The Martin MMV: the last guitar I'll ever -- oh, whatever

[C.F. Angee]

The Martin MMV dreadnaught. There. I’ve said it.

I had been seeking an upgrade from my low-end G-series Takamine since about three months after I got home with my low-end G-series Takamine. I recently brought into my home the last guitar I should ever have to buy: a Martin MMV dreadnaught.

My MMV is a stunning instrument: you can get a bigger canon for more money, but this thing’s tone, playability and volume place it into the 98% range of high-grade guitars without being anywhere near the 98% range for cost.

What is an MMV?

MMV are the Roman Numerals for 2005, when the MMV was introduced. It is a custom guitar, but comes from the Nazareth, Pennsylvania factory where every Martin D-18 and D-28 has ever been born. The MMV is commissioned by Guitar Center and available through GC and Musician’s Friend.

Every MMV is an all-solid, all-gloss, rosewood guitar with D-15 bracing (a modified A bracing, not X bracing). Woods are Sitka spruce on East Indian rosewood with a satin-finish mahogany neck and a rosewood veneer on the head plate. For ornamentation, an MMV sports gold tuners, gold-foil CF Martin decal, white body binding, tortoise shell pick guard, standard eight position markers and a graceful 19-ply rosette. Straight, simple, classic.

What are the MMV options?

An MMV is readily available as either a 000 or a dreadnaught. Oddly, the fingerboard and bridge can be either ebony or Richlite, depending on your unit (find me please an economics professor to explain that business decision). I consider both ebony and Richlite to be far superior to most rosewood fingerboards these days. If you care, though, look closely for pores on an ebony board, or ask an employee to help you determine which it is. While they look and squint and exhale deeply in thought, ask yourself if this behavior is consistent with a difference that matters.

“But I’d rather say I have a standard-issue Martin.”

Excellent choice. But I find it pretty easy to say, “I play a rosewood Martin dread.” In fact, I sometimes just go around murmuring it to myself. If someone needs more information I say “it’s a custom: all-solid, all-gloss Sitka spruce on East Indian rosewood with 15-series bracing. You can get them at Guitar Center.” There is no shame in those words.

Advice #1: Conduct a Blind Lemon Test

To select the MMV I took my wife – my long-suffering wife – to Guitar Center. We did initial comparisons between a cheap Epiphone and a Taylor 814 just to demonstrate that untrained ears can indeed distinguish a good from a weak guitar.

After that, we began narrowing in like a NCAA bracket system. Back turned or eyes closed, we trained my wife until she could reliably distinguish dreads from 000s, could pick the one Taylor from a line-up of five instruments, and had a vocabulary for analyzing sounds. With her back turned, she gave thumbs down to an instrument that she loved the looks of.

If you don’t test instruments blindly with a friend you are doing yourself a disservice. Do it with another player with good ears (I used a colleague for this) and with a non-player, too.

Advice #2: Obey Your Ears

An hour or more into our testing we had discarded all non-Martins and had migrated to Martin dreadnaughts. This was painful. I have always been a fan of tight-waisted instruments, whether it’s a Spanish guitar, a jumbo, a 000, or something like a Grand Auditorium. I have a sensual response to the sexy voluptuousness of a 000 or my Spanish guitar. A dreadnaught always struck me as matronly at best. Don’t let anyone tell you style doesn’t matter: a voluptuous guitar with no position markers makes my heart pump faster. Always will. But sound and playability come first.

But you must obey your ears: and my ears loved it – like my aching heart – every time I played a dread. The bass that bumps against my chest, the fullness that hangs out for awhile inside the cavernous body, the full-throated insistence of its volume. This thing should be named after a battleship. Oh, wait.

Advice #3: Include Your Spouse or What-Have-You

A weak guitar is not a big deal. Get one on your own authority. But a high-quality instrument is a statement of commitment. Anyone with normal ears whom you care about can and ought to appreciate it. So help them by including them in your Blind Lemon test.

