Martin MARTIN DCX1EL SOLID TOP LH AE CTWY W/FISHMAN CLSC  

I had this for almost 6 years.  This always sounds great.  I use at church (praise & worship) with a DI and a Morley chorus/volume pedal (which Morley still made that).  Also use with a bluegrass band (really, I thought I was a jazzer).  Sounds great for both fingerstyle, lead work and hard strumming.

I was going to use this until I saved up the cash for a more expensive Martin.  Now, I'm not so sure.  This gets the CFM experience for under $700.  Best value out there.

It's a basic bare bones guitar...but it does have that signature Martin tone.

Tuners are cheap.  I'll replace them.

Great guitar for the money.  The electronics surprised me.  Sounds great throught my Strawberry Bolnd amp

It's a great beater with that Martin tone at a great price.  I love it. Saves me from taking my HD28 out.

For the price this guitar cannot be beat.  Gives all the Martin "sound" at an affordable price.  Although I have several Martins, I find this one gives the best sound when I use it during a concert and have to use the "House" system for sound.

I have been using this guitar in one of my sets for over 3 years and it holds up well to the handling by stage personnel.

Outstanding value........

When looking for an entry Martin - you will not find a better deal.  Afterwards move up in the Martin experience and you will be surprised at the quality that you had with this compared to the other Martin's.

I It has Treble, Mid, and Bass controls as well as brightness and volume.  The only complaint I have is that the guitar tends to feedback if the bass is not turned all the way down.

The is a very sturdy guitar.  The composite back and sides is durable but still looks great.

For those of you looking to get the Martin sound, without the Martin price, this is the guitar for you.  It sounds and plays great.  Martin has done a good job of stripping some of the non essentials off of their guitars, like pearl inlays, and making a great sounding guitar for a good price.

I love my Martin and am glad I bought it.  I have several friends who have high end Taylors and Gibsons who love to play my Martin.  They love the Martin sound and are shocked when I tell them how little I paid for my guitar!

I've had the guitar for around 20 months now, which is long enough for me to see how it's stood up to use.

It sounds great, played both acoustically and plugged in. The Fishman electronics have worked well through a variety of systems. I've had no problems with the action, or with the soundboard reacting adversely to changes in environment.     It generally stays in tune very well indeed.

Over 20 months the top has mellowed in colour nicely. I give it an occasional rub-over with Martin guitar polish which lifts accumulated grime and keeps the matt "no finish" finish looking fine.

The one big negative comment I have on this otherwise great-value instrument is that the frets were VERY soft.     I'd had another guitar for well over a year, playing it virtually every day, with no sign of fret wear. After just SIX months this instrument was showing very significant fret wear, with flat spots in several places, and grooves in the flat spots in some cases.     After 8 months I had the frets dressed by a local luthier, but after just over a year from new the wear was becoming noticeable again, so much so that 6 months ago I bit the bullet and had the same luthier re-fret the instrument completely.     Six months on there's no sign of fret wear on the new frets so I conclude that the original factory-fitted fret wire simply wasn't up to the job.

The fact that I spent almost 1/3 of the original purchase price on a re-fret should indicate that, apart from the frets, I've been very happy with this guitar.

Simple no-frills construction with minimal features, but well-built. I have no problems with the fact that it's got a stratabond neck and HPL back and sides, other than the fact that the HPL finish cosmetically looks a bit "cheap".     The neck is actually great: strong, stable, a good shape that suits my hand well.     I like the very matt, "barely there" finish to the soundboard...I hate over-glossy finishes on guitars.