Martin Special 000 Cutaway X Style Sonitone Acoustic-Electric Guitar Black

I've own the early iteration, the 000CXE for about 11 years now. I have not had any of the issues described by others. The one who mentioned the bowing of his guitar doesnt realize there is an adjustable truss rod inside the sound hole. Foolish. I travelled with mine in a hard shell case across nevada heat and it bowed my neck too. A simple few turns of the truss rod set it back perfectly intonated like before. It has remained glued despite the wear I've weathered to it. I can't offer any explanation for that, apart from a rare unlucky build or very very negligent storage. This guitar sounds incredibly good for an HPL acoustically, and absolutely shines brilliantly plugged directly into with its electronics. Black is not my favorite and I do wish at times I had a more natural looking guitar but for what it is, if that doesnt bother you, this is an incredibly durable, rugged, well intonated, and good sounding guitar by a company that prides itself in high quality. My one caution is around the rosette. Since there is no pick guard, the rosette on mine has slightly become worn and scuffed where my downstrokes have landed, so be mindful of that. There are no scratches or dents at all on this guitar otherwise and that's incredible.

I've had this Martin since 2016. I've lived in sub tropic humid environments, I've live in bone dry environments. I've gigged with it 150-200 times. And........it still looks like the day in 2016 when I purchased it. Anyone saying HPL would lose its form and fall apart must be confusing it with tone woods that shrink and balloon with the environment. Now would I say never buy a tone wood guitar? Of course not. I own a D-18, Taylor, Guild ....etc. That statement would be crazy. But stating HPL isn't durable....that statement is misinformed or misleading. Does this guitar sound better than my D-18? Of course not, few guitars do. But it sounds very good. The black one here wins in playability. Both play well, but this one is an obvious choice. It's super easy on the fingers. Durability.....not even close. Black HPL in a landslide. It will outlive all of us. I keep all my acoustics in a humidity controlled environment set between 35-50 RH. I darn sure didn't make a humidor in my house because my black Martin worried me at night. But prior to controlling the humidity, I had a spruce top, I'll not name the brand, crack. And one with a clear coat crack along the center seam. My black Martin cracked in the area called nowhere, during a time called never. But most importantly....it never will

Outstanding sound!

For the money, this guitar delivers the goods. The action is good and it stays in tune acceptably well. I think it sounds best ran through a PA or acoustic amp, and in that regard it sounds just great. the electronics are first rate. Onboard tuner works good. I really like the fact that it's tough. I don't have to worry about scuffing up the finish because it's a wood composite. Martin really nailed it with this one.

I have had the early iteration of this guitar the, 000XCE, for about 10 years, which is about the longest you can expect it to last. The issue is with the glue. The thin HPL body cannot handle the stress of string tension and eventually these guitars will pull themselves apart. The first thing you will notice is that the bridge will separate, the next thing is that the body will bulge as the glue on the internal bracing fails. Once enough of the bracing has failed, the body itself will begin to pop apart. These guitars are have a nice feel but have an odd sound profile and are made as cheaply as possible with almost no thought put into how long they will last, which seems to be about ten years if you're lucky. I'll never buy another HPL guitar again.

So this is after searching for 35 years for a guitar that didn't sound like a shoebox on stage live. I know the fender tele is common fix but still wanted acoustic image live. This HPL Martin is by far the best ever for live performance because of size, tone, durability, look, and action. Its made to play like and electric but look acoustic; and it does that for under $1000. You don't have to invest in a $4k guitar and then another $4k to make it sound right live. But; if you just play at home, buy what you like. But I will say it has a nice mellow tone around the house that wont bother the wife like a loud dreadnaught as you pretend to be Dave Matthews in your den. Please reach out to me if you cant find the allusive sound hole cover for the 000 body style, which has a 3 7/8 in stead of 4 inch hole. Company in TN sells them for $25.00. Only place I've ever found, other than Australia. Martin is no help with this or any issue, and also is amazingly vague when answering questions about their instruments. But, if your still locked into the kind of wood a guitar is made of matrix or a slave to a particular brand for no reason; then that's ok too. Or if you think "Finger Picking" is cool and strumming a guitar is passé, then fine: stay in your post vaudeville lumberjack world. But if you really just want to have a good time with a great instrument that's not made for giants, sounds good plugged in, and looks good, then get one of these before Martin stops making them after they realize they accidentally made a good guitar.