The night my wife and I spent blind-testing guitars – discussing tone and depth and sustain – was a complete turn on. She walked out with an appreciation she hadn’t had before because she had never been indulged in a demonstration of guitar qualities. She probably had considered high-end instruments to be self-esteem by prosthesis. No more. I regret taking so long to share that experience. Learn from my fail.

There were obstacles I had to overcome. If you have them, get over them.

1. I never believed I deserved a particularly nice instrument.

This is nonsense. The pre-requisites to “deserving” a nice instrument are (1) being able to afford it while remaining financially responsible, (2) playing often, even just on the couch, and (3) hearing and appreciating the difference.

This is true: a great instrumentalist can wow an audience on total crap. But in my partially paralyzed, finger-picking, country-strumming, major-chording, first-position-loving hands, a high-quality instrument brings my inevitable simplicity to life with strong bass response and balanced tones across the middle and high end. I need a good guitar – you need a good guitar – more than Eric Clapton does.

2. Cost.

The curve of sound quality to cost is complicated. You can get into some excellent quality at the $700 range by going with a high-end Yamaha, for instance. I won’t deny it. And the impact of such a Yamaha (my favorite of such knock-offs) is highest when confronted by the drawbacks of lower-end Taylors and – in particular – Martins. So do be careful. Don’t talk yourself into believing that an HPL Martin is necessarily better than the high-end Yamaha, because it just ain’t so.

But write down some hobbies you and your spouse and your friends have: rock climbing, golf, any type of fee-for-class thing, like yoga. I promise you that most hobbies cost no less than $50 per month. That’s $600 every year. Two years at that rate gets you into an MMV. And any guitar, remember, will last for decades. Each time you play it, a high-grade guitar is worth another dime more than the knock-off. Do the math. Do it right.

[Eclectichick]

May I just say, your wife sounds like a total balla. That's the thing that stands out most in your story And many congratulations on your new Martin! The MMV is a tone monster, for sure.

[Treenewt]

Great review! And great suggestions when you're out trying out guitars. Nicely done!

Oh, and congrats! I almost got a 000-MMV recently! I was very impressed! A great guitar by all counts! I'm sure the dread is deserving of the same praise! enjoy!

[kcnbys]

MMV's are truly awesome dreads. Congrats!!

[rmyAddison]

Congrats, MMVs are very fine guitar at their price point.

Welcome to the Martin family, it won't be your last........

Originally Posted by C.F. Angee

...Every MMV is an all-solid, all-gloss, rosewood guitar with D-15 bracing (a modified A bracing, not X bracing). Woods are Sitka spruce on East Indian rosewood with a satin-finish mahogany neck and a rosewood veneer on the head plate. For ornamentation, an MMV sports gold tuners, gold-foil CF Martin decal, white body binding, tortoise shell pick guard, standard eight position markers and a graceful 19-ply rosette. Straight, simple, classic....

Congrats on the new Martin!

On thing though, it is in fact X-braced. The "A Frame" nomenclature refers to the bracing in the upper bought, under the fretboard extension. The main brace is a pretty typical Martin X-brace.

Originally Posted by C.F. Angee

...An MMV is readily available as either a 000 or a dreadnaught. Oddly, the fingerboard and bridge can be either ebony or Richlite, depending on your unit (find me please an economics professor to explain that business decision). I consider both ebony and Richlite to be far superior to most rosewood fingerboards these days. If you care, though, look closely for pores on an ebony board, or ask an employee to help you determine which it is. While they look and squint and exhale deeply in thought, ask yourself if this behavior is consistent with a difference that matters...

That decision is driven by availability. Just like the "Select Hardwood" spec for the necks. It allows Martin to use what they can purchase on the market at any given tim.

Originally Posted by C.F. Angee

...But write down some hobbies you and your spouse and your friends have: rock climbing, golf, any type of fee-for-class thing, like yoga. I promise you that most hobbies cost no less than $50 per month. That’s $600 every year. Two years at that rate gets you into an MMV. And any guitar, remember, will last for decades. Each time you play it, a high-grade guitar is worth another dime more than the knock-off. Do the math. Do it right...

