[Methos1979]

Short version: 2019 Martin D-1 Custom 12 fret slope shouldered dread in all flamed mahogany, 1 3/4" nut, 2 3/16" string spacing, mod V neck with PA taper. The lightest, loudest, best sounding guitar I've ever owned - period! AWESOME!!

Note: Update for live play on page three.

Note: Updated with full Martin spec sheet on page four.

Long version: I honestly was not really looking for anything new at all. I swear! Our dear AGF forum friend, Andy (aka, Silly Moustache), posts frequently about his love of all things 12 fret slope dread. So just for a lark I think I did a quick search on Reverb for Martin 12 fret slope dreads and up pops this one-of-kind custom from Martin that a small shop called Ish Guitars in upstate New York had built. Basically they took the now-discontinued Martin D-1 Authentic 1931 and ordered a custom version with an all flamed mahogany body and top with a 1 3/4" nut and 2 3/16" string spacing, slotted headstock with flamed mahogany overlay, and mod V neck with PA taper. On paper it ticked several boxes I liked over the Authentics.

I was hooked at first view. The flamed mahogany was subtle yet attractive. The narrower nut and string spacing were more to my liking than the wider Authentic. I had a feeling that this guitar would sound incredible. It also helped that the price was a few grand lower than an Authentic or the 12 fret dreads from Collings so favored by Mr. Moustache. According to the Reverb ad, this was the first and only mahogany topped Martin 12 fret slope dread they have ever made in the custom shop. At least at this point. I thought that was cool. This would also be the very first brand new Martin I've ever owned of the 8 or 9 some-odd Martins I've had over the years. I considered long and hard and finally pulled the trigger. Being relatively close to the store, the guitar arrived in just a few days from purchase. The guitar is something to behold in person and has thus far really lived up to what I thought and hoped it would be.

The flamed mahogany is just gorgeous. The 1 3/4" nut and 2 3/16" string spacing is just right for the strummer this guitar is meant to be although I can also fingerpick it easily as well. These dimensions are very similar to my Cole Clarks. The mod V neck with PA taper was a wild card for while I'm very familiar with and liked the mod necks on the many previous Martins I've owned, I've never owned one with a PA taper. I have to say, I like it. The PA taper on a mod V seems to just soften the V of the mod V neck. My favorite all-time neck carve was the Santa Cruz soft V I had on a 00 years back and this guitar is about as close to that as I've encountered on any other guitar. The longer scale of this guitar does not seem all that long in part due no doubt to the 12 fret slope body which makes it seem shorter. Weighing in at just barely over 4 pounds, it's one of the lightest guitars I've ever owned which is saying something since it's by far the largest guitar I've ever owned!

And then there is the tone. All I can say is WOW! I could not have been more on point with what I thought this guitar would sound like. I briefly owned a Martin D-18GE which was tonally fantastic but since this was back when I was convinced that I could not acclimate to a long scale dread I traded it off. But I always remembered that tone. I figured that a 12 fret Martin slope dread would sound as good if not better and that an all-mahogany dread would be something even more special with that huge volume tempered by the all mahogany warmth. I was right. It was love at first strum. This guitar is so loud and yet so warm. But it doesn't overwhelm like I think a rosewood D-1 might with the overtones you get from that tonewood. It's hard to describe. I'd love to compare it to a D-1 Authentic someday.

I played acoustically for an hour today with my wife practicing for an upcoming gig and even she was blown away by just how incredible the guitar sounds. Until today my wife has claimed that for all intents and purposes, all of my guitars have sounded exactly the same to her. But when I strummed those first few chords her eyes lit up and she smiled and gushed how much she loved the tone. I can say without hesitation that this is the single best sounding guitar (acoustically) that I have ever owned - period. It's so good that it deserves to have that written in bold! And I've owned a lot of really nice guitars.

