I don’t understand this guitar’s existence or pricing

[gitarro]

The price seems out of alignment with what I tend to expect from the specs, but that may not apply to others.

[egordon99]

Originally Posted by Shaneh

The strange thing to me is a 3500 16 series guitar

Yes! It's a cool looking guitar but price is way out of whack for a 16.

[sinistral]

Fwiw, the 16 Series hasn’t always been a budget line—it was introduced as a way for Martin to experiment with different building techniques. materials, etc. If I’m not mistaken, the first Martin guitars with truss rods and, later, mortise-and-tenon neck joints were 16 Series guitars.

This guitar has a number of features that make it more like an 18 Series guitar, such as the ebony fretboard and bridge. The guitar also comes with a $600 case.

I looked up “EMP-1 Style” (the style noted for the arrowhead rosette and backstrip), and it turns out that that was a small run of guitars in 1998 with experimental designs created by a small group of employees (hence “EMP”). Whoever designed this guitar was clearly channeling the original 16 Series and the EMP-1 model, as opposed to the micarta-clad guitars in the current 16 line.

[FLRon]

No offense to anyone who owns one of these guitars, but if that is what $3500 gets you from Martin these days I’m more than a little amazed. I used to own a 16 series OM and while it was a nice guitar, it was not a great guitar.

[ohiopicker]

It’s a no for me.

[lowrider]

This is an interesting guitar, to say the least.

For one, two years ago Martin said that they would no longer make individual customs for anything below the Standard Series.

And I think it's a beauty! The open-pore finish should make it roar. It's more like a Custom Shop 17 series and the sipo will darken with age.

They list the top and neck as ''mahogany'' not Geniune or Honduran. I wonder what that means.

Neck joint isn't listed so I'd guess that that means it's a simple dovetail

Top bracing is ''1-Style, Non-Scalloped''. What does 1 style mean?

Neck is MLO, standard taper, 1 11/16 nut 2 1/8 at the saddle.

I wonder what the build sheet price is. The asking price seems about $500 too high. I wonder if it's negotiable.

It's unique that's for sure.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by lowrider

Top bracing is ''1-Style, Non-Scalloped''. What does 1 style mean?.

That one stumped me too. No scalloped on an all hog 000 isn’t screaming my name though.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by jklemm18

Isn’t Sipo a cheap tonewood. This looks like the rosette is a decal. I’m open to be enlightened

Sipo is the very same “mahogany” used on the 15 series for about a decade now. Most of those 000-15 and D-15 New Guitar Days are sipo (and Martin reserves the right to mix in big leaf mahogany and sapele on those, as needed by production). Neat to see it natural color. Almost looks like spruce from a distance.

Rosette is definitely wood fiber. Look closer. I love that backstrip.

I agree with the previous comment about the finish. Well kept secret, Martin’s satin finish is even thinner than their Authentic series finish.

[rllink]

It is a $3500 Martin. Someone will buy it just for that.

[ntotoro]

Originally Posted by jklemm18

Isn’t Sipo a cheap tonewood. This looks like the rosette is a decal. I’m open to be enlightened

Sipo seems the closest of the African "cousins" to Honduran in terms of tone, but it certainly doesn't cost the same. I wouldn't pay $3500 for a guitar made of it, especially when I paid $1800 new for a CEO-7.

Nick

[rmp]

Originally Posted by gmel555

I'm not quite ready to pick it over a less expensive OM-28, but I'll admit it's kinda growing -visually- on me too. With the light color, arrowhead rosette and back stripe, ivoroid binding, silver foil logo, etc., it's kinda got a Desert Southwest thang going. LOL

then there's that satin finish...

....nope.....

[zmf]

I'm wondering how similar it is to this custom for Guitar Center. If the construction is similar, the GC model is a lot cheaper, with rosewood and electronics.

But it doesn't have arrowhead decals.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Martin/...tric-Guitar.gc

[Treenewt]

I think I'd go with a 000-15 and take my family on a trip with the leftovers.

[Tony Burns]

Maybe they just priced in incorrectly -

It does say custom shop thou - but that doesn't make any sense .
to my way of thinking , I would think a guitar like that would be about a grand or less ?

[davenumber2]

Originally Posted by sinistral

Fwiw, the 16 Series hasn’t always been a budget line—it was introduced as a way for Martin to experiment with different building techniques. materials, etc. If I’m not mistaken, the first Martin guitars with truss rods and, later, mortise-and-tenon neck joints were 16 Series guitars.

This guitar has a number of features that make it more like an 18 Series guitar, such as the ebony fretboard and bridge. The guitar also comes with a $600 case.

I looked up “EMP-1 Style” (the style noted for the arrowhead rosette and backstrip), and it turns out that that was a small run of guitars in 1998 with experimental designs created by a small group of employees (hence “EMP”). Whoever designed this guitar was clearly channeling the original 16 Series and the EMP-1 model, as opposed to the micarta-clad guitars in the current 16 line.

Maybe I'm just cheap but I don't see why that case should cost $600 either. Is there something special about it other than being Martin-branded?