Slinky playability, snappy sounds, and elegant, comfortable proportions distinguish an affordable 0-bodied flattop.
Satisfying, slinky playability. Nice string-to-string balance. Beautiful, comfortable proportions.
Cocobolo-patterned HPL back looks plasticky.
$699
Martin 0-X2E
martinguitar.com
Embracing the idea of an acoustic flattop made with anything other than wood can, understandably, be tricky stuff. There’s a lot of precedent for excellent-sounding acoustics built with alternative materials, though. Carbon-fiber flattops can sound amazing and I’ve been hooked by the sound and playability of Ovation and Adamas instruments many times.
High-pressure laminate, which is paper and resin pressed and covered by the image of wood grain, is another widely used alternative material. It certainly doesn’t sound glamorous. But as a construction material, it’s consistent and enables guitar companies to build more affordable instruments. It also minimizes the cost to the Earth’s forests—particularly where exotic hardwoods are concerned.
On the Mexico-made $699 Martin 0-X2E, the HPL back-and-sides are newly styled to look like cocobolo. But the big news is that the 0-X2E body uses a solid spruce top in place of the HPL tops on previous 0-X models. I can’t say I’ve been over the moon for most HPL- guitars I’ve played. But most of those have been dreadnoughts and didn’t have wood tops. Spending time with the 0-X2E made me a lot more enthusiastic about HPL as a back and sides material. It also made me wonder if a small-bodied guitar like a Martin 0 is better suited for the material. It sounded lively and felt fast, fun, and comfortable
Hybrid Evolution
The 0-X2E’s satin spruce top makes the guitar sound much cooler, but it also looks organic, understated, and pretty. That’s a good thing because the HPL representation of cocobolo looks pretty plasticky up close. Real cocobolo backs can be aesthetically polarizing, even in their most expensive incarnations. But the complexity, depth, and contrast of the real thing is rendered very two-dimensional here.
The “select hardwood” neck, bridge, and fretboard look a lot like sapele on our review guitar, but could also be utile or cedar, depending on what Martin has on hand in quantity at the time of manufacture. Like the spruce top, they lend a businesslike but pretty simplicity to the already lovely proportions of the 0-sized body. The guitar is conventionally braced on the back (should the use of HPL leave anyone wondering), uses scalloped X braces on the top, and save for the first and second frets, which could stand a little more shaping at the edges, fit and finish are very nice.Get with the Compact Act
While this may not be a universal sentiment, it would be hard to find a flattop body profile more comfortable than a Martin 0. It’s easy to imagine players that primarily play electric gravitating to the 0-X2E’s diminutive dimensions. But it’s also the kind of guitar that makes most playing—and fingerstyle in particular—a lot less fatiguing. Spending long hours working on technique or songwriting is a lot more effortless and inviting. The 0-X2E is a nice player, too, and would qualify as such in a higher price category. Fingerstylists will also enjoy the wider string spacing afforded by the 1 3/4" nut width.
“It’s easy to imagine players that primarily play electric gravitating to its diminutive dimensions.”
Sonically speaking, the 0-X2E is heavy on the midrange, and there are some bright overtones that verge on strident when you strum hard. That said, the guitar never sounds like it’s swimming in a mud of sloppy overtones. String-to-string volume is pretty even and it makes the guitar feel balanced, dynamic in terms of quiet-to-loud range, and detailed at the bass and treble side of the spectrum. And while the 0-X2E is not what the average player would call rich with bass, the 6th string has ample resonance, which underscores the guitar’s surprising and pleasing sustain. That encourages more spacious phrasing (if you’re into that sort of thing) and makes the 0-X2E a cool vehicle for lower alternate tunings.
The Verdict
Martin’s 0-sized, X-series guitars have, to date, each cost around 500 bucks. Is the spruce top, hardwood neck, fretboard, and bridge worth the extra $200? In a purely sonic sense, I would say yes. The 0-X2E has real character and is a pleasure to play. Plus, you get a pretty nice electronics package in the form of the Martin E1, a system that includes a tone control and a very convenient and clever tuner with a readout mounted inconspicuously just inside the soundhole, with an easy-to-read display that faces up toward the player.
There are a number of small guitar alternatives in the affordable sphere. Many of these are “mini” guitars of one kind or another, or inexpensive parlors. There aren’t a lot of inexpensive 0-bodied guitars out there in the strictest sense, though, and even solid-wood versions made in Asia often push past the $1K mark. It’s hard to match the elegant proportions and tone magic that happens in a Martin 0-body, and the 0-X2E serves up a fair bit of that. Whether you’re willing to pay almost 700 bucks for an 0-bodied instrument with a back that looks less-than-authentically wood-like will be a very personal aesthetic decision. But if you let your ears be the guide, the snappy, super-playable, and ultra-comfortable 0-X2E may well surprise.
