Nazareth, PA (July 10, 2019) -- C. F. Martin & Co. (Martin Guitar) will introduce 14 new guitar models and three updated string products at Summer NAMM in Nashville, Tennessee, July 18-20, 2019. The launch includes additions to the popular Authentic Acoustic strings lineup along with new LX travel guitars, new Junior Series guitars, new 16 Series guitars, and several Special and Limited Edition models.
Little Martin Series The Little Martin may be small in stature, but it's big on tone, quality, and versatility. New to the series, the LX1R and LX1RE feature solid Sitka spruce tops for warmth and projection, with back and sides in a rosewood pattern high-pressure laminate – a durable, sustainable alternative to wood. The LX1R and LX1RE showcase a laser-etched herringbone rosette, and they are the first LX models to include a pickguard. Each guitar comes with a soft gig bag for easy transport so you can take your music anywhere. The Little Martin is ideal for travel but also makes a great student guitar. All LX models are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 strings. To see the entire Little Martin Series, visit Little Martin Series. List price $499 to $599.
Junior Series The Junior Series is designed for players who want a slightly smaller, solid wood guitar with the same build characteristics as its full-sized counterpart, so they don't have to give up that fill-the-room Martin sound in exchange for comfort. The new Auditorium style 000Jr-10 and 000CJr-10E (the first Junior model with a cutaway) feature sapele back and sides, offering warm tones and a strong midrange response, with Sitka spruce tops for added warmth and projection. A soft back edge, along with a tapered neck, makes these guitars comfortable and easy to play. They come equipped with Fishman® Sonitone electronics and include a soft gig bag for easy transport so you can take your music anywhere. All Junior Series models are strung with Retro® light gauge strings. To see the entire Junior Series, visit Martin Junior Series. List price $699 to $799.
16 Series
D-16E and GPC-16E
The 16 Series D-16E and GPC-16E are crafted with satin-finished East Indian rosewood back and sides for resonant sound with deep bass and rich overtones. They include Sitka spruce gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The D-16E and GPC-16E come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance™ electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,199.
00-16E and 000-16E The 16 Series 00-16E and 000-16E are crafted with satin-finished granadillo back and sides, providing prominent bass response while maintaining bell-like overtones. They include Sitka spruce gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The 00-16E and 000-16E come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance™ electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,199.
D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst
The 16 Series D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst models are crafted with satin-finished ovangkol back and sides for resonant sound with deep bass and rich overtones. Ovangkol can vary both in color and grain complexity for a unique look. These models include mahogany burst ovangkol gloss tops for balanced tone and projection and high-performance neck tapers for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The D-16E Burst and OMC-16E Burst come equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance™ electronics. They are strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,399.
Special and Limited Editions
000E Black Walnut Ambertone
This Auditorium model is crafted with black walnut back and sides for well-balanced tone that bridges the gap between rosewood and mahogany. A Sitka spruce gloss top, hand-finished with an ambertone burst, adds to the balanced tone and improves projection. The high-performance taper neck makes it easy to move up and down the fretboard. The fingerboard and bridge are made from FSC® Certified Richlite®. This model, which is limited to 125 instruments, comes equipped with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance™ electronics and a soft-shell case for ease of travel. It is strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,399.
00L Fly Fishing
This sloped-shoulder art guitar is crafted with stunning gloss-finished goncalo alves back and sides, which provide a responsive bottom end and lively midrange. It includes a Sitka spruce gloss top for balanced tone and projection and a high-performance neck taper for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The top is printed with custom fly fishing-themed artwork by William Matthews and includes custom pearl inlay on the fingerboard and headstock. This model, which is limited to 100 instruments, is left-hand friendly and can be fitted with optional electronics. It is strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $4,399.
D-16E Brexit
This 14-fret Dreadnought art guitar is crafted with satin-finished sycamore back and sides, which provide clear and transparent overtones with a punchy response. It includes a Sitka spruce gloss top for balanced tone and projection and a high-performance neck taper for ease of playability up and down the fretboard. The top is printed with playful, custom Brexit-themed artwork by Robert F. Goetzl. This model is fitted with Fishman® Matrix VT Enhance™ electronics and strung with Authentic Acoustic Lifespan® 2.0 light gauge strings. List price $2,799.
American Chopper Custom
Martin collaborated with the hit TV show American Chopper and Paul Jr. Designs to build a three-wheeled vehicle and an automotive-inspired custom guitar that were featured in two television episodes broadcast in March 2019. Limited to only seven instruments, this 14-fret Dreadnought guitar features design elements such as aluminum riveted panels (a first for Martin) and custom inlay in wood and copper. It includes an Engelmann spruce top, which produces complex tones, paired with Guatemalan rosewood back and sides to add deep basses and crisp trebles. The model features European flamed maple binding, nickel open-gear tuners, skeletonized butterbean knobs, and a stainless-steel label. It is strung with Titanium Core strings. List price $39,999.
Strings
Authentic Acoustic Flexible Core
Martin Flexible Core strings get new packaging and officially join the Authentic Acoustic strings family. As with all of Martin's Authentic Acoustic products, Flexible Core strings are now crafted with our highest tensile-strength core wire, which has been tin-plated on all six strings for added corrosion resistance; because what you don't see matters! When coupled with our highest quality wrap wire, you get consistent true tone that you can count on song after song. With Flexible Core strings, you get total flexibility and total control. Available in 92/8 Phosphor Bronze and Silk & Phosphor. List price $6.99 to $9.99.
