• Just Amazing, Superior Guitar, Affordable Price

  
  As reviewed by Branden on 1/9/2011

  For a while I had been playing on a really cheap "trainer" guitar as me and my dad would call it, one whose sound was not great and was very hard to play. So I decided I would head over to guitarcenter and look for a new acoustic. I wanted something that sounded good, but was also right around my price range of 500 or less. With this Martin DX1AE I was completely blown away in both areas. I found it sitting all by itself in the "expensive" acoustic section of the room and I just picked it up and began playing; It was unbelievable. Most of all I couldnt believe the price it sounded better than some of the more expensive guitars in there and at a price tag of 489 it was only a fraction of the cost. If you are thinking about buying this guitar and have about the same price range of 500 you CANNOT go wrong. It has an amazing bold and rich sound to it, the fretboard is amazingly smooth and the strings are very easy to play. Fretting chords and playing riffs is so smooth and it is a real treat to play. As well it gives you great versatility; it has a true and deep acoustic sound to it with the ease of plug in and play electronics for any small gig you might want to play. I am no professional musician by any means but this guitar is perfect for anyone who has a few years experience and just loves to play for fun with friends or even for your friends. Two thumbs way up! Great Brand, Great Guitar, Great Price. Period. If you want a good guitar Martin is your brand.

  15 of 15 people found this review helpful.
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• I like it

  
  As reviewed by Jason on 2/13/2011

  Stays in tune well, very minor tuning, if any, from session to session. Sounds very good for Martins "low end" guitar. Sure, a little more $ but well worth the investment. Ask for a discount and they will do it, got mine for fourtwentythree. Humidify and it will play look and even smell great!

  9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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• best I tried in the price range....a can't miss choice!

  
  As reviewed by Chris on 3/28/2011

  I needed a steel string acoustic that could plug into an amp if need be that was in my price range. My main criteria outside of that was sound and playability. In regards to sound, my main preference was sound as played acoustically. I mention that because I used to have an Ovation that sounded great through an amp, but really lacked a great sound when un-plugged. I had viewed some brands/models on the web before heading into the store. Based on that, I was leaning toward a flashy Takamine. When I got to the store, I tried the ones I had seen on the web, but something was lacking in sound mostly and some in feel. I tried about 7 different acoustics, and was about to settle for a Fender when I saw this Martin on the wall. Having had a friend with a Martin, I knew they were good, but didn't think they had anything less than $1K. I pulled it down and immediately noticed it was lighter, easier to hold, had better wood on the top, and had easy to play action. Those things alone could have swayed me, but I had to strum to check the sound. Once I did, I knew immediately that it was the right one. The tone is very warm, resonant, and projected well from a volume perspective. It had enough low end to counter-balance the warmth at the top of the tone spectrum. To put it in simple terms, it just sounded to me how an acoustic 6-string should sound. If there is anything missing, the convenience of a built in tuner and multi-level EQ could be mentioned, but the tone is good enough that I'm not sure how much better an EQ would make it (besides, I can do that within my DAW software after the fact and there is a tone control knob that does some of that) and I don't know how good the built-in tuners work anyways. Again, those are small things someone other than me might complain about, but if your decision hinges more on those things than on the sound, then the music coming out of your guitar can't be that great anyways. In conclusion, I can't recommend this enough to either a long time player who wants a great sounding mid-lower priced guitar or even for a new player starting out. I can't compare it to a $3,000 guitar, as I've not yet been able to afford one, but just try this one and you'll likely agree.

  6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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