In this article we are looking at the best Martin Guitar for the money. Martin is a popular guitar manufacturer who specializes in high-quality acoustic guitars. Martin acoustic guitars are widely regarded as an industry leader.
In this article, we share the best martin acoustic guitar models with a classic martin sound. We’ve included a broad variety to show you the options out there. Some have a dreadnought shape, others have a cutaway. We’ve included both acoustic and electro-acoustic guitars.
I tested 6 products and found LX1 Little Martin to be the Best Martin guitar for the money.
These guitars are excellent. These unplugged travel guitars sound great whether you play them alone or in a group. However, despite its little size, it has the same tone as a full-sized guitar. The tone provides the perfect balance between light and dark sounds, so there’s plenty of variation and versatility. These guitars are far more flexible sounding than you might think.
This model also comes in an electrified version, the LX1E, which includes a pickup to plug into amps, recording gear, and mixing desks. This makes it even more useful for gigging, busking, and recording.
I think Martin guitars make some of the best acoustic guitars you can buy. The high-quality tonewoods, master craftsmanship, and professional features make Martin famous. Their flagship guitars are used across the music industry, and they are recognized to be one of the best guitar manufacturers around.
The best Martin guitar for the money for you depends on your style, skill level, budget, and taste. Make sure you explore the full range before picking a guitar. There is a lot to choose from. Later in this post, we share a guide explaining how to choose a Martin guitar, so read on if you need advice!
Keep reading for our full review of the Best Martin guitar for the money!
Alternatively, check out our list of the best beginner guitars, or the best parlor guitars under $500.
Best martin guitar for the money in our tests
- Martin Guitar Road Series D-10E
- Martin LXK2 Little Martin Koa Pattern
- Little Martin LX1 Acoustic Guitar
- Martin Guitar 000CJr-10E Junior Cutaway
- Martin Guitar 000 Jr-10 Junior Acoustic Dreadnought
- Martin Guitar X Series DC-X2E Acoustic-Electric
Best martin guitar for the money Reviewed in Detail
#1 Martin Guitar Road Series D-10E
The Martin D-10E is a good guitar for beginners and those looking to upgrade. The Martin is well-known for its build quality and innovation.
When you’re on a budget, the Martin D-10E is a good option. The D-10E features a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, which give it a bright sound. The slim neck makes it easy to play, and the thin satin finish helps with playing speed.
The D-10E is an entry-level acoustic guitar, but it’s not without its features. The Martin D-10E is a solid-top acoustic guitar that is easy to play and offers a great sound for the price.
The D-10E uses Martin-quality tonewoods to create a vintage tone and keeps the rosewood fretboard found on most Martin guitars.
The Martin D-10E is a 6-string, dreadnought guitar that offers the player a versatile instrument with great projection and accurate sound. The Sitka spruce and sapele construction delivers great sound with crisp, powerful overtones and versatility. This professional-grade Martin guitar is complete with Fishman MX-T electronics to deliver outstanding sound quality.
This guitar uses a classic dreadnought shape for a precise sound that’s versatile and powerful enough to cut through any mix.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Spruce
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: Internal Fishman Electronics
Pros & Cons:
- Louder than other musical instruments.
- Boats the best of Martin Craftsmanship.
- The guitar produces a clear, bright tone with a powerful sound.
Verdict:
This is a fantastic standard dreadnought guitar that will keep players happy for many years. These martin guitars sound as good as any, and cost a little less than most. If you’re looking for high sound quality without breaking the bank, this is the perfect guitar.
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2. Martin LXK2 Little Martin Koa Pattern
One of the best-known and most popular acoustic-electric guitars ever made, the Martin LXK2 Little Martin Koa Pattern is a classic offering from the house of Martin.
This guitar features a classic dreadnought body, spruce top, mahogany back and sides, a scalloped bracing pattern, and a distinctive cross-bracing pattern. The result is a full-bodied sound with a crisp, rich tone, bundled into a small pattern.
The Martin LXK2 Little Martin Koa Pattern is a standard dreadnought, in a smaller form. At audio assemble we love the Little Martin model, and this is a cute version in dark mahogany. The solid wood construction and high-pressure laminate give this guitar great durability and warm resonance.
This is one of the best guitars for the money. It’s got a really nice sound. Not too thin and not too thick. The hardwood neck is made from a single piece of mahogany and uses east Indian rosewood for the fretboard.
