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The Martin 000X1 is a low budget guitar in the prestigious Martin range and delivers a great sound for it's size. Similar instruments of this size are theTaylor: 110 Larrivee: OM-03 SP and Blueridge BR-43. You can find many great reviews of the 000X1 on line, and you can believe them. A purist could say that it can't be any good, because the back, side and neck are not made of wood, but don't be put off!
First of all, this instrument has literally no embellishments. There are side markers to denote fret positions, for example, but no dots on the fret board. The bridge and fret board are made from Morado. The neck is stratabond, which is a kind of thick plywood, and very solid feel. There is no binding, and the spruce sound board has a light satin lacquer finish. It doesn't have an inlaid rosette, but is a discrete decal. I like the budget appearance of this Martin guitar, but then I'm more interested in playability. This guitar is really comfy to hold due to the little body, and I found it enjoyable to play.
The neck is medium thin and fast, and the body is not too light. I don't like the feel of a guitar that's too light. The Martin 000X1 is put together in Mexico with the attention to quality work we associate with the name. Nut width is 1-11/16", but feels a bit more than that. Obviously, Martin have the experience to make efficient use of the available space. There's plenty of room to clear the strings with pudgy fingers, but the strings are close enough to facilitate rapid finger movements. The top is braced in the celebrated Martin X-series manner.
This instrument plays with great tone overall, but it's the bass sounds that really impress - as you would expect with an instrument from the Martin range. The E and A strings have a depth not found in most other makers guitars. The bass tone is little 'dirty', which is wonderful if you like to pick the blues. This dirty feel is a matter of taste, but it suits me just fine. I bought the AE model, which features a bug under the saddle, and a volume plus tone control cleverly hidden just inside the body near the sound hole.
A Great Starter Blues Guitar
The 000X1 comes into it's own when finger picking the blues, I found. Forceful picking doesn't bother this instrument. The strings might rattle a little, but hey, it's blues! The overall volume is not the loudest, as you'd expect with a 000 size body, but there's plenty of sustain. I picked the bass E and noticed that it was still ringing a long time after. This can produce some great effects, like bending the treble strings lightly over the top of that droning bass note.
Hopefully, you found this brief review useful, specially if you were thinking of purchasing this guitar. If I try hard, there are negative features I could think of. For example, the spruce top has a thin veneer of satin finish and can be susceptible to knocks and scratches. That said, the back and sides are probably indestructable. I've given mine several quite heavy knocks with no obvious marks. Some other advice I might offer - the look of body can vary hugely between guitars, and some are not really attractive, so go and choose one at your local guitar store rather than order from a distance.
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