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Key Features
Nearly New: This product may have been opened for quality control purposes, returned by a customer, refurbished, or may have non-essential parts or software missing. Otherwise, the product operates as new. This is a great opportunity to buy a fully functioning product at a discounted price.
Product Ref: 104539
The Martin D-18E has forward shifted X bracing, which means the X has been shifted upwards slightly in comparison the standard X bracing. This allows even more room for the top to vibrate, bringing you a richer, clearer tone, with reinforced structure. Bracing is very important for a guitar as it stops it collapsing in on itself and keeps the structure strong and durable.
The Martin D-18E Retro features a solid sitka spruce top which delivers a wide, very usable, dynamic tonal palette. Its sitka spruce top also has a broad dynamic range and yields crisp articulation. The spruce top is balanced out well by the mahogany back and sides, as mahogany is denser and produces a richer tone, with emphasised warmth in the mid and low ranges. Mahogany also contains distinct character of soft warmth, but is well balanced, with a bite of its own. Used as back and sides panels, the mahogany produces a meaty mid-range, producing punchy, woody tones with plenty of depth and complexity that will please most playing styles.
The Martin D-18E features a dreadnought body, which provides an enormous voice, and maintains overall tonal balance. The dreadnought shape was originally designed for hard pick attack. However through years of superb craftsmanship, Martin have created a stunningly toned, well-balanced dreadnought voice that can handle many genres and styles of play. In addition, its dreadnought body provides a comfortable playing experience, and is well-suited to players that are more comfortable with bigger bodied guitars.
The Martin D-18E Retro features a select hardwood neck, offering resonance and great durability as well as its sleek, modern profile, and high performance taper for enhanced playability. For smooth playability, the neck is finished in satin. The neck is topped with an extremely responsive ebony fingerboard that adds a snappy, crisp, bright attack to the overall sound as well as smooth sustain. In addition, its matching fingerboard and bridge also apply clarity and a well defined punch.
For 183 years, Martin have been at the forefront of guitar innovation and premier craftsmanship, bringing consumers some of the best acoustic guitars possible. The iconic Martin tone is known worldwide and playability has become an important characteristic that sets Martin guitars aside from others within the acoustic world. Martin's manufacturing processes have been perfected by their Plek machines, the Plek process helps Martin guitars maintain their undeniable tone.
The Plek Pro has been developed for use in guitar production factories as a tool that not only does precise fingerboard dressing, but also helps with quality control. The computer controlled device scans and dresses the guitar under actual playing conditions, strung and tuned to pitch for using precise string tension emulation. This machine has been a major break through over the last decade, as its eye for detail identifies exactly what needs to be done for perfect fretwork. The Plek Pro delivers you with perfect results, raises the quality of the instrument, and gives you a beautifully toned, easy to play acoustic guitar.
The Martin D-18E Retro comes equipped with the Fishman Aura VT Enhance, making it ideal for live and rehearsal environments. In 2016 Martin introduced the sophisticated Aura VT Enhance preamp system which offers advanced and innovative technology, described as the virtual blender of all pickups. The Aura is able to combine the raw pickup signal with an acoustic image that reveals the true personality of an acoustic. The Aura VT Enhance with acoustic imaging features a new bridge plate mounted transducer to add dimension, resonance, and body to the tone of the guitar.
The Martin D-18E Retro was constructed and designed with vintage aesthetics and tone in mind. Whilst its tone comes from the vintage build to provide you with retro characteristics, Martin have also managed to get creative and finish the D-18E Retro with a vintage appearance. The Martin Retro is features an aging toner gloss top to recreate the pleasing pre-war acoustic aesthetic. The mahogany back and sides provide a beautiful natural colouring which contrasts well against chrome hardware. The D-18E projects everything retro via taking aesthetics from pre-war acoustics and bringing the vintage vibe back to the future. Martin have chosen a classic faux tortoise pickguard to accompany the aged toner top, and old style 18-stripe rosette, providing players with a classic, authentic pre-war appearance that is sure to look superb on stage.