Martin Model America 1

[llew]

Anyone play or own a Model America 1? Just curious about your thoughts. I've sold off a couple of Martin's and was thinking about something a little different. Any input is appreciated...many thanks!

[Larry Mal]

I'm just here to read about it, I haven't played one myself. But they sure are intriguing and sound great in the videos, you know?

I do have a Gibson J-15, and while that's in no sense the same, it did open my eyes to the idea that North American sourced wood can be every bit as good as anything else.

[Tube Sound]

I played one and almost bought it about 9 months ago, at Tom Lee Music in downtown Vancouver BC. It had been sitting in the store for many, many months and had dead strings. Still sounded good enough that I wanted it. Decided not to based solely on the number of guitars I already have. It had been marked down and was a solid deal. For me, it was a really nice guitar. I wonder if they still have it?

[catfish]

OneMansGuitar reviewed it here --
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=485075

[llew]

Originally Posted by Tube Sound

I played one and almost bought it about 9 months ago, at Tom Lee Music in downtown Vancouver BC. It had been sitting in the store for many, many months and had dead strings. Still sounded good enough that I wanted it. Decided not to based solely on the number of guitars I already have. It had been marked down and was a solid deal. For me, it was a really nice guitar. I wonder if they still have it?

It sounds like a nice spin on the D-18 from all American sourced tone woods.

[DesertTwang]

I bought my America 1 when I thought I needed another dreadnaught like a hole in my head. I happened to be at a local guitar store for a completely different reason, not looking for any type of new guitar. But I ended up browsing their acoustic room, mostly because I hadn't been there in a long time, and noticed the sign advertising the America 1 (which I had never heard of) as "sycamore back and sides."

Always intrigued by non-traditional tonewoods, I tried it and was instantly hooked. I kept telling myself, "This is absolutely crazy. You already have a Martin dreadnaught, and you don't actually like dreadnaughts, so you have absolutely no reason to buy this. Plus, you just had a son that was born two months ago, and spending two and a half grand on yet another guitar that won't get played is ridiculous."

But the America 1 was such an intriguing guitar that I went home and told my wife about it, fully expecting her to say, "yeah right. Better forget about it." Surprisingly, she said the opposite and encouraged me to buy it if I could afford it.

I went back to the store three times to try the America 1 and compare it to my own dread, an SWDGT. I even brought an accomplished guitar-playing friend to hear whether I was just infatuated or whether he felt the same about the America 1's sound. After strumming just a few chords, I could tell by the look on his face that he regretted having bought a D-18 at that same store just a few weeks prior. He was just as blown away as I was.

We both then compared the America 1 to a D-28 and a D-18, because I kept second-guessing myself ("If I'm about to plunk down this much dough, should I not at least get one of those?") but there was no contest. The America-1 blew both of them out of the water, and not by a small margin. I wouldn't even say it's better, but there is something about this guitar that I still can't quite put in words. The closest I can come is that it embodies what I consider the "Martin sound" more than any other Martin I've played.

Long story short, I took the America 1 home, sold my SWDGT to said friend, and the America 1 rekindled my love for dreadnaughts. I've had it for just under a year, and my other guitars have stayed in their cases for most of that time.

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by catfish

OneMansGuitar reviewed it here --
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=485075

This is just my very personal take on this review, which I remember seeing when I bought mine, and from my experience, it doesn't take full advantage of the America 1's strength: Hard and loud flatpicking and bluegrass-type rhythm strumming. I think that's where it really shines. From the review, it just sounds like another good-sounding guitar to me, but it doesn't bring out what makes the America 1 special. Based on this review, I would have never even bothered to try it out. But playing it in person using the aforementioned styles, I was blown away.

Again, just my opinion.

[llew]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

I bought my America 1 when I thought I needed another dreadnaught like a hole in my head. I happened to be at a local guitar store for a completely different reason, not looking for any type of new guitar. But I ended up browsing their acoustic room, mostly because I hadn't been there in a long time, and noticed the sign advertising the America 1 (which I had never heard of) as "sycamore back and sides."

Always intrigued by non-traditional tonewoods, I tried it and was instantly hooked. I kept telling myself, "This is absolutely crazy. You already have a Martin dreadnaught, and you don't actually like dreadnaughts, so you have absolutely no reason to buy this. Plus, you just had a son that was born two months ago, and spending two and a half grand on yet another guitar that won't get played is ridiculous."

But the America 1 was such an intriguing guitar that I went home and told my wife about it, fully expecting her to say, "yeah right. Better forget about it." Surprisingly, she said the opposite and encouraged me to buy it if I could afford it.

I went back to the store three times to try the America 1 and compare it to my own dread, an SWDGT. I even brought an accomplished guitar-playing friend to hear whether I was just infatuated or whether he felt the same about the America 1's sound. After strumming just a few chords, I could tell by the look on his face that he regretted having bought a D-18 at that same store just a few weeks prior. He was just as blown away as I was.

We both then compared the America 1 to a D-28 and a D-18, because I kept second-guessing myself ("If I'm about to plunk down this much dough, should I not at least get one of those?") but there was no contest. The America-1 blew both of them out of the water, and not by a small margin. I wouldn't even say it's better, but there is something about this guitar that I still can't quite put in words. The closest I can come is that it embodies what I consider the "Martin sound" more than any other Martin I've played.

