Martin LX1RE Little Martin - Natural Reviews

I bought my first Little Martin when they first came out some years ago. It had no electronics and HPL everything even the top. Before long I found I was playing it most of the time over my other guitars. I'd always wished I had bought the top of the line Little Martin with the electronics and the spruce top but couldn't afford to at the time. I finally did and I love it. No, it's not quite as loud and the bass is not as deep as my full size guitars but it's even and full even when unplugged. I don't gig or play professionally but I've been playing off and on since... Many many decades. Now that I'm old and living on Social Security, I wanted a comfortable affordable guitar that I could plug in and tweak a bit with some light reverb or chorus. The set up was just fine for me out of the box. I did change out the tuning machines for a set of Hipshot 18:1 locking tuners that I'm fond of. The stock ones are fine at about 14:1, but I wanted this particular guitar to be easy and fun and it sure is. I polished the fret ends a bit more and installed some medium light gauge strings that I liked and used on my previous Little Martin. I really appreciated Sweetwater's checking it out before shipping and the thoughtful instructions on letting it acclimate for 24 hours before unpacking. This is a great travel guitar with really good tone for its size. Plugged in it can sound about as good as it gets. Great guitar and investment for folks with smaller hands too. I love that they no longer use a stupid decal for the rosette and that this one has a pick guard. Gave my original Little Martin to my sister because she wanted to learn to play and what better guitar for someone to learn on!

The playability, tone, feel, fit and finish get five stars—this little guitar has plenty of sound and surprisingly decent bass for its size. Acoustically, it's something of a marvel to get the depth and breadth of sound out of a package this size. All this warrants a five star review.

Then go plug it in.

The sound from this guitar through the amp is outstanding, and not "for its size," it has outstanding tone, full stop. Played through a small acoustic amp, you won't get the smile off your face for days.

Love my Martin LX1RE "Little Martin". I was looking for a smaller travel size guitar. This guitar fit the bill and at an inexpensive price point. Quick delivery and follow up from Sweetwater was A+. Couldn't ask for more from an online music store. Thanks again Sweetwater.

I loooove my little Martin! It's a perfect size for me (5'4"). The sound, color, tone are all great! And the customer service - 5 stars

Received it yesterday, opened the box today (38 outside, 70 inside). Love the size, the sound, the look. I have other short-scale guitars (Taylor, Orangewood), but nothing beats a Martin. I also have full-sized Dreadnaughts (Andrew White, Alvarez, and others) but I had a stroke 13 months ago and prefer shorter scale lengths during my recovery process. This thing is just so cute and sounds amazing. If you're sitting on the fence on this guitar, just get it - you won't be disappointed.

I bought a full size Dreadnought and decided it was just too large and bulky (although I liked the sound), so I exchanged it for this Little Martin model and could not be happier. The scale is perfect for my smaller hands and I do not feel like I compromised much in terms of still having a rich and full acoustic sound. Plugged into my computer using iRig, or into my small acoustic amp, it sounds fantastic with a little chorus added. My two main complaints are that I think some of the fret ends could have been a little smoother at this price point (or better QC), and I think that the stock string gauge (13s) that it came with is overkill for a guitar this size. I restrung it with Martin 11s and am much happier with the playability. At some point I may take it to a local guitar tech to have the frets filed, but I don't want to imply that this makes the guitar unplayable. I am happy with all other aspects of this guitar, and also think the case is very good quality.

The spruce top delivers...wish the edges of the fingerboards were slightly rounded they are square and very hard almost sharp when you have to roll your thumb onto the low E string to mute it.
I like the laminated birch neck. a little on the heavy side when you first pick up one of these guitars, but a very easy adjustment to make. Wish the top had a binding onto the sides.

The little Martin plays a little differently than my fuller sized guitars but the medium light strings deliver using a slightly thicker pick. it is a comfortable guitar to hold and play and projects well although you won't get the bottom tones as much as a full sized guitar.

Picked this guitar up from Sweetwater nearly 2 years ago. Overall, it plays fine and sounds about like a short scale acoustic typically sounds - a bit honky in the mid range and light on bass when played acoustically. I personally believe that there are cheaper vinyl wrapped alternatives out there. I suppose that Martin decided to go with vinyl for neck, sides, and back not only to keep costs down but because it might wear better if used as a travel guitar - and that's not lost on me. We do travel with this guitar and I don't worry about how it'll handle it. Unfortunately, the bottom strap button pulled right out of the guitar when I was walking outside on my patio with the guitar on my back. The body is very light and the neck is heavy, so the neck angles down when the guitar is carried on a strap and the back button pulled right out. The headstock hit the ground first and has the scars to prove it. This was a huge disappointment, and has left me with a pretty lackluster opinion on this guitar. Zero glue on the plastic plug - so be careful when wearing a strap and perhaps glue it in yourself.

This little guitar appealed to me because I've never liked the size of traditional acoustic guitars. They feel so bulky in comparison to an electric. As much I love the sound of a really good acoustic, I will always prefer the electric guitar feel. I went with Martin because it seemed like the logical choice. Out of the box the action was SKY HIGH. I mean, I know I'm in Colorado, but c'mon (devils lettuce joke). Basically unplayable unless I was doing slide. This was the second guitar I purchased from Sweetwater this year that seems to have gotten a 55 "SECOND" inspection. Not sure whats going on there, but I think they need to do some follow up's in that department. The tuners on this are what you'd expect, they feel loose and jump/slip quite a bit, even after tightening them up. I should also mention that the bridge corners are so sharp, you will for sure cut yourself on them. On a traditional acoustic, the corners of the bridge don't quite matter because your hand doesn't ever make contact with that part of the body. But since it's such close quarters on this instrument, it's guaranteed to happen. I sanded them down. After a decent set up, this guitar is pretty meh. I go to it for writing, but mostly out of the laziness of not wanting to fire up the amp. Eventually I'd like to get an L-00 to replace this as I don't see myself keeping it. It's got a rather "boxy" tone and the electronics were a mistake as it makes the weight distribution in this guitar awkward. If you just want something to play on the porch, or to bring out and about with friends, maybe this is it. But you're definitely going to want to lower the action, and still may not like how it sounds. Had "the bug" not had everything shut down, I'm certain I would have sent this back, but I just couldn't get it to my tech fast enough to determine my displeasure on this instrument. Impulse buy strikes again..