This guitar is slated to be just a home guitar for the time being. I have no plans to put in any kind of pickup system. The Cole Clarks cover that ground extremely well and with their satin finish and tough exterior I'm much less worried about bumping and bruising them. I can see me taking the D-1 CAM (Custom All Mahogany, as I've come to call it) to an open mic at some point and play it mic'd but for now it's going to live at home and be the inspiration for our foray into original music. The one downside to this guitar is there is no front strap button. I've got another post about that but for the time being at least I'm learning to play and love the guitar with the strap tied to the headstock. Very old school. (Note: Both the strap and pickup ideas changed - see below for updates on that.)

In the coming days I'll do my usual recording of a nice demo video so you can hear and see it live in action. Check back for that. I'll update the post title when the video is added. For now you'll just have to do with a few photos I took tonight in front of the Christmas tree. The guitar looks even better in person! Enjoy!

Demo video: As promised, here is the demo video. It's pretty short by my standards with the usual caveats - it's a cell phone recording so the audio quality is not the best. Listen with nice headphones or good speakers for the best results. Playing is very simplistic, just some strummed chords and a little fingerstyle with no nails, but you get the idea.



Update - one month in: I've decided to add another update which in part is a compilation of the longer, more detailed updates (with photos) that appear on pages 3 & 4. I do this for those that stumble onto this post via a future search and don't want to read through five pages (or more) of various comments - unless you want to see more photos. Basically, I continue to love this guitar. Changes from the above review have occurred in the following ways:

Front strap button: Whereas I initially planned to leave this guitar completely stock I did end up doing two modifications. First, I had the front strap button installed. While I was able to acclimate to the guitar strap tied to the headstock fairly well it still always 'felt funny' and less stable. But the real killer was when I took the guitar to an open mic. The combination of having to attach the strap to the headstock plus having to plug in the soundhole magnetic pickup to the external cable was both laborious and also a great way to accidentally ding up the guitar. Which brings me to the second modification...

Pickup installation: I decided that while not great, the Schertler AG6 Magnetico soundhole pickup system was good enough for open mics on those occasions when I wanted to take the Martin out to show it off to friends. So I took the guitar to my tech and had him install the front strap button in the side of the neck heel (Taylor position) and while he was at it ream out the bottom and install the internal jack for the Schertler AG6. It was definitely the right call for me. The difference in the feel of stability with the strap now is rock solid and strapping up and plugging in for open mics is fast and easy. I'm very glad I went this route.

Comfort: A few other interesting things I've noted about this guitar is the comfort level. The Schertler AG6 is a very light pickup system so that adds next to nothing noticeable to the overall weight while the improved stability of the new strap position makes everything even more comfortable. Another neat thing is that because the guitar is a 12 fret this essentially pushes the guitar body backwards as the front strap button tends to want to be centered as it hangs straight down over my left shoulder. This in effect moves the neck of the guitar back making it feel like I'm playing a short scale guitar! Since I generally favor short scale guitars anyway this is yet another bonus to buying a 12-fret dread AND installing a front strap button. So this is something to consider if you find yourself wanting a 12-fret dread but worrying about it being long scale.

The last thing that I've pleasantly noted is that a pain that I had in my left fretting hand between the index and middle finger knuckles has completely disappeared. This pain showed up last spring after acquiring a wide nut nylon guitar that had a relatively thin neck. I attributed this to that but even after that guitar was sold off and replaced with the Cole Clarks the pain remained. Note that this pain was far from debilitating but rather more a mild nuisance that I'd hoped would eventually go away as I acclimated to the thinner necks. The Martin neck with it's mod V and PA taper provides a little more beef to grab onto and since going to that guitar that knuckle pain has completely gone away.

So that's about all for now. If anything new and interesting pops up I'll add directly below but I think this covers most of the changes along with my most recent opinions of this wonderful guitar. Pages three and four have some of the information above along with some more photos if you're so inclined. That's for taking the time to read all the way through. I'm happy to answer any questions asked here or you can PM me as well.