Long story short, I took the America 1 home, sold my SWDGT to said friend, and the America 1 rekindled my love for dreadnaughts. I've had it for just under a year, and my other guitars have stayed in their cases for most of that time.

Good to hear...thanks for sharing!

[asilker]

I played one briefly at Old Town School of Music. I've never lived with a Martin Dread, but I thought the America 1 had all the snap and dynamics of a good Marty. I guess the most specific I'd be comfortable getting is to say "favorable"

[llew]

Originally Posted by asilker

I played one briefly at Old Town School of Music. I've never lived with a Martin Dread, but I thought the America 1 had all the snap and dynamics of a good Marty. I guess the most specific I'd be comfortable getting is to say "favorable"

Well that's certainly better than "unfavorable"?

[DesertTwang]

By the way, nothing proves that the America 1 is Martin's best kept secret like this thread---it died down after just a few posts, within a day. Here we are, discussing what might very well be one of THE most intriguing guitars that are currently available, but people don't pay attention and rather spend page after page discussing inconsequential minutia like the tonal contributions of bridge pin material to the overall overtone frequency register and stuff like that...

[IndyHD28]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

By the way, nothing proves that the America 1 is Martin's best kept secret like this thread

I’d give Martin some credit for that. Have you ever seen a promotion for it? I sincerely hope this is different but Martin’s typical MO for sustainable designs is to use a sub-standard level spec, put it in their online catalog and forget about it. It doesn’t sell then they discontinue it.

We see Taylor with a major and seemingly permanent investment in Koa, Maple and Ebony. Now it looks like Gibson has camped out on the walnut square. Martin has an opportunity with “America 1” to use it as the basis for a series of N.American Sustainable builds-Sycamore, Cherry, Walnut, Maple and many others. I was happy to see a Standard level spec and to see it listed in their Standard Series where people will see it. I’d like to see “America 2” later this year with some fanfare at NAMM and elsewhere and maybe push the dealer network to actually stock the guitars. Give ‘em a higher profit margin and a rebate if they sell a certain number. Get a little creative. It can be done.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

By the way, nothing proves that the America 1 is Martin's best kept secret like this thread---it died down after just a few posts, within a day. Here we are, discussing what might very well be one of THE most intriguing guitars that are currently available, but people don't pay attention and rather spend page after page discussing inconsequential minutia like the tonal contributions of bridge pin material to the overall overtone frequency register and stuff like that...

It's because we're conspiring to try to continue to keep the Martin America 1 as Martin's best kept secret, Daniel - in fact, I'm going to ask the moderators to yank this thread entirely! We don't want ANYONE to know!!

Okay, I'm kidding. No, the reason that I think there's as little discussion about this model as there's been is because most of us haven't yet seen one in real life, much less played or purchased one. I've been keeping an eye out for one to try ever since I read your initial comments about your cool new guitar about a year ago, but have yet to see any at any of the Martin dealers I've visited since.

If I do get that chance, I'll chime in on this thread or start a new one.


Wade Hampton Miller

[asilker]

Originally Posted by llew

Well that's certainly better than "unfavorable"?

Yes certainly better.

I try to be slow to say things like "it was absolutely incredible" and if something is out of my price range I try and force myself to not think about it for too long. But the one I played sounded great and the top definitely wanted to move.

[Wade Hampton]

I finally played a Martin America Model 1 today.

This afternoon I was at Mammoth Music in downtown Anchorage, the Martin dealer for this part of Southcentral Alaska, and was performing my usual "triage" of guitars hanging on the wall, by plucking the open D string on each guitar and letting it ring. Listening to that one string alone speaks volumes about the overall sound of the instrument it's on, so that's a quick way to sort through guitars when there are more than you can play in one sitting.

Anyway, one Martin dreadnought in particular had a lively, wonderful tone when I plucked its D string, so I took what I thought was a D-18 down off the wall and played a few chords.

It sounded GREAT! I looked inside to make certain it was a D-18, and it wasn't, it was an America Model 1.

But it was loud, sweet, tonally balanced and very projective. The sycamore back and sides didn't sound much like maple, though there was certainly a nice clarity to the sound and a lively treble response. But what it sounded like to me was a really great, exceptional D-18.

I played it for quite a long time. The action on the one at the Anchorage store is stiffer than I like, or I would have played for longer still.

I can see (and hear) now why Daniel (aka Desert Twang) bought one and thinks as highly of his as he does. They're great guitars. If I didn't already own an excellent D-18, I'd be tempted to buy the America Model 1 at Mammoth Music.

Incidentally, I also had a chance to compare a new "reimagined" Martin D-28 against two new HD-28's. In the past, I'd almost invariably preferred the sound of the scalloped brace HD-28's over the straight braced Standard Series D-28's I'd compare them to.

But this is the third time in the third store where I've been able to play reimagined D-28's up against HD-28's, and on all three occasions, in three different states, I've found the D-28's to sound better to my ears. At least for the way I play. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a dreadnought to make it a point to seek out and play some of these reimagined D-28's and D-18's.

You might be surprised by what you'll hear.


Wade Hampton Miller