Little Martin LXI Ratings
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Playability
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Sound
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Quality
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Value for money
Martin LX1 review summary
This is one of the best 3/4 sized guitars on the market. If not the best altogether. The sound is great for a guitar of this size, as is the playability. The gig bag supplied protects the guitar well. The only thing I would change is the material of the back and sides.
Are you looking for an amazing acoustic guitar that is well designed and is suitable for players with small hands?
The Little Martin 3/4 size acoustic guitar might be a good choice, probably the best acoustic guitar for kids… if you have the budget.
It is the best quality acoustic guitar for children, hands down. It has been tried and tested by dozens of reviewers, and it always ranks best amongst small scale guitars. Choosing the Little Martin guitar means you are choosing quality sound and feel.
I got to play this guitar at my local GuitarCenter, so let’s dive into my Little Martin review.
Contents
Features and opinion of the Little Martin LX1
This amazing guitar is manufactured in Mexico, and is thus the most affordable guitar from the Martin lineup. Here are the official specs of the LX1.
Little Martin
Small guitar, big tone
Great parlor or kid’s guitar
A mini dreadnaought guitar that is capable of delivering powerful tone. In the right hands, it is absolutely stage-worthy. It also makes for a very high quality children’s guitar.
Check today’s prices on:
- Solid sitka spruce top
- Mahogany pattern HPL textured finish back and sides
- Rust stratabond neck
- Neck shape: Modified low oval
- Nut material: white corian
- 3/4 scale – 23″ scale length
- 14 frets clear with 20 frets total
- Fingerboard width at nut: 1 11/16″
- Fingerboard width at 12th Fret: 2 1/16″
- Bridge string spacing: 2 1/8″
- Tuning machines: Gotoh nickel with small knobs
- Case: Padded gig bag
Amazingly small body and neck
The Little Martin guitar is a small-bodied, 3/4 scale guitar that’s designed for use by young people or to be used as a travel guitar. It’s a small scale version of bigger Martin guitars, but can hold its own tonally against many regular-sized guitars.
The LX1 is a 23″ scale length parlor shaped guitar. The top is solid Sitka spruce, which is a top-notch wood choice. The sides and back are made of mahogany HPL (high-pressure laminate), which explains the lower pricing (as compared to other Martin guitars).
The neck has 20 frets in total, with 14 frets clear of the body.
Hardware
The LX1 does not have an electronic pickup installed, but you can get the LX1E version (+$100), which does. The LX1E features a Fishman mic system, enabling sound amplification.
The LX1 has sealed chrome tuners that will ensure that your guitar is easy to tune and stays in tune. Other nice features are the Richlite Bridge, a compensated saddle and a Tusq nut.
The LX1 comes with Martin’s standard Martin SP strings. No surprises there.
Lastly, the guitar comes with a padded gig bag, which is very important in keeping your guitar safe. The LX1 will be used either as a travel guitar or a student guitar, meaning it will be transported often. Having a padded gig bag is important, so it’s nice to get one included.
Sound
The Martin LX1 guitar has a compact body and therefore the tone and the projection does not compare with full-size Martin guitars. However, setting expectations so high, as to compare it to a full-sized Martin is overdoing it.
If you set your “Martin” expectations aside and listen objectively, you can hear that the sound you get from this little guitar is nicer than many full-sized guitars.
In fact, Ed Sheeran regularly plays the LX1E version of this guitar live.
Video review of the Little Martin
About Martin Guitars
C.F. Martin & Co. is one of the biggest names in acoustic guitar manufacturing. It is a company that is nearly 2 centuries old! How many other companies can you name that have such heritage?
Throughout the company’s history, they have built and developed guitars and guitar strings of the highest quality. The biggest names in music have used Martin guitars, including John Mayer, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ed Sheeran. You can hear the Martin tone across all musical genres from pop to country to blues.
The company is largely responsible for many of the innovations that have transpired in the acoustic guitar industry, including X-bracing, the 14 fret guitar, and the Dreadnought size guitar. The same can be said for their guitar strings business.
Other Little Martin reviews and recommendations
Of course, we are not the first website to review the LX1. Here are some more reviews from other prominent sites.
Sweetwater.com
Sweetwater commends the Little Martin for it’s quality despite the relatively low price point, and recommends it as a travel guitar, or a student guitar. They also mention how well the gig bag is designed, which is important in keeping the guitar safe on the road. Customers gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. Read more…
Musicradar.com
Musicradar also gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. They go into detail on how the man-made back and sides still produce good tone for a guitar of this size. The Little Martin’s main (and one and only) competitor, the Baby Taylor is the only guitar that can match the sound and quality of this 3/4 sized instrument. Read more…
What customers say about the Little Martin LX1
Here are the thoughts of people who have purchased the LX1 on Amazon, you can read more reviews here.
One customer who has been playing guitar for about 30 years, and was raised in a musical family, was very impressed with this “small guitar”. He didn’t believe it would play like a real Martin, but it did. He termed it the “crown jewel” of Martin’s Mexican guitar factory.
Another customer who has small and short hands is very pleased with this guitar, and recommends it to small women with small hands.
A customer who used this guitar on the road said it is very durable. He throws the guitar around, but it is still in one peice and still plays as it did when he took it out of the box.
Another Amazon customer said the guitar is louder than its size would suggest, but he deems the guitar overpriced since there are no fret inlays and the tuners are not as high quality as on regular Martins.
You can read more reviews here.
Final verdict
The Little Martin is an amazing 3/4 guitar, one of the best out there. It is a high-quality instrument, as you would expect from Martin & Co.
I believe it was designed for:
- students and kids from 8 years of age
- people with small hands
- to be used as a travel guitar
If you are looking for a quality 3/4 guitar, you have found it.
Little Martin
Small guitar, big tone
Great parlor or kid’s guitar
A mini dreadnaought guitar that is capable of delivering powerful tone. In the right hands, it is absolutely stage-worthy. It also makes for a very high quality children’s guitar.
Check today’s prices on:
