NAMM 2026: Martin has announced a wholesale refresh of its Road Series acoustic guitars, unveiling 20 models and dividing its mid-priced lineup into Retro and Modern streams.
The idea is that there will be something for everyone in this collection, and that maybe noviciates to Martin guitars will find it a little easier to choose which instrument suits them better.
The Retro models mine Martin’s illustrious history for inspiration, present today’s players with traditional body styles – i.e. Dreadnought or D-shapes, and auditorium or 000 shapes. The Modern lineup is where you’ll find cutaway acoustics and bold new designs such as the SC-10E and SC-13E acoustic electric guitars.
“This is a great example of how we have one foot firmly planted in tradition, but one foot always stepping forward into the future,” says Rameen Shayegan, international instrument design manager at Martin. “In this way we are hoping to serve both sides of the modern guitar player’s needs, whether that’s a traditional guitarist, or a modern guitarist, both of which are going to need extreme playability and great tone.
“But from an aesthetic and and maybe access standpoint and feature set, [they] are maybe looking for very different things in their instruments.”
Just take a look at how two acoustics comprised of similar materials can also be so different under the Retro and Modern house style.
Below, we have the all-sapele D-10E, that redoubtable square-shouldered dreadnought shape quintessentially Martin, and the SC-10E, which transposes this sapele look and build to the Pennsylvanian brand's most modern design – an instrument that bestows some electric guitar playability to the acoustic-electric paradigm.
The 2026 Road Series organises these Retro and Modern across four distinct styles, each infused with Martin DNA. The 10 Style models have all-satin finishes, solid sapele on the back and sides, the choice of solid sapele or spruce tops, Martin’s E1 acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system, and they draw their inspiration from Martin’s more upscale Style 15 models.
The 12 Style takes its lead from Martin’s Style 18 (e.g. a D-18), and so it’s largely the same as above, except with gloss finishes as standard. The 13 Style presents us with a few more options, with gloss finishes and solid spruce tops across the board, and the choice of solid black walnut, aka “Pennsylvania rosewood,” or black walnut with koa veneer on the back and sides.
These take their design cues from the Style 28 models, and have Martin E1 electronics on all models, save for the SC-13E, which has an LR Baggs Element installed.
And saving the best for last, certainly if you’re looking for some of that old-school Martin aesthetic at a more affordable price point, there are the Retro Plus models, which are described as “elevated interpretations of the Style 12 and 13 models”.
With torrefied spruce tops, scalloped spruce X-bracing and solid granadillo on the back and sides, they’re all kinds of fancy, and you can get the smaller-bodied 000 or the big-lunged Dreadnought, both with ebony fingerboards, both mighty fine, for £2,149/$2,099 street.
That’s a high-end acoustic guitar in our book, but the 2026 Road Series has plenty of affordable options, with prices starting from £949/$899, and the series doing exactly what Martin says it would, bridging the gap between its entry-level X Series and the dream machines of its mainline models coming out of Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
These new Road Series will be on display at NAMM 2026. But they are also with Martin dealers worldwide, available to order.
Browse the full range at Martin Guitar.
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