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We chat with Molly about Sister Rosetta’s “immediately impressive” playing, which blends jazz, gospel, chromaticism, and blues into an early rock ‘n’ roll style that was not only way ahead of its time but was also truly rockin’.
In the early ’60s, some of the British guitarists who would shape the direction of our instrument for decades to come all found themselves at a concert by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. What they heard from Tharpe and what made her performances so special—her sound, her energy—must have resonated. Back at home in the U.S., she was a captivating presence, wowing audiences going back to her early days in church through performing the first stadium rock ‘n’ roll concert—which was also one of her weddings—and beyond. Her guitar playing was incendiary, energetic, and a force to be reckoned with.
On this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re joined by guitarist Molly Miller, who in addition to being a fantastic guitarist, educator, bandleader, and performing with Jason Mraz, is a bit of a Sister Rosetta scholar. We chat with Molly about Sister Rosetta’s “immediately impressive” playing, which blends jazz, gospel, chromaticism, and blues into an early rock ‘n’ roll style that was not only way ahead of its time but was also truly rockin’.
OM-balance and comfort suited for the fingerstylist on a budget.
Comfortably, agreeably playable. Balanced dimensions. Nice fretwork.
Lighter mahogany top looks less classically mahogany-like. Some compressed sounds in heavy-strumming settings.
$299
Guild OM-320
guildguitars.com
The Premier Guitar crew is spoiled when it comes to hanging out with nice flattops. But while those too-brief encounters with acoustics we can’t afford teach us a lot about the flattop at its most refined, they also underscore a disconnect between the cost and the acoustic guitar’s status as a true folk instrument of the people.
Guild’s OM-320, from the company’s new 300 series, sells for $299, which isn’t much more than a good-quality, entry-level flattop cost in the 1980s. Strikingly, there’s a lot of competition in this price class. Even so, the OM-320’s nice build quality and pretty tone in fingerpicking applications stand out in a very crowded price segment.
The United Guild of Deal-Seeking Pickers
Though Guild, in all its incarnations, has always made accessible guitars a part of their offerings, a $300 instrument with the company’s logo might give pause to players familiar with guitars from their various U.S. factories. Quality can be hit-or-miss on any guitar from any brand at the entry level. What’s more, a lot of guitars with different brand names come from just a few OEM facilities—lending a certain sameness on top of irregular quality. But the recent acquisition of Guild by Yamaha, who has a reputation for solid entry-level instruments, inspires confidence as far as these concerns go.
So, too, does the integrity of the OM-320 at the nuts-and-bolts level. I couldn’t find any overt lapses in quality control. And in many spots where that really counts, like the fretwork, the execution is especially good. Little details like the Guild logo overlay (rather than a simple decal) add a soupçon of luxury. So do the Guild-branded, Grover Sta-Tite-style butterbean tuners, which look stylish and feel sensitive and accurate.
“The neck inhabits a comfortable zone between C and D shapes that’s super agreeable and, at least in my case, a nice antidote for hand fatigue.”
Though the body is built from layered mahogany on the back and sides and a solid mahogany top, the latter is much lighter and amber- or honey-toned than the rich cocoa-hued mahogany tops you’d associate with a vintage Guild M-20, or, for that matter, theM-120 from the company’s contemporary Westerly line. As a result, you see a little more contrast in the grain and a little dimpling in certain sections of the wood. The lighter wood isn’t unattractive, it just looks less trad, if you’re chasing Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter style. If that’s important, you should adjust the “design/build” score appropriately.
Sit and Stay Awhile
Barring being covered in porcupine spines, almost any OM or 000 will qualify as a pure-comfort title finalist. It’s not too thick, too wide, nor too petite—a size and profile that also pays unique, civilized sonic dividends. Here, the OM body is complimented by a neck that feels like an especially natural match. I don’t have a bunch of inexpensive OMs on hand to compare, and there isn’t anything wildly unique about the shape, but the neck profile feels very proportionate to the body. It also, depending on your own sense of such things, inhabits a comfortable zone between C and D shapes that’s super agreeable and, at least in my case, a nice antidote for hand fatigue. The neck is not classically OM-like in terms of nut width. The M-320’s nut measures 1 13/16", which is typical of a 000, rather than the 1 3/4" associated with OMs. The extra width, of course, would make the guitar more appealing to some fingerstylists that need the space. At no point, however, did I feel anything close to cramped; it’s just very comfortable.
The combination of layered back and sides, OM/000 dimensions, and mahogany mean the OM-320 feels and sounds less than super-widescreen in terms of tone spectrum and power. Nevertheless, it sounds balanced and pretty—particularly with a droning, dropped 6th string and other more-elastic tunings where the guitar can exercise the lower extremes of its voice. Tuning to standard has the effect of highlighting midrange emphasis, which can get boxy and render the 3rd and 4th strings a bit less potent and present. That said, it’s still balanced and almost never collapses into a distorted harmonic blur. The bottom end maintains an appealing growl and, as long as you use a gentler picking approach, you can use the highest four strings in very dynamic ways. Using a capo emphasizes other cool, high-mid-focused voices in the guitar that coexist well with most strumming approaches.