The guitar has a two-way truss rod in the neck that ensures it stays in tune for years to come. The open-gear tuners also help with stability. T The Martin LXK2 is good for country
Martin LXK2 Little Martin is a lightweight, full-bodied, easy-to-play junior-sized guitar that ignores convention.
Offered in three types and styles, this little guitar makes learning an instrument fun. This high-quality guitar delivers the perfect blend of tonal brilliance and unrestricted playability.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Mahogany
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: E model comes with pickup
Pros & Cons:
- Use of solid mahogany creates a sound like vintage instruments.
- Small, easy to transport, and comfortable to play with.
- Hard, durable, and has a rich warm tone thanks to tonewoods.
- Can be fitted with an internal pickup.
Verdict:
Whether playing at home or on the go, the Martin LXM Acoustic Guitar is a perfect fit for students and musicians of all ages. The Little Martin has been modified to be more comfortable and easy to play with smaller hands.
The Martin LXK2 Acoustic Guitar offers a perfect solution for players of any age who are looking for a compact and easy-to-transport guitar design. These acoustic instruments will keep guitar players happy for hours on end. The little Martin is easily the best small martin guitar you can find in the Martin family.
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3. Little Martin LX1 Acoustic Guitar
The Martin LX1 is the best guitar for the money, especially when it is on sale because it has a great sound and is easy to play.
The Martin LX1 is a great guitar for beginners looking to start playing guitar. It has a nice sound and is easy to hold and play. This is a great option for the guitarist who wants an acoustic guitar that is easy to play, has a comfortable neck, and sounds great.
The LX1 is an acoustic guitar that features a matte finish and a medium-sized body. The guitar’s sound is thanks to the company’s exclusive X-bracing and their All-Mahogany construction.
Martin’s little Martin LX1 acoustic guitar is perfect for the new or beginning acoustic player. It features a Sitka spruce top and mahogany back & sides for a balanced tone with enough volume to fill a room. With its smaller size, this is a great choice for those with limited room in their home or apartment.
Martin’s Little Martin guitar has a Sitka spruce and mahogany high-pressure laminate (HPL) construction and is Martin’s smallest guitar. It is also very big on tone, quality, and versatility with a full-size 28 1/2” scale length, 18 frets, and 2-3/4” nut width.
Its special acoustic sound works for most styles of music and is very pleasing to the ear.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Spruce and Mahogany
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: Optional internal pickup.
Pros & Cons:
- Small size for portability.
- Bright, rich tone with a spruce top.
- X Bracing improves durability.
- High-quality solid woods for maximum resonance.
Verdict:
These Martin acoustic guitars come up time and time again in our reviews. The Little Martin is a strong contender. Go to any guitar center and you’ll probably find they are sold out, these are in high demand. And for a good reason! The build quality of these guitars is super impressive, as you’d expect from one of the best guitar manufactures of the modern age. These martin guitars sound much louder than you’d expect for their small size and sound as good as any of the best Martin guitars.
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4. Martin Guitar 000CJr-10E Junior Cutaway
The 000CJr-10E Junior Cutaway is a Martin guitar with a small body and a resonant, acoustic sound. The cutaway makes playability easier and opens up access to the higher frets.
This guitar is perfect for children and adults who want to learn to play guitar. This dreadnought cutaway is perfect for those looking for an affordable, easy-to-play guitar that has the sound of a professional guitar.
This six-string acoustic-electric guitar is small and comfortable. It uses a smaller scale length, making a compact guitar with the high build quality and the classic martin sound quality.
You might find yourself looking for a guitar that’s durable and cheap, but doesn’t sacrifice quality. The 000CJr-10E is a perfect example of this.
The Martin 000CJr-10E is known for being a low-cost guitar that delivers great tone and performance. This guitar is a great option for beginners who want to start learning how to play the guitar without spending too much.
The Martin 000JrC-10E features a solid Sapele back and sides with a satin finish. It uses an expertly constructed solid Sitka Spruce top, and it has a mortise and tenon neck joint with a scallop, which increases durability, sustain, and resonance. This is the perfect instrument for all budding musicians.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Spruce and Sapele
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: None.
Pros & Cons:
- Compact size, great for small players and hands.
- Jangly, resonant tone.
- Surprisingly loud for sound.
- Affordable.
- Needed setting up to feel great.
