Martin Guitars has teamed up with Reverb for a “truly special” acoustic guitar, the Reverb Select Martin Custom GP Blonde.
It’s part of the Reverb Select series, which sees “special limited runs of never-before-built and never-to-be-replicated” guitars made available exclusively on the website. Crucially, the collaborative series gives luthiers a chance to push the boat out with no expense spared.
As such, Martin hasn’t held back: A figured Pacific big leaf flamed maple back and sides combine with an Italian Alpine spruce top for a premium tonewood recipe. It offers “a wide tonal range from warm lows to sparkling highs.”
The maple provides a “quick attack and fast delay,” and is paired with an ebony fretboard with snowflake inlays. That joins a modified low oval neck for an ultra-comfortable playing experience.
“I read that rosewood is the thunder and maple is the lightning,” says Fred Greene, Vice President of Product Management at Martin. “I thought that was a really good quote to describe this. We wanted the starkness of the lightness to come through. It’s very blonde!”
The instrument has been crafted with a Grand Performance body shape, with a Dreadnought-meets-000 ‘best of both worlds’ build the desired endgame.
The shape is also said to provide “comfort without sacrificing tone,” with its design rounded out with intricate pearl inlays decorating its headstock and soundhole.
“For those who are familiar, we do a Grand Performance cutaway model,” Greene expands. “[But] we've been playing with this idea that you can do it with a non-cutaway which people don't do very often, and it sounds great.
“It's not as big and boomy as a Dreadnought, it's a little tighter in the waist but you still get a little bit of bottom end out of the guitar.
“It’s the perfect guitar for someone fronting a band,” he summarizes. “The maple cuts through the mix, and the Satin finish lends itself to playing really smoothly.”
Such pristine trimmings – paired with the guitar’s exclusivity – are naturally reflected in the price. At $7,999, it's more a collector's item than a casual purchase for a campfire sing-song.
It’s the third Reverb Select model Martin has produced, following a 1930 0012-42 Conversion and Custom M/0000 Satin Black. The latter reportedly sold out at ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ speed, and so Martin is keen to capitalize on that success with the Custom GP Blonde.
Greene endeavored to build the “total opposite” of its all-black predecessor here, with the GP Blonde certainly succeeding. “It's light and airy and fast and fun,” he says.
Reverb has called the $7,999 Reverb Select Martin Custom GP Blonde a “bombshell of an acoustic that can front any band or make any stage shine.”
Head to Martin’s Official Reverb store to learn more.
“He let everyone know he was the new dangerous kid on the block. It started me on a relentless mission to find out just who this man was”: Eric Clapton reveals the guitarist that inspired him to quit the Bluesbreakers and form Cream
I’ve been playing guitar for 20 years – discover why I switched to Til guitar lessons and get $20 off your first lesson from a pro tutor
