Martin DX1 AE

昨夜待望の憧れ、マーチンアコースティックギターが届きました。廉価盤とは言え、さすがマーチン！購入先の京都三条JUJYAさんも、磨きをかけ新しい弦に張り替え、マーチンの純正ハードケースに入れ、丁寧に送って頂きました。国産メーカーと悩みましたが、ロックの歴史、マーチンにして本当に良かったです。

Like an attractive woman, this guitar looks amazing just sitting there. It really is a great looking guitar. I particularly like the satin finish spruce top, even though I previously thought high gloss was the only way to go. I have only had it for a couple of weeks but I am completely blown away by the sound. Pure Martin all the way. The quality of the craftsmanship is very evident. I highly recommend this guitar.

Right out of the box, the tone was too diminished for me, it sounded muffled. I wanted a more livelier tone playing mostly alternative rock songs. I changed to medium nickel strings and bone saddle and pins but that made very slight difference. The action was too high with the original plastic saddle so I started sanding down the bone saddle I just bought. I ended up sanding it down to just about 3mm of the saddle visible from the bottom of the bridge. Scarry, I know. Then when I played it, the guitar tone came to life! The tone became brighter, clearer, and livelier! And no BUZZING. Thank God I got the tone I wanted from it. I was so dissapointed I was about to trade it in at half the value or run it over with my car. Whew! Update: Installed a 1 1/2 inch sound port and am using Elixer HD strings and this thing; now sounds like it was made out of Rosewood. The problem with HPL is that it is too dense to be able to push air. Sound is very clear but muted. With a 11/2 inch sound port, it gave extra volume when strumming heavier, but still retained the Martin tone when picking or strumming normally. With a sound port, I get the best of both worlds. Covered the hole with a 11/2 desk grommet and some caulking just to make sure... Looks clean and pro. Update: The inside of the HPL is like sandpaper. I don't know why Martin just didn't put a smooth sticker type material inside. It breaks up the sound of the high strings which a lot of people have complained it lacked high end shimmer. I wiped the inside with Satin Finish Polymer that I also use for the top. With a smoother and shinier finish inside, it made the high end strings sound a little more. My DX1AE sounds just like my two Taylors now but with a lot more bass.

Was worried about the craftmanship of this guitar. It is still a Martin. Nice, sounds good, arrived early, and well packaged. Not a 2k Martin but I new that. I am overly impressed with this guitar for the money. The seller was very on the spot with shipment and care in sending out.

This package came pretty beaten up, and the guitar is damaged too. It's indeed a nice guitar, but the shipping process and the guitar protection is not that good.