Martin Guitars D-18E-LRB Electro-Acoustic (Natural)

Sitka spruce wood for powerful sounds

The choice of the top material in particular is essential for a fast and thorough sound development. This is why the manufacturer relies on North American Sitka spruce, which has been used for decades to build the most exquisite musical instruments due to its fine structure and free vibration behaviour.

Thanks to the forward shifted scalloped X-bracing and the wafer-thin finish, the high-quality spruce wood can move freely and produces a sound with quick attack, which gives the instrument a powerful expression in the mid and high frequencies and fades out in the overtones with long-lasting intensity.

The Aging Toner finish allows the observer a deep insight into the even and tight grain of the wood, which is gently accentuated by a simple faux-tortoise binding, a matching faux-tortoise pickguard and the filigree Old Style 18 Multi-Stripe rosette.

Warm midrange frequencies thanks to the mahogany body

In order to add warm saturation to the overall sound, the Martin D-18E LRB has a body made of high-quality mahogany wood, which creates golden reflections depending on the angle of view and lighting conditions. Because of its even structure, the tropical wood colours the sound in the middle frequencies with a gentle warmth, which gives the sound a soothing note and perfectly complements the bright frequencies of the top wood.

Choosing the right lacquer for the thin bottom material is also of great importance, as it allows the raw material to vibrate freely and favours a fast and powerful attack.

A thin Style-18 backstrip almost imperceptibly divides the unfolded base wood and emphasises the symmetry of the fine grain in a very aesthetic way. In combination with the dark binding it creates a soft transition between the individual components of the entire body.

Smooth playing thanks to the flat neck

For particularly high playability, the manufacturer uses a Select Hardwood neck with a modified low oval profile. Thanks to its carefully crafted bone nut with a width of 44.45 mm and a compensated bone saddle, the neck not only intonates perfectly over the entire scale length of 645 mm, but can also be played easily and cleanly up to the highest of the 20 frets.

The noble ebony fingerboard with Old Style 18 abalone inlays rounds off the neck construction in its function and quality perfectly and also harmonises beautifully with the other materials of the body. The characteristic Martin headstock is equipped with open-gear nickel tuners, which in combination with the venerable Script Old-Style overlay, discreetly refer to the almost 200-year-old company existence and enable the player to tune precisely with their smooth-running Butterbean knobs.

This piece is completed with a high quality L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup system, whose controls are inconspicuously hidden in the sound hole, and which also allows the acoustic sound to be amplified authentically.

The Martin Guitars D-18E-LRB at a glance:

• All solid acoustic guitar
  
• Standard Series
• Sitka spruce top with Aging Toner finish
• Forward shifted scalloped X-bracing
• Mahogany body with faux-tortoise bindings and Style-18 backstrip
• 645 mm scale length
• Mahogany neck with modified low oval profile
• Ebony fingerboard with Old Style 18 Abalone inlays
• 44.45 mm wide bone nut with compensated bone saddle
• Open gear nickel tuners
• L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup system
• Including ply-hardshell case