The D-18E-LRB by the American manufacturer Martin is a traditional dreadnought acoustic guitar with finest materials and an exceptionally tasteful look. For its well-balanced sound, the manufacturer uses carefully selected woods, which are meticulously matched to each other so that the tone unfolds particularly easily and completely even at the slightest touch. The durable neck construction ensures excellent playability in all registers and, in combination with the carefully crafted nut and the compensated bone saddle, clean intonation over the entire scale. The unpretentious appearance of the Martin Guitars D-18E-LRB is decorated with subtle ornaments that perfectly match the tinted woods and have hardly changed since its first edition in the 1930s. This makes this guitar feel like a real piece of history in your own hands. Delivery also includes a sturdy ply hardshell case and a warranty card.
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.
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.
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.
Having waited over 5months since placing the order and without any updates from Music Store, the guitar finally arrived. Lovely guitar with a great sound but unfortunately it was not the exact guitar that I ordered and paid for. Since the differences were cosmetic but significant to me and I did not wish for further delays or hassle I decided to keep the guitar. Music Store you need to get your act together and supply the goods your customers order. Very disappointed, not what I was expecting.