The Verdict
Inexpensive guitars that feel great can make up for a lot of shortcomings in tone. But the OM-320’s deficiencies in the latter regard are few, and some perceived limitations, like midrange emphasis, are intrinsic to guitars with OM dimensions. So, while forceful strumming is not the OM-320’s strength, the comfortable playability might just lead you to those places anyway. And if you compensate accordingly with touch dynamics, you can conjure many sweetly chiming tones that might sound extra sweet given the bargain price
PG's demo master quickly (and easily) drops in an H-S-S setup into his 1994 40th Anniversary Stratocaster that needed help. Find out what happens when gets his first taste of active pickups.
EMG SL20 Steve Lukather Signature Pre-wired Pickguard with 3 Pickups - Black Pearl
Barry Little’s onstage rig.
How you want to sound and what makes you happy are both highly subjective. When it comes to packing and playing gear for shows, let those considerations be your guide.
I was recently corresponding with Barry Little, aPG reader from Indiana, Pennsylvania, about “the One”—that special guitar that lets us play, and even feel, better when it’s in our hands. We got talking about the gear we bring to gigs, and Barry sent me the photo that appears with this column.
“I’m mostly old school and take quite the amp rig, and usually two or three Strats or ‘super strats,’ plus some Teles,” he wrote. “Some are in different tunings.” Barry also has a rack, built with famed guitar-rig designer Bob Bradshaw’s help, that he says holds a Bad Cat preamp bearing serial number one. For his ’70s/’80s rock outfit and his country band, this covers the waterfront.
I love Barry’s rig; it looks awesome! So … why do I feel guilty about the substantial amount of gear I take to gigs where my five-piece band will be playing a concert-length set? Onstage, my setup looks fantastic—at least to me. It’s the gear I’ve always wanted. But packed inside cases and ready to load into the Honda Odyssey with a rooftop carrier that all five of us and our instruments travel in for away dates … it seems excessive. Currently, I take three guitars: my customized reissue Fender Esquire “Dollycaster,” my Zuzu one-off Green Monster, and a Supro Conquistador, plus a 1-string electric diddley bow made from a crawfish-boiling pot. They start every show in open G octave (D–G–D–G–D–G), open D, standard tuning, and A, respectively. There’s also a Sony GLXD6+ wireless, and a pedalboard with 13 effects stomps, a tuner, and two power boxes, along with a Brown Box. That board is the launchpad for the stereo signal that runs into two Carr 1x12 combos: a Vincent and a Telstar. In addition, there’s a big black bag with spare cables, fuses, capos, strings, extension cords, microphones, straps, duct tape, and just about anything else you might need. After all that, miraculously, there is also room for my bandmates–another guitarist, bass, drums, and theremin—and their gear, plus light luggage.
I admit that’s a lot, but it used to be more—at least by the pound. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, I often played through two Marshall 4x12s with a Mesa/Boogie Duel Rectifier Trem-O-Verb on one and a ’72 Marshall Super Lead atop the other. And before that, it was the Marshall with a 4x12 plus a ’66 Fender Twin Reverb. I kept a waist back-support belt in the van, but spent a decent chunk of that era living with regular back pain.
“I admit that’s a lot, but it used to be more—at least by the pound.”
Where am I going with this? Besides a desire for you to absolve me of my guilt, I feel like all of this gear is … um … necessary? It’s the recipe for the sound I want to hear, for the versatility of the material, and for me to play from my happiest place—onstage in the middle of a glorious stereo field of my own making. It’s not really about gear and it’s not about somebody else’s definition of practicality. It’s about joy. Ideally, you should be able to bring whatever gives you joy to a gig. Period.
Sure, naysayers will yap that after a guitar, a cable, and an amp, nothing else is necessary. And on a certain misguided, intolerant level, they are right. We can all play a show with just the basics, but I, for one, don’t want to—unless maybe it’s a solo gig. Neither did Jimi Hendrix. There is a universe of tones out there waiting to be discovered and explored. There are improvisational paths that only a pedalboard can suggest. (Of course, if you’re playing a small stage, traveling in too tight quarters, or claiming turf that impinges on bandmates, those considerations apply. “Be kind” is a good rule of thumb for life, including band life.)
Remember, the naysayers are not in your bones, and onlyyour bones know what you need and want. Don’t let the voices—even in your own head—nag you. (I, too, must take this advice to heart.) Bring whatever you want to bring to gigs, as long as you can get it there. Do it guiltlessly. Have fun. And listen to your bones.