E which I had bought brand new, a couple of months ago. The previous owner had bought it brand new around a couple of weeks before and for some reason, never took a liking to it. I don't see why not because, this has a solid spruce top, which the OMCX1E did not have, being all HPL. I feel that I personally got the better part of the trade with this one. Besides the Spruce top, the neck is hardwood as well, which adds to the great tone on it. I do love the Macassar design back and sides even if they are HPL. because they make this guitar stand out from any of the other X-Series models that I have ever seen. It to it's credit, does stay in tune forever and thanks to the Fishman pup system, sounds great through my Fender Acoustic 100. Why spend over 1500 or more for a USA made martin, when you have this beauty which IMO, is just as good .

My first Martin - I love it!

Overall:I've been playing guitar a long time, both electric and acoustic. This is my first Martin and first American made instrument. Bottom line - it's awesome, and the American quality is very apparent. I had a lower end acoustic which I actually loved, but was on the hunt for an acoustic-electric. After getting frustrated with lower priced overseas instruments, I finally said "that's it! I'm getting a Martin." I still didn't want to spend $2.5-$4k though, but wanted an American made Martin with included electronics. This one fit the bill.My one concern was whether this guitar would still sound good, loud, and have enough bass given the shallower depth. I actually had the opportunity to play the D-16E side-by-side with a "Martin Special 16 Style" (which is ... MoreOverall:I've been playing guitar a long time, both electric and acoustic. This is my first Martin and first American made instrument. Bottom line - it's awesome, and the American quality is very apparent. I had a lower end acoustic which I actually loved, but was on the hunt for an acoustic-electric. After getting frustrated with lower priced overseas instruments, I finally said "that's it! I'm getting a Martin." I still didn't want to spend $2.5-$4k though, but wanted an American made Martin with included electronics. This one fit the bill.My one concern was whether this guitar would still sound good, loud, and have enough bass given the shallower depth. I actually had the opportunity to play the D-16E side-by-side with a "Martin Special 16 Style" (which is exclusive to a competitor store). That instrument is a full depth dreadnought but otherwise very similar. Without much scientific evidence, I would say the D-16E sounded better. It may have been a little quieter, but I felt it had a more balanced sound and less boom. 90% of the time, I play my guitar on recordings in multi-instrument arrangements and have to cut the low end anyway. Even still, played solo, it sounds amazing and I think it has plenty of volume and bass.I'm a perfectionist when it comes to intonation and setup. This thing was absolutely perfect out of the box. I checked intonation, action, string height at the nut, neck relief - I absolutely do not need to take it in for an initial setup. The frets are also nice and smooth at the edges of the fingerboard. I initially thought I didn't like the vintage style open gear tuners, but I actually love the way they operate - they are very smooth and accurate. And I think they look very classy too.As far as appearance I think it is absolutely beautiful. I love the simplicity of it. I like the satin finish on the back and sides and the gloss top. The top wood grain on mine looks great. Just enough pattern to add some character without a lot of bold striping. I chose the mahogany one for a few reasons - 1) it was a little cheaper, 2) I listened to some comparisons and although the mahogany vs. rosewood were very, very similar, I thought the mahogany sounded a little better, and 3) the mahogany I think is even simpler looking than the rosewood, which I like. The mahogany D-16 is more like a D-18, where the rosewood D-16 is more like a D-28. I thought the binding was black, but was pleasantly surprised to see it's actually a beautiful dark tortoise shell.The only thing I would be a little critical on for this guitar is the electronics. The single tone knob adjusts from flat EQ to "scooped" EQ. To me, both of these settings have too much mid and high end. I would like separate bass, mid (preferably sweepable), and treble controls. And the enhance does make it sound a bit more natural, but it really doesn't affect the sound that much. I think they should've gone simpler and just left off the tone knob and enhance knob. They could've preset some enhance from the soundboard pickup and then let the user EQ it to their liking with a DI or amp, since that needs to be done anyway. However, I think a lot of acoustic-electrics plugged in directly suffer from similar issues (except maybe for ones equipped with something like the L.R. Baggs Anthem). I did get a pretty good sound plugged in after adding some EQ in my DAW and a little reverb. Likewise, if I were to plug in for live performance, adding a DI box or an amp with EQ controls would help immensely.On the plus side for the electronics, I do like that the controls are somewhat hidden in the sound hole. I also like that the output jack is separate from the button. I had another acoustic-electric with the output jack in the strap button, and I needed a special adapter to get any of my several straps to hook onto it securely. And it's nice to have the battery accessible from outside the guitar. Systems like the L.R. Baggs Anthem require a battery bag velcroed inside the instrument which requires string removal (or extreme loosening) to change.