Verdict:
This acoustic-electric junior guitar delivers a powerful, rich sound at a value you can afford.
Its compact size makes it easy to take along with you wherever you go, and its full-size bracing and rosewood bridge deliver enhanced projection and powerful tone.
This expert-approved guitar has a light and responsive feel with a sweet sound.
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#5 Martin Guitar 000 Jr-10 Junior Acoustic Dreadnought
The 000Jr-10 dreadnought acoustic guitar is one of the most popular models in Martin’s extensive history.
The 000Jr-10 dreadnought acoustic guitar is one of the most popular models in Martin’s extensive history. It’s been around since 1950 and is still going strong with a few updates. The 000Jr-10 features a solid spruce top, mahogany back, sides, and neck, rosewood bridge and fingerboard, and a gloss finish. The 000 Jr-10 offers a great value for the money, but it does need work.
The 000 Jr-10 is a dreadnought acoustic guitar that has most of the benefits of its bigger brothers at a lower price. It shares the same features that are found in the 000 and 000-28, with the added benefit of being smaller.
This guitar offers warm tones with a strong midrange response and provides a big sound in a slightly smaller body. The auditorium body style complements the scale length and feels of the instrument.
Martin’s 000Jr-10 acoustic guitar has a Sapele and Sitka spruce construction, which offers warm tones with a strong midrange response and provides a big sound in a slightly smaller body. The auditorium body style complements the sound of this instrument, making it perfect for stage or recording
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Sitka and Sapele
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: None.
Pros & Cons:
- Small dreadnought tone.
- One of the best martin guitars for beginners.
- No electronics.
- A classic Martin Guitars sound at a low cost.
Verdict:
Overall, this small dreadnought shaped guitar offers a fantastic build quality at a low price. The solid Sitka spruce top creates a lovely tone. This guitar is strong thanks to the x bracing too. All around This is one of the best martin acoustic guitars for those on a tight budget. It sounds unlike most of the others, being smaller and slightly thinner.
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#6 Martin Guitar X Series DC-X2E Acoustic-Electric
In 2003, Martin introduced the DC-X2E, with a solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides.
The DC-X2E combines the brilliant tone of a hardwood top with the warm tones of mahogany. It features a mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, and a bone nut. The DC-X2E Acoustic-Electric is one of the best Martin guitars for the money. The hardwood neck joint increases resonance between the neck and body, which helps to create a longer sustain and more durability.
The DC-X2E guitar is a great guitar for beginners and pros alike. The guitar features a solid spruce top and is the perfect instrument for acoustic and electric performances. It also features a cutaway which helps with playability.
Experience a higher level of performance, playability, and tone in these signature guitars from the Martin guitar company. With its Sitka spruce and HPL construction, you are guaranteed an instrument that will sound its best for the lifetime of the instrument.
With open-gear tuners for increased tuning stability, this guitar comes close to the iconic Martin D28 in terms of features, quality, and tone.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Spruce and Mahogany.
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: Optional internal pickup.
Pros & Cons:
- Cutaway style body for increased fret access.
- Glorious solid Sitka spruce top for maximum projection and tone.
- X bracing for strength and resonance.
- Super high build quality.
Verdict:
We recommend the Martin X Series DC-X2E Acoustic-Electric Guitar for musicians looking for a good quality instrument.
If you’re serious about making your musical dreams come true, you know the importance of having a guitar in the right hands. Now you can do that with the Martin DC-X2E. From superior appearance to performance, this guitar’s a match made in heaven.
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What are Martin Guitars and Why do Musicians Love Them?
Martin guitars are made by a company founded in 1833. They are considered to be among the best acoustic guitars being sold because of their craftsmanship, sound, and durability. They’ve been played by many legends from Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley to John Lennon.
Martin is known for its famous “X” trademark. This design has been present on every Martin guitar ever since the company was founded by Martin’s son. But rest assured – every guitar produced by them is still hand-crafted with a lot of care and attention to detail.
Martin guitars can be found in almost every genre from jazz to country to metal, with varied sounds and styles. They also produce some electric guitars that are popular for their rockabilly style and vintage look.
Buying Guide: How to Choose the Best Martin Guitar
Shape and Size
No two guitars are identical, yet the finest ones have several features in common. The design of the guitar is affected by a number of things. One aspect is the size and form. Do you prefer a full-size or a smaller guitar? If the guitar is intended for a youngster, the right size and weight should be addressed as well.
