Sound - This is the guitar made famous by Dave Matthews. So it was of course the first guitar we ordered from Martin Seeliger.

Grand Concert guitars are typically similar in shape to OMs, but slightly deeper, so we expected this to be a bit louder than a typical OM. And although this guitar is indeed louder, what we didn't anticipate was the unique, punchy ring the M-32 carries. In fact, that ring is unusual enough that Tom and I struggled to name a guitar that it easily compares to. To put it in perspective, a guitar like the Morgan OM, which is not that much smaller than this guitar, has a relaxed, balanced tone. But the Lakewood's tone is much more present and direct. It has a bright punch that leaps from its larger soundhole. But the guitar is not merely bright--it also has plenty of low end to fill out the sound.

It occurred to me when I first played this guitar that it would make a good blues guitar--just loud and ringy enough to have some character, but still with a clean enough sound to make it a fantastic acoustic instrument. And thus I often find myself picking this one up if I ever feel like playing a few minutes of 3-chord blues. In fact, this guitar probably suits that particular purpose better than any we carry.

Finish - The finish work on this guitar is stunning. As you can see in the picture below, the rosewood back has some great graining--it's certainly one of the nicer-looking pieces of rosewood I've run across on a $1950 guitar. The back and sides are matched with rosewood body bindings, and check out the rosette in the picture to the right. It has an abalone-rosewood-abalone inlay, another rarity on guitars in this price range.

Martin foregoes the pickguard on this guitar, which is understandable once you hold it on your lap--the tight waist and larger soundhole don't leave an easy place to stick a standard pickguard. But given the gorgeous finish on this guitar, it's actually kind of nice not to have the pickguard covering things up.

Summary - This guitar has really grown on me. It's of course stunning to look at when you first take it out of its case. And it has this fantastic, punchy ring that's unlike any guitar we carry, and like few guitars I remember playing. But it's kind of been like when we had our first Alchemist in here--even though I was surrounded by lots of terrific guitars, I kept finding myself reaching for the Alchemist when I wanted to sit down for half an hour and play some music. The tone of this guitar rings in my ears even after I put it down, and I find myself drawn back to it again and again. I can certainly see why so many pros play these guitars. If you're looking for something with a little more character and volume than a standard OM, I highly recommend this little gem from Lakewood.