Query failed: connection to localhost:9312 failed (errno=111, msg=Connection refused). (NM) NGD - Acoustics Discussions on The Fretboard
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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

(NM) NGD

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TanninTannin Frets: 4394
in Acoustics
(NM) NGD = (not my) new guitar day.



The chap over the road from me drops in now and then to see if I have any nice new toys. He's got a nice old Maton, well-worn and veteran of many gigs, which he is very fond of. And this last month or so he's been looking for a second instrument to go with it. We have spoken about that several times, had the odd session where he plays various ones of mine with the aim of working out what features he likes most, or brings me up to date on what he's tried out and liked recently. He's played pretty much every nice guitar in Hobart. 

Yesterday he pulled the pin and today he rolled up for me to have a go on it. It's a very interesting guitar, so I thought I'd write it up. But first, a little bit of fun.

Guess the make. That picture is all you've got to go on. (More hints later. Maybe.)


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  • guitarjack66guitarjack66 Frets: 1397
    It's an Australian brand. The stars are the states. Maton or Cole Clark?
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 4394
    ^ A perfectly sensible response, @guitarjack66 to a devilishly misleading picture. No, it wasn't made in Australia. :)



    The top is Sitka Spruce, the fretboard looks and feels like ebony but is actually one of those high-tech artificial substances, and the back and sides are .... well, I'll take guesses for that timber. It's a slightly unusual example of it, but a recognised back and sides timber which is medium-common. (So not one of the super-common ones like rosewood, mahogany ,or maple). 
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 4394
    Oh as a matter of detail, the stars are the Southern Cross, the most recognisable constellation in the southern sky. Representations of it appear on various flags and coats of arms and things (even guitars, apparently!), and I see the real thing out of our bedroom window every night when I turn the lights out. (Unless it is cloudy.) 
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    Yes, a Southern Hemisphere Constellation.

    Is the manufacturer based  in New Zealand by any chance? :) 
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 4394
    Another very sensible guess ... but it was manufactured in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Yep, it's a Martin. Apparently they only made 20 of them:

    * Sitka Spruce top
    * Blackwood back and sides
    * Blackwood neck,





    It's broadly similar to a 16 Series Martin, My friend bought it second-hand for about $4000. That's very dear for a second-hand D-16 (you can buy a new one for less than $3000 even in these post-Covid times). On the other hand, it's very unusual timbers (for a Martin) , and has extra bling (such as the Southern Cross). I think it's about 6 years old, give or take, and it's in excellent condition.

    Anyway, the price doesn't matter. Out of all the guitars he played, this is the one that rang his bells. He loves it. 

    And I agree. It is an excellent instrument. I really, really like the Blackwood in a Martin. It still has that classic Martin sound but without the (to my ear) slightly excessive plumminess of a D-28 or the slightly overbearing mid-range bark of a D-18.

    They should build more of their guitars in Blackwood, it really suits them. But they won't - Martin know who their buyers are, and Martin buyers are even more conservative than Gibson buyers. Sad.

    Once he wears a bit of the shine off it we will do a swap - I'll take his Martin for a week or two and lend him one of my Matons or the Mineur. We will both have a lot of fun.

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  • guitarjack66guitarjack66 Frets: 1397
    The stars were obviously misleading given your Aussie home and fondness for Maton. I haven't seen any Martins in the flesh but even online they almost exclusively have plain headstocks, Manufacturer's logo apart.
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    Wow! Never would have guessed mate.

    As soon as I read "Nazareth" I knew. Too late then, though :) 
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  • TanninTannin Frets: 4394
    guitarjack66 said:
    The stars were obviously misleading given your Aussie home and fondness for Maton. 

    Yep. It was a bit of trick question. Sorry about that. 

    I must say, the Micarta fretboard is impressive. My friend told me about it back when he was just thinking it over. Then he rolled up this morning and I completely forgot. I just assumed it was ebony without thinking and for the next couple of hours I mostly played his Martin while he played various instruments of mine and never gave it a thought. It felt like a fretboard. It played like a Martin. 

    Would I buy a guitar with a Micarta fretboard? Probably not. I like wood. I just like knowing it is wood, and what wood it is. But if I met a guitar that I liked a lot and bonded with it (as I could with this one - it's very nice indeed), then sure. It wouldn't hold me back. Feels good, plays well, what more can I ask?

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  • TanninTannin Frets: 4394
    Some final thoughts.

    1: I wrote that it has a Micarta fretboard. I meant to say Richlite, of course. 

    2: The neck. It appears to be Blackwood. This is really interesting as Blackwood is an unfamiliar timber to Martin and manufacturers generally seem to like using the tried and true for neck construction. Blackwood actually makes an excellent neck timber, very like mahogany, but I'm surprised that Martin would choose to use it. 

    3: The pricing. Thinking it over, $4000 is outrageous for a glorified D-16. That's £2270! A brand new D-16E here costs just under $3000 (£1700). This one is a bit special because of the Blackwood body (which is objectively neither superior nor inferior to rosewood or mahogany, just different, for all that I regard it as having a more pleasing and better balanced sound), and because of a little extra bling (that Southern Cross, the ebony headstock veneer, one or two other touches). On the other hand, it is a second-hand guitar, so fair value is $2500 to $3000 at very most. 

    (Consider also the reality that Martin guitars are very dear. The $3000 (£1700) D-16, when you compare it to other guitars of equal quality from Takamine, Maton, Yamaha, Furch, should sell for about $2000, give or take. (£1130.) But set that aside. Martin know perfectly well that they can get away with shameless overcharging, and market value is what you can get. Fact of life.)

    I made sure that my friend was up to speed on the pricing when he first mentioned this guitar to me. I'm not sure that he entirely took that in. But what does it matter? This is the only guitar in Hobart that really spoke to him (well, he rather liked a Furch, but not so much after playing this one) and so far as I'm concerned, that is the only guitar to buy. Bugger the price.

    He is a one guitar in ten years man, if you are going to spend the next ten years playing it, get the one you really want!

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