By Jim Fusco:
Welcome to my new series: “Jim Fusco’s Guitar Collection”! I was going to go with a more search-engine friendly name like “Singer-Songwriter-Musician Jim Fusco’s Acoustic and Electric Guitar Collection”, but figured I’d go for simplicity on this one. 🙂
The first entry in my guitar collection series is my acoustic guitar. That actually kind of sounds odd to me- my singular acoustic guitar. Yes, I also have an acoustic-electric guitar from Seagull, but the Martin MMV is my one and only true acoustic guitar. It doesn’t have any electronics in it, and that’s 100% fine by me. I actually didn’t want an acoustic guitar with electronics in it because I wanted an old-fashioned heirloom type instrument that I could play for the rest of my life and pass-down to my family for generations. I think I found the perfect guitar for that purpose!
The Martin MMV acoustic guitar was originally made in 2005, though I bought mine in 2009 (and it was made in 2008, I believe). The guitar features all-wood construction with a solid Sitka Spruce top, East Indian Rosewood back and sides (that smells wonderful, by the way), a mahogany neck, and an ebony fretboard. It has a mortise and tenon neck joint, which I know some people frown upon, but honestly, I think anyone would be hard-pressed to hear any differences between that and a set-in neck. Plus, I think this method actually makes the guitar stronger so it’ll last in its current condition that much longer.
The guitar features a light gloss finish. It has some very simple inlays around the sound hole and fake pearl inlays in the fretboard. The Martin logo at the top is a stick-on gold nameplate, as opposed to the inlayed “C. F. Martin” that’s featured on the much more expensive models.
The tone of this guitar is, in my opinion, truly amazing. It’s loud, punchy, and projects the bass very well. The sound is very “tight”, as well. I thought my Seagull acoustic electric sounded fantastic when I first got it. But then I played it next to my Martin and it was no contest. The Martin just sounds great from the start. It almost sounds like it’s already been recorded, if that makes any sense. The guitar’s sound is just perfectly in tune and sparkles, especially on a standard “D” chord where it’s mostly higher-pitch notes.
I truly believe the Martin MMV acoustic guitar to be the best overall value in higher-end acoustic guitars. It has the high-end sound without a high-end price. The only sacrifice is that it doesn’t look very flashy. But, I didn’t buy it to look great. I bought it to sound professional on all of my future recordings. I’d be happy to field any questions on the sound, the materials, or anything else regarding the Martin MMV acoustic guitar!