Bought a martin D17 to put in my office. Wanted something pretty for looks and this guitar is beautiful - one of the prettiest guitars I've ever seen. I have some other martins including a high end d-28. This guitat plays like a high end martin which is to say it plays like a dream. As for sound quality, martin describes it nicely and accurately as scooped mids. This guitar looks beautiful, plays perfectly and sounds ok until you hear it next to a $ guitar. I guess it is mine now. Going to mess with the strings and see if i can help the sound. Will report back.

I've been playing for 40+ years, and I'm at the point where I want to downsize my collection. And if I'm going to only own one acoustic guitar, it has to be "the one", right? I tried a lot of spruce tops that were great. I didn't really think a mahogany top would be the winner, and I almost didn't even try the D-17. But I'm glad I did.

This D-17 is the most even and well-balanced sounding acoustic I've ever played, across all the strings and up and down the neck. I can play an open D major chord and then a 5th position D major, and tonally they sound almost the same. I didn't even know that was possible, based on the other (cheaper) acoustics I've owned. This Martin sounds perfect with a pick or fingerstyle, a light or heavy touch, and with strumming or single line melodies. It can really do it all.

Don't be fooled into thinking this is a dark sounding guitar. I think some people listen with their eyes when they see a darker wood. The D-17 has that signature Martin Dreadnaught sound. Based on my comparison with a spruce D-18, the mahogany top has slightly tighter bass (but still deep and full), and the overall tone is slightly shifted toward the upper mids. I'd say it's a tiny step towards a Gibson J-45 sound, but still firmly a Martin at its core.

The neck is very comfortable and doesn't get too thick as you go higher. String spacing feels natural with plenty of room at the nut, and the action is just right. The one single thing that I might change about this guitar is the minimal inlays on the fretboard at 5, 7 and 9. It's just a personal preference, I'm used to guitars with markers also at 3, 12, 15, etc. It does have all those side markers, so it makes no difference when playing - it's purely an aesthetic preference.

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I cannot say enough how enjoyable my experience with Sweetwater. Chad Rosencrans, my rep kept me in the loop the whole time. He made sure I bought the right one, gave me the run down on the 55 point inspection and got it out in time for a FedEx Priority Overnight shipment -- I could not wait any longer.

I am so pleased with my purchase. I have wanted a Martin for so very long and finally settled on the D-17 as my choice. I was so excited when it arrived at my local FedEx Office location. They were great too. I unboxed the Martin at home and I am very pleased with my choice. The wood, the tone, the setup, the case are all perfect.

I will definitely be purchasing more from Sweetwater as I have for several years.

I went ahead a pulled the trigger on this D-17 to see if the hype of the refreshed standard series was for real. It is as this D-17 has surprised me in terms of its neck feel, playability, and overall sound. I have a 2022 D-15, 2023 D-18 and D-28 and am impressed with the loudness of this mahogany top. The upper mids are amazing on this one. It actually sounds like a slightly warmer D-18. Thanks to my sales engineer Edward Vigen for helping me out on this one.