For truly discerning acoustic guitar players, we have this Martin Custom Shop D-18. The Martin Custom Shop, a workshop among the world's most celebrated, frequently delivers on the Martin name for top-shelf tonewood construction and masterful artistic eyes and ears. This Martin Custom Shop D-18 assembles with a striking lineup of materials and specifications to produce a robust acoustic experience that plays faithfully to the historic name's many historic models.

Martin Custom Shop guitars go above and beyond your usual acoustic guitar experience. Principally, this "above-and-beyond" begins with its woods. Assembling in a classic D-14 dreadnought shape with dovetail neck joint construction, this Martin Custom Shop D-18 features an Adirondack spruce top and genuine mahogany back and sides. These two high-quality variations on your classic spruces and mahoganies step up to deliver a tonal experience that is rich, robust, complex, and classy. The Adirondack spruce top is then fitted with Martin's Golden Era scalloped 5/16" Adirondack spruce braces in a forward-shifted X-brace pattern. Made for enhanced balance and projection, this modern-minded feature elevates this Custom Shop model to a higher echelon.

Moving from there, this Custom Shop model brings on a neck taking in a Golden Era Modified Low Oval profile. This neck is decked in a satin finish and fitted with a High Performance taper to connect with a smooth touch and a highly playable shape. Matched with a rich ebony fingerboard lined with twenty frets and detailed with abalone Old Style 18 inlays, the fretting experience of this Custom Shop is a dream.

Backing up its sound and playability, this Custom Shop D-18 is treated to a number of sturdy hardware specs and impressive aesthetic touches. At the base of this Custom Shop's 25.4" scale, an ebony Golden Era Modern Belly bridge lands with a drop-in bone saddle. Toward the headstock, a bone nut lines up with six nickel open gear tuning machines and an East Indian rosewood headplate. A couple of aesthetic flourishes that appear across this model include faux tortoise binding, Old Style 18 multi-stripe inlay, Style 18 purfling, and the Adirondack top's Aging Toner top color that pushes its aesthetic presentation gently into an older profile. This Martin Custom Shop travels with an included hardshell case.

As an example of fine Martin craftsmanship in action, this Custom Shop D-18 is a classic in real time.

• Martin Custom Shop D-14 Fret dreadnought model
• Gloss-finished Adirondack spruce top with Aging Toner top color
• Gloss-finished genuine mahogany back and sides with Dark Mahogany color
• Golden Era scalloped Adirondack spruce braces in forward-shifted X-Brace pattern
• Select hardwood neck in Golden Era Modified Low Oval profile with High Performance taper
• Ebony fingerboard with twenty frets with abalone Old Style 18 inlay
• Dovetail neck joint construction
• Bone nut and nickel open gear tuning machines with butterbean knobs
• Ebony Golden Era Modern Belly bridge with drop-in bone saddle
• Faux tortoise binding and multi-stripe top inlay with Old Style 18 rosette and Style 18 purfling
• Martin hardshell case included