Martin LX1E Little Martin Acoustic-Electric Guitar  

When my son asked for a guitar for Christmas a few years ago, I bought a $30 First Act guitar from Wal-Mart, thinking it would hold his interest for the average 7 year old boy's attention span of 2 seconds. When the kid took off like a rock star, I knew he needed something better, so "Santa" made sure there was a Little Martin under the tree the next year. A lot of the kid sized guitars out there feel and sound more like toys than serious instruments, but the Little Martin LX1E is every bit a "real" guitar with a professional quality gig bag, great features like the built in tuner, and a sound that can hold its own against the big boys. It never fails to make me smile when my now 10 year old goes to a gig or open mic night and not only are the older musicians blown away by his talent, they all drool over his guitar too. :)

Out of the box, a warm sound from such a small axe.  One can not beat the fun factor for this guitar.  Travel, durability, ease of use, all add to the attraction.  It looked a little strange at first to see a smaller guitar on me (6 ft +), but the sound...  No compromise there.  It is at the very least, a high-quality beater for open mic night.  The gig bag is a nice extra. Try one, and believe. 

I was looking for a guitar for myself to start playing again (20+years ago was my last play, when my 8 years old son asked to learn acoustic guitar, and sincerely, I was thrilled! So I reaserched on the small frame guitars, and decided reading reviews on MF that a Martin LX1E will be the best start for a young boy, and will keep him entertained for many years to come. He is slowly working it, but in mean time, I play with it, and I like the sound a lot. I didn't plugg it in yet, and as a note, the system is on the side toward the neck, easy to read the tuner. The strings were strong for a kid, and for me also, so I changed them to Martin silk and phosphor FX130. They are realy smooth and light on the fingers, and kind of gentle, they would buzz at strong action, but the tone is so sweet and mellow, I really like it. I changed the saddle to a compensated Tusq at same time with the string change, because the saddle looked like a plastic piece, and had dings where the strings sit. Although the fret is small for my fingers, I can't stay away from it every day, so I am looking for a Martin for me soon. I didn't know much first, but found out that has a laminate back and sides, so I wondered how other guitars are sounding. I borrowd a Yamaha with laminated back and sides from a friend, and sincerely, the Yami sounds plastiky, definetely the laminated Martin sounds better. I gave a lower score for value, because I think price is kind of high, but probably Martin knows their place here.

I bought this a couple of months ago and it quickly became my favorite guitar.  I got the acoustic/electric version, for occasional gigs.  My Guild and my big old Gibson are still my powerhouse guitars when that fullness is needed, but this small guitar sounds rich and full, too, beyond belief. My only dislike is that when you use a capo it starts to lose it's fullness. Third fret or above, and you have a uke. (But I rarely use a capo, so not a problem.) I find that I practice more, using the Little Martin, and you really can take it everywhere! Being a small woman, I appreciate the small size. Oftentimes I can be seen holding it like a teddy bear on my lap, between songs. Buy it.  You'll love it!