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Image: Mahogany mistresses – the Martin D-15M (top) and 000-15M

Martin D-15 and 000-15

£1,250 each

These guitars hark back to bygone days, and with them Martin has created instruments that are well priced, but also insanely desirable. Fancy that… by Neville Marten

Review originally appeared in Guitarist 328, May 2010, p112

The first all-mahogany guitar was Martin's 2-17, introduced in the early 1920s. Possibly borne out of the Hawaiian music and ukulele explosion that hit America in the interwar period – Martin ukes were mostly all-mahogany – this small-bodied instrument became a trendsetter for the burgeoning acoustic blues scene. Later that same decade, arch rival Gibson jumped on the bandwagon with its own mahogany-top effort, the L-0.

Blues players loved these instruments with their bright but sweet trebles and a mid-range that cuts through loud vocals. They were also cheap – $25 at the time.The Style 15 came into being in 1940, but various American companies continued to make all-mahogany instruments up until the sixties, when availability of spruce (which had been a problem post-WWII) was no longer an issue. As a result the popularity of these 'austerity' instruments waned to the point where the big firms no longer bothered with them, although a couple of notable exceptions were Guild's D-25 and the cool-looking bolt-on-necked Fender Newporter.

When Taylor successfully debuted the 412-M in 1996 it suggested that the time was perhaps right for this intriguing style of acoustic to return. Martin launched the strictly budget D-15 in 1997, followed by the 000-15 and others. For 2010, Martin has added the dreadnought sized D-15M and its smaller bodied sibling, the 000-15M – the M suffix indicates a number of spec changes over the existing 15 Series guitars that result in a small price increase.

Both instruments feature Martin's bolt-assisted mortise and tenon joint, first seen on the D-1. Not only helping to keep costs down, this 'glued and screwed' assembly has also proved structurally stable and tonally more than up to the job. Featuring the no-frills look and satin finish of the existing 15 Series these are darker stained over genuine mahogany (including the neck) instead of sapele – a close relative that possesses very similar qualities.

000-15M

There's something to be said for the plain and purposeful approach. An acoustic guitar's worth has too often been measured by the quantity of molluscs who sacrificed their lives to decorate it, the length of fancy materials that bind every conceivable body, neck or headstock; or indeed the sheen emanating from the precious plating of its metal ware. What you get here instead are the barest essentials for good, workable, pro-standard, six-stringed musical instruments.

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