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Pros:
- Amazing Sound
- Beautiful
- Great Build
Cons:
- Expensive
The miracle of the top notch guitar is hard to find, but is harder to ignore once you have seen. Guitars such as the Martin D-41 seem to have everything a musician could ever want. They set a standard for all other instrument you will ever have, in terms of quality of make and the sound they produce, so you will never be fully satisfied unless you pick up a comparable guitar. Though, like Martin D-41, the price might not be right for you. Let’s take a closer look at this instrument and find out why it is worth as much as it is.
Build Quality
The dreadnought shape was not always there. It had to start somewhere and, to be honest, one of the places it started was with Martin guitar manufacturers. It was one of the first guitars to have a dreadnought shape, with its strong bass response and powerful projection. The D-41 stays within the traditional framework of the Martin Dreadnoughts, being improved slightly throughout history. What we get here is a powerful body with an exceptional strength of sound and bass.
Some of you may find the Spruce top wood on this guitar a little scandalizing. How dare a luxury guitar have a topwood so often used in all kinds of guitars in all price ranges? Because the tonewood these guys are using is, first of all, top quality and second of all, hand set into the guitar. This means expressive high and midtones superior to anything you have heard before. The solid east Indian rosewood back and sides of the guitar, handset and handicrafter once again, add the little bit of a pleasurable tinge to the lower and mid tones that the spruce misses out on. This tonewood is rare and valued for its resonance with the lower tones. Definitely worth having on a guitar. The guitar is natural, with polished gloss finish for the body, meaning it will age into its sound, further maturing and sweetening the tone of the guitar.
The neck is through set mahogany, entirely solid and entirely genuine. A pleasure to play and hold. The fingerboard of the guitar solid ebony, a smooth material that feels as good as it looks on this beautiful guitar.
Hardware
Continuing on with stellar specifics, this guitar does not seize to inspire. The bridge of the guitar is solid black ebony. The dreadnought body of the guitar, combined with the powerfully resonant tonewoods, might be a little too powerful if unleashed without limiters. The ebony bridge acts as the limiter in this case, dampening the vibrations slightly and keeping the guitar from being too booming.
The nut and saddle of the guitar are bone and compensated bone, providing the sturdy, thick support without the buzz, as well as a slightly deeper tone. A great choice, with the bone being used on these guitars being much long lived than what you might be used to.
The tuners on this guitar are Scheller Gold with large knobs. Tuning stability is not an issue and I doubt will ever be an issue for these guitars. Which you might end up resenting since tuning the guitar is such a pleasure thanks to the tuning machine’s exceptional quality.
Martin D41 Sound
The sound of the guitar is exceptional. Powerful thanks to the build dedicated to power, the sound remains sweet and vibrant thanks to the spruce topwood. The guitar’s propensity to exceptional bass is not omitted either. The low sound are powerful, detailed and pleasant. The guitar is flexible in its sound. Few guitars can argue to be on the same level of cleanliness in sound over as large a range in tone.
Conclusion
This is an exceptional guitar, one of the few I have gotten to look at that I can say might be impeccable. It delivers on all levels, having an incredible sound, in terms of versatility and strength, as well as an amazing build and look. The only problem I, or some of us, may have is that the guitar is extremely expensive. This is my wallet speaking though, since if I could, I would’ve bought it yesterday.
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Just took delivery of a 2004 D41 std. I wanted the 1-3/4″ nut that I read somewhere came std but this one is 1-11/16″. That 1/16″ would normally be a deal breaker for me, but OMG, that neck and sound rivals anything I’ve ever played. I do a lot of finger picking so I’m going to need another 1-3/4″ (open G tuning requires a 2nd guitar on stage), but this D41 is as comfortable as my Guild D55 that i thought, along with piano quality sound, was unrivaled for a 1-11/16″ nut high end guitar….WRONG! My D41 soundboard. (Top) has rare combo of tight grain with cross-waves throughout. So the guitar is much lighter than i was expecting and probably a keeper even if i didnt play guitar! Worth every penny 🙂