Martin Special GPC All-Solid Grand Performance Acoustic-Electric Guitar Natural

I am a porch picker, maybe go to a jam session every now and then. This guitar's size is perfect, and alleviates some of the issues I have with shoulder and neck pain. Its almost as loud as a full dread but with a slightly more manageable size. Im not a fan of the gig bag, though. Its cushy but I wish it was more structured. Some complaints are made in other comments about this not being 'choice' ebony. Well, newsflash, Taylor doesn't use 'choice' ebony on anything under about a 300 level, either, or Larrivee, or anyone else in the 1000 dollar range. I like the the striped look, anyway. The back and sides are kind of basic, boring sapele but then you get some figuring on the fretboard in the ebony to jazz it up. My insurance guy appreciates it also since it is easier to identify.

The ebony is not choice quality so you're rolling the dice ordering online from GC. I put an order in for local pickup and they tried to give me a floor model that wasn't selling presumably for esthetic reasons. They had offered to have one shipped from another location. I'm glad that I declined on the floor model. Their "competitor" offers something similar but lists it correctly and with a photo catalog so you know exactly what you're getting. Unlike the GC special, that one has open frame Grover tuners, white binding and a Martin E1 preamp with the soundhole tuner. Those are the only differences, other than the GC model being on sale durring the time of purchase. This is a great deal. It's a beautiful guitar and sounds very rich - holding up to the name on the headstock. Mine doesn't seem to need any work done straight out of the box. I just wish GC corporate would step up their game and was more biased to the interest of the buyer. For that reason, I shop at GC maybe once every other year, enough to forget the severity of the distasteful business practices. How do I know that it's a 10E? Well for starters, it's on the box's product label...

Martin guitars have a distinct and recognizable sound. Some say that sound has a ringing or chiming quality. Whatever it is, my wife wanted it the first time she played one. The Special GPC was the largest and least expensive solid wood model that fit her body comfortably. The guitar is as easy to fret as her solid body electrics, which means more time for the joy of playing. So why Guitar Center when there are so many places to buy a Martin? In a word, Ron, our specialist. Over the years his inspections and setups have been flawless. We would never buy anywhere else.

This is a great guitar. It has a WONDERFUL sound, crisp yet deep with amazing sustain. It sounds like a true Martin at a decent price. They cut corners with the ebony fretboard and bridge using "striped ebony" which they don't tell you in the item description. The fretboard is not uniform as it appears in the item listing. There are other high end & name guitars using ebony that is not striped. Martin tried to pass this off as a sustainability issue which it may be but it should at least be in the description and in the picture of the item. I was very disappointed to discover this. There is no phase switch as listed in the item description and the Fishman Sonotone is a basic pickup that is not great-both also very disappointing for a guitar in this price range & a Martin no less. There is no built in tuner when other makes in this price range have one so I had to go out & buy one that fits in the sound hole and there aren't many options at all.

I was concerned by the 'guitar center exclusive' label but it compares pretty well to the road series that I had been looking at as well. I don't think I would have been able to tell you the difference. Factory action was slightly higher than I like but that's to be expected

I was watching & watching this guitar on-line & it came on sale. I got it at the door buster price which is what it should be priced normally. It sounds amazing. The pictures you find on GC's website show it with a uniform color on the Ebony fretboard and it says there is a Phase switch on the on-board controls. There is NO phase switch so that was another lie. The fretboard was not a uniform color and had some blemishes. I wanted one with a uniform color as was shown on the website. I got zero help from GC's main office. It turns out that Martin uses striped ebony for fretboards which means it usually has many imperfections on the wood and it isn't uniform which detracts from its otherwise lovely look. I had asked GC to substitute the next higher model & I would split the price difference with them since it wasn't as advertised which I believe was very fair but they wouldn't do it-shameful! They made me do legwork calling all over the states to try & find a store with a more uniform fretboard. It's listed as costing over $1k regularly and for that price, second quality wood should not be used-saying it's sustainability conscious without advertising it as blemished wood is just wrong. There are so many other high end guitars using ebony and it isn't striped ebony. The guitar does have great sound and sustain. Sounds like a true Martin.