I like this line of reasoning. I tend to use the cost of boat ownership to balance guitar purchases.

[Oldguy64]

My absolute favorite Martin is the HD28.
I am quite fond of the MMV because they have a very similar sound.
The MMV is just more attractive at 40% of the price.

Imagine my surprise when one of the GC guys told me that the reason I liked the MMV near as much as the HD28 was that for all intents and purposes the MMV was built out of the exact same materials and braced the same as the HD...

Think of it like a brand new Dodge Charger police cruiser.
Yours just doesn't have the fancy lights and the siren.
But everything else that makes it bad*** is there.

Enjoy your new guitar.
Btw, your wife is a gem. But you already knew that.
Get to work writing her a song!

[Dave T]

Probably the best first post I've ever seen on and internet forum. Well done and congratulations on the new Martin…and finding a wonderful wife!

Dave

[zmf]

Originally Posted by C.F. Angee

[B] I recently brought into my home the last guitar I should ever have to buy: a Martin MMV dreadnaught.

Congrats on the MMV. I've also been impressed by them. You state your rationales/opinions well.

As far as the last guitar you'll ever buy. To quote Bobby Dylan, "...and I just said good luck". But perhaps you have more self-discipline than I.

Feel free to call on the Forum for enablement should you fall from Grace in the future.

BTW, your lucky to have that lady. Mine loves to help me A/B guitars, and I find her input very helpful.

[billgennaro]

Congratulations on your new guitar. I don't personally consider the MMV to be in the top 98 percentile of available instruments, but you do and that's all that matters. Buying guitars is a personal matter and whatever methods work for you is fine. My methods are quite different but seem to work well for me at this point in my purchasing career.

Enjoy your instrument (Though, as someone said, I don't think it'll be your last). And thanks for the post.

Bill

[C.F. Angee]

"May I just say, your wife sounds like a total balla. That's the thing that stands out most in your story."

"Enjoy your new guitar.
Btw, your wife is a gem. But you already knew that.
Get to work writing her a song!"

"Probably the best first post I've ever seen on an internet forum. Well done and congratulations on the new Martin…and finding a wonderful wife!"

Thanks, everyone. My wife is indeed a total balla.*

I believe I will need little discipline to love and care for my Martin MMV and my Spanish guitar til death do us part.



*See how deftly I adopt the argot of the youth?

Originally Posted by Oldguy64

..Imagine my surprise when one of the GC guys told me that the reason I liked the MMV near as much as the HD28 was that for all intents and purposes the MMV was built out of the exact same materials and braced the same as the HD...

Same materials, yes. Same bracing, no. As the OP pointed out the MMV uses a version of the A-frame bracing. I generally find them to be brighter sounding than HD-28's. Not bad sounding, but different.

[JonHBone]

congrats. I call the mmv a "modern martin variation." I've liked every one i've tried. the only thing I don't like about them is their gaudy gold tuners. I guess the plain white binding might turn some people off. otherwise a very fine instrument. a different sound than a d-28. not better nor worse. different. you could jam with a d-28 no problem.

I think their price point is low for it because it deviates from the "traditional" martin specs (again..richlite fingerboard, m&t neckjoint...bracing etc) and not because it uses lesser materials. I've checked a few out and compared them side by side with other martin models.

anywho...enjoy!

[dcmey]

Congrats on the new MMV. I own one and love it.

[hiddenmickey]

Great post! I like your perspective on other hobbies. I can feel a bit guilty at times for having a couple of nice guitars (pro quality), yet I am just a singer-strummer hobbyist.

In no other area of my life do I have top-end possessions. I have a basic car, decent tools, average home, RTG / IKEA furniture, etc. with nothing being premium quality. There is something about music gear that makes me gravitate toward premium equipment. I do have two modestly priced import guitars that are great, but I bought them as beaters.

BTW - if I were in the market for a Martin, the MMV would be the guitar for me. My friend has one and it is a beast!