Authentic Acoustic Bass
Halfway between the kick drum and the mandolin lies full, thumping bass. We've got your rhythm section covered with Martin Authentic Acoustic SP® Bass strings. Now part of the Authentic Acoustic strings family, Authentic Acoustic Bass strings are now crafted with our highest tensile-strength core wire, which has been tin-plated on all four strings for added corrosion resistance; because what you don't see matters! Available in long-lasting 92/8 Phosphor Bronze. List price $19.99.
The Original M140
The string that started it all 50 years ago is now back by popular demand. Martin's original M140 light gauge strings, with 80/20 composition, are ideally suited for players who love deep, rich bass tones and clear, bright trebles. Providing brilliance and clarity, Martin M140s are perfect for daily use and all playing styles. List price $5.49.
For more information:
Martin
There are very few guitars that can claim to be as instantly recognizable and iconic as Jimmy Page’s 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck. The photos of him playing it on stage with Led Zeppelin are indelible to rock ’n’ roll history. While Gibson has been making doubleneck electric guitars since 1958, Jimmy was the player who defined the EDS-1275 from the day it was delivered to him. Introducing the Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS, now part of the Gibson Custom core lineup and built to the exact specifications of Jimmy’s iconic EDS-1275 Doubleneck.
The Jimmy Page EDS-1275 features a double-cutaway one-piece mahogany body that provides exceptional access to the full length of both the12-string and six-string mahogany necks. Both necks have long tenons and are hide glue fit, and the neck profiles are recreated from 3D scans of the necks on the original guitar. The necks are both capped with bound Indian rosewood fretboards. Each fretboard is equipped with 20 authentic medium jumbo frets and adorned with aged cellulose nitrate parallelogram inlays. The fretboards of both necks have a 12” radius, which is perfect for both playing chords as well as for string bending while soloing. The 18 tuners are Kluson double line, double ring style, just like those found on the original guitar, and even the headstocks feature the correct 17-degree angle and specific logo stylization found on Jimmy’s EDS-1275. The electronics are just as authentic and deliver all of the sonic character of Jimmy’s legendary EDS-1275. Two uncovered Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Custombuckers with double black bobbins and Alnico 5 magnets are used for the two six-string pickups, while a covered pair is installed on the 12-string neck. Of course, the two volume and two tone controls use CTS potentiometers and period-correct ceramic disc capacitors, and the pickup select switch, neck select switch, and output jack are all from Switchcraft.
Here is your opportunity to own a clone of Jimmy Page’s famous EDS-1275, identical to how it appeared on the day that Jimmy first received the guitar. A Gibson Custom hardshell case is included, along with a vintage leather strap, and a certificate of authenticity with a photo from famed photographer Barrie Wentzell.
Jimmy Page EDS-1275 Doubleneck VOS '69 Cherry
Recreation of the EDS-1275 used by Jimmy Page made using 3D scans of the original guitar, one piece mahogany body, mahogany six and 12-string necks with custom Jimmy Page profiles, Indian rosewood fretboards, Jimmy Page Custombucker pickups with Alnico 5 magnets and double black bobbins, Gibson Custom hardshell case
Reader: Daniel Switkin
Hometown: Oakland, California
Guitar: Doublecaster
I've been using a multitrack looper with a guitar and an octave pedal, which was okay for simple bass parts, but didn’t give me thick strings and I couldn’t slap with it. So I decided to build a double-neck prototype specifically for looping, with a 6-string guitar and a 4-string bass.
Since building the necks would be the hardest part, I looked around for instruments with bolt-on necks I could reuse. Squier makes an Affinity Stratocaster and a Mini Precision Bass which were affordable and had matching fretboards, so I bought those. It was also cheaper to reuse the electronics and hardware that came with them, rather than buying everything separately.
Using two precut instrument bodies saved the burden of having to route cavities for the electronics.
My plan was to design my own body from scratch. As I debated which neck should go on top, how far apart they should be, and whether to line up the nuts or the saddles, I realized there was actually enough wood there to make a double neck body, which saved me the work of recreating the neck pockets, etc. Putting the guitar on top made barre chords much more comfortable, and the 28.6" bass scale meant I could still reach the first fret easily.
After stripping the paint with a heat gun, I ran both bodies through a table saw, glued them together, and thinned them to 1 3/8". Then I created an offset body shape, a new arm bevel, and reshaped the three cutaways. The pickguards are both original, with the guitar side cut down to make a yin and yang shape. The controls are volume and tone for each neck, using the original knobs. I moved the jack to the back and upgraded it to stereo so the guitar and bass signals can run through separate effects chains.
Note the location of the jack on the back of the extended-shape body. It’s unconventional but practical.
My top concerns were weight and ergonomics. Many doublenecks are around 12 to 13 pounds and 18" wide. I knew I would never play something that big, no matter how good it sounded. To that end, I saved weight everywhere and tracked everything to the gram in a spreadsheet. (That’s also the reason I chose a fixed bridge instead of a vibrato.) I ultimately used a wipe-on gel stain to keep the weight down further. Stripping the paint from the factory saved 5 ounces! The final playable weight is 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and 15 1/4" wide at the lower bout. This has been pretty manageable, however, there is some neck dive because of the tuners. I’m taking everything I’ve learned from this prototype and designing a new doubleneck, which will be headless. I believe I can shed another pound and eliminate the neck dive that way. You can watch my entire build on YouTube.