New Guitar!

In the last 40 years or so, I’ve owned beaucoup guitars. I’m pretty sure there are currently seven in the house. Could be eight. I have, in fact, self-diagnosed myself with GAS! For you guitar newbies, that’s Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. It means you’re addicted to the adrenaline rush from acquiring a new guitar.

It’s kinda like cows looking for greener grass. They can be surrounded by lush pasture but still go roaming for better grass. Pickers suffering from GAS can have a perfectly good guitar and still look for something better, or shinier, or louder, etc.

Take me, for instance. No matter how many guitars I have, I’ll always want a Larrivee SD44R. I haven’t found one for the right price, or I already would have one. Here’s the thing, though! When I do finally find and purchase one, there’s no guarantee I’ll keep it. I’m just as likely to form a crush on another guitar.

I recently sampled some Gallagher guitars at SPBGMA in Nashville and set a goal of owning one within five years. But that’s another story for another blog post. Coming soon!

Recently, I needed some extra cash to pay some bills and had to sell my best guitar, a 2023 Martin HD28. Without a doubt, this was a hoss–hands down the best guitar I’ve ever owned. I hated to part with it, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

To replace it, I decided to try a cheaper Martin. HD28’s go for $3500 new these days. I know, I know…some of you are thinking that’s outrageous for a guitar to cost that much, but, Folks, that’s still not even close to what can be paid for a new , or used, guitar these days. And not just Martin’s. I think you can get a Gibson J-45 new for about $3200, a Martin D-41 new for about $6000.

There are plenty of guitars from brands like Martin, Bourgeois, Santa Cruz, Collings, Thompson, Gibson, etc. for $10,000 on up. The truly high prices are for vintage Martins. $20,000 is not uncommon. $100,000 is not unheard of. Right this very minute I’m looking at a guitar online at Guitar Center for $134,999! A Martin Limited Edition D-200 Deluxe.

Like I said earlier, I needed to replace my HD28 and decided to go the other direction in price–down. So after a Saturday at SPBGMA back in February with my great friends Kenneth and Angie Newell, we decided to stop by Guitar Center.

Actually, I had begun sampling guitars while still at SPBGMA. Recording King had a booth, and I tried their RD328, RD318, and RD342.

I continued sampling at Guitar Center. I tried two Martins, a D13 and a D10e. In addition, I tried a Yamaha FX3. Of all these models, I preferred the sound of the Martin D10e, although I wasn’t fond of the white, mother-of-pearl rosette around the soundhole. Still, when I left Nashville and headed home, I had it in my mind to do more research and look for a good price on a D10e.

Back at home in Rosine, Kentucky, I quickly found that the D10e goes for $850-$950 new. It didn’t take long to discover something interesting at Sweetwater.

It seems Sweetwater has contracted with Martin to produce a custom D10e. The complete name of this model is the Martin Sweetwater Select Vintage Inspired Road Series D-10e.

The first thing I noticed is they asked Martin to get rid of the mother-of-pearl rosette that I didn’t like anyway. The Sweetwater model also has an upgraded fretboard and bridge, opting for striped ebony instead of Richlite, although I didn’t like the stripes. For those who don’t know, Richlite is synthetic wood.

Sweetwater had Martin switch to open-back Grover tuners and swap out the standard fretboard dots with diamond and square inlays. Also, they exchanged straight black binding with antique-white binding.

The standard D10e has non-scalloped x-bracing; Sweetwater’s version has scalloped x-bracing. Both versions of the D10e have a solid spruce top, but Sweetwater’s has aging toner added to give it a vintage look.

Both versions sport a Performing Artist neck profile. Both versions are satin-finished. Both versions have a Corian nut, Tusq saddle, and plastic bridge pins. Both versions have sapele back and sides. Sapele is similar in tone to mahogany. So basically what you’re getting with the Sweetwater version is a budget D18.

Oh, I almost forgot! Both versions are electric with a built-in tuner!

All the upgrades come with an added $50 to the sale price. That’s a good deal. Needless to say, I went for it. These models must be selling well because it was backordered.

After waiting an extra month or so, mine arrived. First thing I did was order a set of Tusq bridge pins. I would prefer bone, but remember I was going budget here. High quality bone pins are more expensive. The set of Tusq pins was around $25.

I will say that there are some really cheap bone pins (less than $10) on Amazon, but it’s a crapshoot, and you’ll need to be prepared to do some sanding to make all six fit your bridge pin holes. Quality control is basically non-existent when it comes to these cheap bone pins.

I’ve had the guitar about a month now. The Sweetwater Martin D10e will never measure up to a Martin HD28, or a D18, but I didn’t expect it to. Mainly, it doesn’t have the warmth and balance of the higher end models; however, I do believe it’s going to be good guitar. And it’s only going to get better.

I’m still trying different strings on it to find what I consider its best sound. I need to adjust the action just a tad lower. As for the striped ebony, I’m slowly getting used to it. I tried some lemon oil on the fretboard to see if it would darken. Not even a little. The stripes are there to stay.

I hear that some people actually prefer the stripes. I suppose they think it’s a mark of character. Not me. I prefer the ebony to be uniformly black as black can be. My HD28 was like that, and I loved it.

They say the striped ebony and non-striped have no tonal differences. The striped pattern just indicates both heartwood and sapwood is used. I read that the lighter stripes are from the heartwood, although I would have guessed the opposite.

I haven’t plugged in yet to check out the electronics, but I am very much liking the built-in tuner. It’s user-friendly and accurate.

Anyone looking for a budget friendly acoustic electric guitar should seriously consider this Martin model. By the way, it does come with a soft shell case.

Ultimately, when The Rosine Barn Jamboree opens Friday, April 4, 6pm, I’ll be leading the open-mic segment with my new Martin Sweetwater D10e. That’s less than three weeks away. Wow! Hard to believe the 34th season of The Rosine Barn Jamboree is already upon us. I’m ready! Are you?