Strong and present frequencies thanks to finest Sitka spruce

In order to give its highest series a bright and clear sound, the manufacturer relies on the popular North American Sitka Spruce as the top material. Due to its fine structure and lightly flamed grain, the spruce is not only visually appealing but also has an enormous vibration behaviour, which produces strongly pronounced mid and treble frequencies. A scalloped forward shifted X-bracing and a thin lacquer favour an exceptionally dynamic sound development, which makes the large dreadnought model attractive even for flatpicking or fingerstyle. Dyed with an aging toner, the light-colored top in combination with an ebony bridge, a faux-tortoise pickguard, elaborate abalone bindings, which clearly distinguish the spruce wood from the other materials, and the eye-catching abalone multi-stripe soundhole rosette form a highly aesthetic overall picture.

A powerful substance in the bass with definition and a warm timbre

The back and sides are made of coarse-grained East Indian rosewood, which produces expressive and confident bass frequencies due to its complex structure and hardness. Here too, a thorough selection of woods and careful workmanship ensure a clear and distinct sound, which is particularly noticeable in the fast response. The multi-faceted wood is delimited by high-quality abalone multi-stripe bindings that surround the entire body and a Style 45 back-strip that splits the back into two separate halves, emphasizing the fine grain in a very contrasting way. Even the pre-drilled hole for the separately enclosed strap pin is lovingly decorated with an extensive abalone multi-stripe inlay, which artfully illustrates how painstakingly and in detail the manufacturer works.

Playability and a clean intonation

The neck construction also shows that quality and comfort are very important to Martin. Made of high-quality mahogany, the flat neck offers perfect access to all 20 frets, which are set into an ebony fingerboard decorated with generous Style 45 hexagon inlays. Thanks to a modified low oval profile, even extensive fingering patterns can be handled extremely easily and tones across the entire range can be elicited cleanly without much pressure. A 44.45 mm wide bone saddle and a compensated bridge inlay, which are matched to each other with millimetre precision, ensure perfect intonation over the entire 645 mm scale length. The dark fretboard is also framed with an antique white binding and thanks to a transition from abalone at the 14th fret it merges discreetly into the light spruce top. The characteristic Martin headstock is crowned with golden open-gear tuners that not only guarantee precise and easy tuning but also allow the company logo to stand out in a very discreet way.

The Martin D-45 Standard:

• Standard Series
  
• Fully solid construction
  
• Dreadnought design
• Sitka spruce top with Aging Toner
• Rosewood body with Style 45 back strip
• 645 mm scale length
• Mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard and Style 45 hexagon inlays
• Bone saddle with 44.45 mm width
• Ebony bridge with compensated bone inlay
• Golden open-gear tuners with Butterbean buttons
• Including Ply-Hardshell-Case