that you won’t hear from a livelier spruce
top or a more booming dread.
Those same dark and husky qualities
and enhanced bass resonance make the
000-15SM a country blues picker’s dream.
Picking a I-IV-V progression in standard
tuning will transport you right to the
cabin porch, and the concise, even tones
of the Martin are a perfect
Buy If...
you’re a fingerstylist, country blues
picker, or studio player who savors the
subdued, but rich tone of mahogany.
Skip If...
you’re mostly a flatpicker, need
the brawn and bellow of a spruce-
topped dread, or need brighter tones
for your fingerstyle work.
match for alternating bass and percussive
right-hand work. Open G’s stew of doubles, octaves, and harmonic interplay suits
the 000-15SM sonorous American accent
even better and betrays the 000-15SM’s
secret strength as a slide guitar. And the
combination of midrange bark, the flatter
fretboard radius, and wider string spacing
make this little Martin a blast to attack
with a bottleneck.
C.F. Martin & Co.
Street $1449
martinguitar.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the guitar at
CLICKHere…
premierguitar.com/jan2012
1
Comfortably curvy and dripping in tone.
