“Continually surprised me with beautiful, unpredictable overtones”: Martin D-28 review

Guitar World Verdict

There’s a reason the Martin D-28 continually tops lists of the most famous acoustic guitars. It sounds incredible, is brilliantly put together, and delivers an inspiring playing experience.

Pros

+Incredible depth of tone

+Handles the hardest strumming

+Sounds fantastic fingerpicked

+Faultless build quality

Cons

-The dreadnought size can be too large for some

-Modified Low Oval neck profile not for everyone

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For those of us clued up on guitars, the Martin D-28 needs no introduction. Probably the most iconic acoustic guitar of all time, you’ll have seen it in the hands of music legends like Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, John Frusciante, Noel Gallagher, and many more. It’s got a storied history to go with its iconic fan club, and that’s part of why it commands such a huge price point.

If you’ve never encountered one before, let me give you a quick history lesson before we get into the guts of this review. First presented by Martin in 1931, it’s a square-shoulder dreadnought that eventually became so popular post-WWII that there was a two-year waitlist to get one. It’s prized for its excellent projection, which was particularly useful at a time when acoustic guitars didn’t come with electronics, and coupled with Martin’s famed build quality, became a favorite of guitar players across the globe.

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Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar World. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and writing and recording in bands, he’s performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the country in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.