The Martin LX1
Affectionately referred to as ‘the Little Martin’, the LX1 is Martin’s take on the travel guitar. Unlike Taylor’s GS Mini, it could be considered a new body shape rather than a scaled-down classic. Martin designed it from the ground-up, taking cues from their colourful legacy of market-leading acoustics.
Speaking of legacy, Martin have been in the business a fair bit longer than Taylor. Their thoughtful design and attention to detail is always apparent, no matter the series or model. Combine that with something this compact and affordable, and you’re potentially onto a winner. But can the LX1 compete with Taylor’s cutting-edge approach and undeniable value? Let’s look at the Little Martin’s selling points.
Ultimate affordability
Let’s start with the obvious: the LX1 comes with a lower price tag than its Taylor-made counterpart. In an industry that gets more competitive by the day, price is a hugely important consideration. Coming in at just over the £400 mark*, it undercuts the Taylor by around 20% – a pretty significant saving. This potentially puts the Martin within reach of a slightly larger audience.
This audience is ever-expanding, largely due to you-know-who. Sheeran rose to fame with his LX1 by his side, and it inspired a whole generation to pick up the guitar and play along. He’s since released a number of signature models and worked with other manufacturers, but the LX1 remains extremely popular – and Martin may, in part, have Sheeran to thank for that…
Martin legacy
…not that Martin need some jumped-up award-winning 30-something singer-songwriter to help them sell their instruments. They defined the acoustic guitar as we know it.
C.F. Martin & Company has been around since 1833 (almost two whole centuries ago). As such, they kinda know what they’re doing. When they released the LX1 travel-sized guitar, they did it with careful consideration of the market, great attention to detail and with absolute respect to the heritage of the acoustic guitar.
It’s not often that you get to be the owner of an instrument with so much cultural significance behind it – especially when it costs as little as the LX1 does. When you purchase a Martin, you’re investing in a little piece of history. We reckon that’s pretty darn cool.
Hard-wearing satin finish
Back to the tangible stuff – the LX1, like many of Martin’s guitars, has an HPL finish. HPL stands for high-pressure laminate, and it refers to the layers used in the guitars construction.
What’s so special about HPL though? First up, from your perspective – the player, the proud owner – it feels great. No squeaky gloss to worry about marking or scraping. Just a smooth top layer that feels wonderful to play and looks pretty wonderful in an understated sort of way.
Next, the HPL approach gives the Martin LX1 guitar a certain toughness. It makes the guitar far less susceptible to environmental side-effects such as warping and cracking finishes. This is particularly crucial given the fact that the LX1 is designed to be a travel instrument!
In addition, the HPL finish is tough as anything. Scratches, dings, scrapes – it takes quite a lot to mark this little guy. Luthiers will tell you that it’s pretty impervious to many chemicals and nasty stuff (beer included) – though we wouldn’t recommend putting it to the test if you can avoid it.