You may also choose a dreadnought or a cutaway body. Dreadnoughts often offer a louder tone with stronger projection, while cutaways have the benefit of allowing access to the higher frets. It is determined by your playing style. Cutaways are ideal for lead guitarists, whereas dreadnoughts are ideal for rhythm players.
Sound style
Some instruments create richer basses and trebles than others. Others provide a softer or clearer tone, which may be more suited for playing with fingers rather than a pick. The idea is that you should choose a guitar that is appropriate for your requirements and playing style.
Certain guitars are more suited to certain settings than others. This is largely determined by how they sound, how many frets they have, and whether or not they contain electronics.
You should choose a guitar that has all of the functions you want as well as a tone that matches the sort of music you wish to perform.
Intonation and Action
The ease with which a musical instrument is played is affected by correct action. The gap between the strings and the fretboard is referred to as the action. A greater action demands more power to hold down the string yet produces a clearer tone. Lower action is simpler to play (especially with chords), but it produces a dirtier sound with more fret chatter.
Intonation refers to a guitar’s ability to stay in tune throughout all strings and the whole fretboard. Correct intonation is required for the guitar to sound in tune regardless of where you play on the fretboard. Different frets on the same string will sound in tune with each other if the intonation is wrong. Incorrect intonation may make you sound like a bad guitarist!
A guitar tech should be able to solve these issues at a reasonable price. These items are also quite straightforward to modify yourself at home if you do some investigation.
In a nutshell, you may modify the motion by raising or lowering the bridge or adjusting the string gauge. To modify the intonation, you must vary the length of the string, which is normally done using a mechanism in the bridge.
Steel vs. nylon strings
You should select what sort of strings you want on your guitar before you purchase. You can’t always change them out afterward!
Nylon strings are softer and offer a warmer, mellower tone, making them ideal for beginners.
Steel strings create more intricate and exaggerated harmonics and higher frequencies than nylon strings. Despite being tougher, sharper, and laden with greater tension, steel-string guitars are more difficult to play than nylon string guitars.
You will acquire calluses on your fingertips with enough continuous practice. This makes playing less unpleasant.
Traditionally, nylon string and classical guitars are conceived and built-in in quite distinct ways. Nylon-stringed bridges are not the same as steel-string bridges, and they are incompatible. You can’t put nylon strings on a steel-stringed guitar! So keep this in mind before making a purchase.
Personally, I believe you should have at least one of each kind – one nylon strung and one steel strung. This allows you to experiment with different forms of sound and emotion.
FAQs
What is Martin’s best-selling guitar?
Martin Guitars has been a household name for decades, and their guitars are still among the most popular in history. Martin makes traditional acoustic guitars and steel-string acoustic guitars that are used for country, folk, bluegrass, rock, blues, and pop.
Martin’s best-selling guitar is the D-18, which has been in production for decades.
Martin guitars are known to be quality instruments that up to this day, still remain relevant in music.
Are new Martin Guitars worth the money?
The new Martin Guitars are definitely worth the money. They are made of mahogany and spruce, which offers a strong tone with rich and well-balanced colors.
Martin Guitars are often more expensive than their vintage counterparts. They cost around $3500 – $4500 but they usually have higher quality as well as some unique features that make them worth the money.
New Martin Guitars are worth the money, according to many instrument sellers and buyers. The quality is great and you can get them at a lower price than their vintage counterparts.
Conclusion
Overall, I thought the best Martin guitar for the money was the LX1 Little Martin.
This is a truly unbeatable Martin acoustic guitar. These guitars are small but pack a powerful tone. They use only the best tonewoods, including east Indian rosewood, solid Sitka spruce, and rich mahogany.
The loud, vintage tone of these instruments will impress any player. These instruments just feel super nice to play with. The bone nut reduces fret buzz and action, making for an incredible playing experience. The smaller scale length makes them very easy to play too. These are fantastic guitars that you will struggle to beat for the price.
This also comes as the LX1E which includes a built-in pickup, if you think you’d prefer an electric acoustic.
Check out the LX1 Little Martin today! Want to look at more great guitars? Check out our post about the best Martin guitars under $1000.
Noah is an accomplished audio engineer with several years of experience producing music for major companies and independent artists. He enjoys sharing his vast knowledge of audio engineering topics to help musicians and music producers create great music.