Oustanding Martin Sound!

This was an "upgrade" from a slightly more expensive Yamaha concert body guitar, which was totally fine, but I feel like I just went from playing with a casual acquaintance to falling madly in love. There really is something about the Martin sound - crisp, clear, resonant, responsive, with an absolutely gorgeous sparkle in every note. It responds with subtlety and nuance to fingerpicking, and also sounds great with a pick, with slight differences in attack and tone from thicker to thinner and different pick materials. The 24.9 scale and slightly smaller body size is super comfortable and easy to play, and the acoustic output is perfect for singer/songwriter accompaniment. I haven't plugged it in yet, but I'm sure it'll play nicely with amplification when needed. Big ... MoreThis was an "upgrade" from a slightly more expensive Yamaha concert body guitar, which was totally fine, but I feel like I just went from playing with a casual acquaintance to falling madly in love. There really is something about the Martin sound - crisp, clear, resonant, responsive, with an absolutely gorgeous sparkle in every note. It responds with subtlety and nuance to fingerpicking, and also sounds great with a pick, with slight differences in attack and tone from thicker to thinner and different pick materials. The 24.9 scale and slightly smaller body size is super comfortable and easy to play, and the acoustic output is perfect for singer/songwriter accompaniment. I haven't plugged it in yet, but I'm sure it'll play nicely with amplification when needed. Big thanks to Dana at the NYC store for hooking me up with this beauty!

Sheer Quality

Overall:This is the first high dollar instrument I have ever purchased and I will say one thing for sure, purchasing a high class guitar such as this will immediately change everything you thought you knew about guitars, their tone, response (which made my eyes puddle up), the way you play, the way you want to play. It is very much like picking your first guitar, just play something you play all the time on your current guitar, WHAT? didn't sound the same, do I suck that bad at playing? Well the obvious answer to that is yes BUT that is the beauty of having a quality guitar, it will destroy what you think once sounded encouraging. I never realized how I was fatiguing myself trying to play an instrument that needs the other half of any instrument...a decent set up! ... MoreOverall:This is the first high dollar instrument I have ever purchased and I will say one thing for sure, purchasing a high class guitar such as this will immediately change everything you thought you knew about guitars, their tone, response (which made my eyes puddle up), the way you play, the way you want to play. It is very much like picking your first guitar, just play something you play all the time on your current guitar, WHAT? didn't sound the same, do I suck that bad at playing? Well the obvious answer to that is yes BUT that is the beauty of having a quality guitar, it will destroy what you think once sounded encouraging. I never realized how I was fatiguing myself trying to play an instrument that needs the other half of any instrument...a decent set up! Im sick of the rational that buying a guitar in my price point means it wont perform as it should without spending more money. YES, Mr customer, we have a great guitar over here in your price range, OH you want it to work? That will be another $500 bucks. So the obvious moral to this story, educate yourself before spending a dime cause they will getcha if you let em. I'm sure I will update this review, what I've learned in the last three days about how to allow the instrument to speak and not force my ideas on it changed my focus completely. What an incredible instrument this is, I couldn't be happier but I will be, this will just get better.