Martin D-10E Road Series Acoustic-electric Guitar - Natural Sapele Reviews

I have this guitar, and I think it's great. I highly recommend it.

I never thought I would never own a guitar of this quality. God provided the money! Sweetwater was easy to deal with. The price wasn't higher than other companies. I went first on line. I had questions so I called them up. Keith Kiklas spoke with me, answered my questions and took my order. They offered other areas of support if I needed it. It came, in the time they said it would. It was in tune write out of the box. I love this guitar. The whole transaction went smooth. Since my purchase from Sweetwater, I spoke with another person in our Church that made a purchase from them. They too, liked dealing with them.

Simply the best guitar I've ever owned. They shipped to Alaska and it arrived unscathed. These guys are way better the guitar center.

I love my new Martin guitar. My Grandpa recommended it to me saying "Any fella who get's one of those would be a happy man." What with the excellent Guitar, the nice soft body case it came with, and the impeccable service from Sweetwater, I am indeed a happy man!

Now this is a hidden gem that Martin has put out. You get the Martin design and some high end appointments, without having to break the bank!

CONS: A bit heavy. Appreciable tone and resonation and keep in mind it costs

Martin's reputation for quality is well established but WOW, this guitar has exceeded my expectations! This is my first Martin and it makes my old Fender acoustic look and feel like a toy. The sound quality is amazingly warm, the build is solid and it's beautiful looking. The D10e has become my go-to guitar. If you're on the fence about this guitar, do yourself a favor and just pull the trigger. You can't beat the quality you're getting at this price point.

Thanks to Zack for great advice and helping me to find this guitar. The quality and playability of this Martin Road series d10e sapelle top is very evident right out of the box. I'm learning delta blues fingerpicking and the warm mellow tone of this guitar is perfect for this type of playing. I've got large hands and the wide 1.75 nut makes a big difference. I love the neck, comfortable shoulder and the action. The gig bag is a quality soft case with plenty of protection.

I ordered this guitar and received the next day. I played the drs1 a couple of years ago and was impressed. I've had this one for a few days and am very satisfied. The guitar is versatile, soft finger picking or hard flat picking sounds great. Overall, the Martin D-10e is a very nice instrument. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid wood guitar under $1000.

The Martin D-10e is so much better in person than in pictures and descriptions. Before playing, I was blown away by the meticulous workmanship and precision assembly. The woods and hardware exclude quality. The overall finish was so smooth and consistent I had to look closely to make sure it was real solid wood! The oiled neck finish is comfortable and fast ("non-stick"). The built-in tuner in the sound hole is accurate and easy to see (but hidden from audience view).

On to playing... The guitar received has a great action out of the box - no buzz or dead spots on the fret board. The fret ends are even and smooth! The in-room sound is full range with a bold low end, warm mids, and the right amount of sparkle. Finally, the instrument has GREAT dynamic range - it's easy to get music/expression from it! Haven't had an opportunity to use the pick-up system yet but I'm very happy with its acoustic sound.

Frankly, I was not expecting such a great experience purchasing a personal instrument on line without playing it in advance. Sweetwater and Brendan Murphy are the real deal - highly recommended!!!!!

I received my Martin D10e about three months ago and I am still blown away by the sound that this guitar produces along with its playability. I would recommend this particular guitar to anyone.

I think I got one of the only (or a small number) of the road series dreads made in Pennsylvania from parts sourced around the world. You could not pay for this sticker, the serial is 2133740. To elite for zero. You guys are friggin ballers! Stay safe healthy and rona free! Much Love Sweetwater!!!

Let me just start by saying thank you again Sweetwater once again for your amazing costumer service and Nick Church for checking in I love hearing your voice buddy. Martin D-10E Road Series - Natural Sapele is beautiful guitar all around, sound, looks, action, weight, It has it all. It came to me perfictly packaged safely double boxed with a checklist of the 55 point inspection, paperwork, and a bag of candy. I decided to upgrade my Fender Vince Ray T-bucket that I have been practicing my playing for years now and has been a great guitar for me to learn on. WOW! the craftsmanship on the Martin D-10E Road Series is like night day. If you have worries about a Mexican made guitar DONT! and you can only afford a middle of the road Martin this is what you should looking at. I cant wait to get home and play.

I was a touring musician in the 70's and 80's. Played thru the 90's before retiring from music. I was a bass player but, I enjoyed playing acoustic guitar to write and for pleasure. I owned a 1976 Martin D-35 that sounded like heaven. It was stolen and I never replaced it. After 20 years of not playing at all, I recently bought some new bass equipment and then decided I had to have another Martin. Spoiler alert: D-35's were a lot less expensive in 1976. I decided not to spend that much just yet, but I decided to take a chance on the D-10E road series. This is a great sounding guitar for the money. The electronics are good, the built in sound hole tuner is good, and the sound is good. The setup was good right out of the box. Goes without saying, it's not a D-35 but, it is a nice little Martin for a reasonable price. Makes me really want that D-35.

After much research I decided to purchased the Martin D-10e with the sapele top from Sweetwater. My decision to purchase from Sweetwater was easy because it allows me to buy a guitar out of my price range... but my decision to purchase a Road Series Martin was a little more complicated. Paying the extra $... for the spruce top wasn"t an issue for me. But I didn"t want that upgrade. My guitar hero John Frusciante often played mahogany acoustics. And from what I"ve read sapele is very similar to mahogany in regards to tone. I"m sure there are differences but they are beyond my ear. And I"ve read that this type of tonewood is better for cutting though mixes due to its sharp high end sound, but that"s not why I bought it.

If you"re accustomed to playing a fine acoustic instrument with scalloped bracing, then this guitar may be a slight let down for you. I understand that scalloped bracing lends itself to better resonance and tone, but considering my old no. #1 acoustic was a Takamine Gs-330 (spruce top) this is a major upgrade in both tone and resonance. This Martin guitar is not built to sound perfect in a studio/recording setting, but is rather made to sound great as a gigging guitar that can take some abuse. I am not a gigging musician, but I live in southern Florida and my guitars and constantly subjected to extreme changes in temp and humidity. So I appreciate its durability to temp/humidity extremes due to the non-scalloped construction.

My bottom line is that this a very sturdy guitar that will sound very good, but not amazing. It makes my Tak acoustic sound like a toy guitar. The Richlite fretboard does look a little like plastic, but I understand the it"s very sandable, has the same density as ebony, and is sustainable. Since I"m accustomed to playing a well worn in guitar I plan to round the fretboard edges and file the fret ends. But if you"re not used to playing with a thumb-over technique this may not be necessary.