Ever since C.F. Martin & Co. first arrange store in America almost 200 years in the past, its devices have been the gold customary for acoustic guitars. For a legacy firm resembling Martin to call a brand new mannequin Inception, one ought to take into account what this could be the start of. With a seamless decline within the availability of conventional hardwoods as a result of tropical deforestation, the guitar trade faces the existential disaster of how you can construct high-quality devices from sustainable woods. Martin is beginning to reply that query with the GPCE Inception. 

Utilizing sustainable home tonewoods paired with an progressive bracing design, the Inception is a great-sounding instrument that’s simple to play, produces strong projection, and is balanced throughout the sonic spectrum. On a current take a look at, I discovered the guitar to be a well-rounded and likeable, offering ample tone whether or not fingerpicking, strumming, or soloing. 

Sustainably Constructed and Cleverly Designed

Martin has for probably the most half constructed guitars with rosewood and mahogany our bodies, solely often utilizing maple on manufacturing fashions such because the short-lived J-65 and the occasional customized store construct. What’s completely different in regards to the Inception is that the design crew rigorously constructed the guitar with maple in thoughts and didn’t merely recycle a historic mannequin with completely different woods. The again of the Inception has not the normal two-piece design however a three-piece format, which permits Martin to pick wooden from smaller bushes.

This venture additionally offered a chance for a singular and practical design. Because the fast elementary of maple will be brash in a steel-string guitar, Martin used a black walnut wedge on the middle of the again to sweeten up the tone. Using these two domestically harvested woods is seen all through the guitar in its maple sides and black walnut bridge, binding, neck, and fretboard. In the meantime, the highest is fabricated from FSC-certified European spruce. 

Below the hood, the Inception appears to be like fairly completely different than something the guitar maker has ever completed. This isn’t your grandmother’s Martin. Laser-cut hexagon honeycomb shapes within the Inception’s bracing system take out a few of the weight and goal to make the highest extra responsive—an impact aided by tone channels stemming from every of the braces. 

Martin’s consideration to element and artisanship is obvious all through the Inception. The frets are well-seated and intonated all through. The sheen of the satin end blends effectively with the black walnut fretboard, and the sunburst on the again illuminates its walnut strip. Contained in the field, the seen joints are spot on, with no glue spillage in sight. 

Glorious Playability and Trendy Sound

The Inception performs as simply as an electrical guitar with its low motion and modified low oval neck. With a nut width of 1-3/4 inches, there’s loads of room between the strings for single-note soloing, however not an excessive amount of to make sure chord shapes difficult. 

Whereas the brand new bracing system is alleged to extend the amplitude of the sound wave, taking part in the guitar was the last word take a look at, and I rapidly observed it was surprisingly loud. There was an immediacy from the assault of my decide to the opening of the observe, probably owing to the maple building. Nevertheless, I needed to be cautious to not dig in too onerous, as I discovered the guitar arrange for a gentler participant. The Inception was effectively balanced throughout the fretboard till I received previous the fifteenth fret—that’s an space the place most guitars lose their punch, and the take a look at mannequin was no exception. 

To essentially put the guitar via its paces, I performed a handful of authentic compositions combining arpeggiated chords with melodic outbursts and located my private candy spot slightly nearer to the bridge than I might usually play. I veered into Eddie Lang’s “A Little Love, A Little Kiss” and rapidly realized I wanted to loosen up on the bass notes and push slightly tougher on the excessive finish to get it balanced whereas utilizing a plectrum. 

I then put the decide down and finger-picked my method via a bossa-nova rhythm on Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Waters of March,” adopted by Ernesto Nazareth’s “Odeon.” It was right here that the Inception excelled, as I simply discovered the correct steadiness between bass and chords. I then went again to strumming with a decide and performed via David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust.” The open chords sustained and projected bountifully and with none muddiness. 

Plugging In

To place the Inception’s L.R. Baggs Anthem electronics to the take a look at, I plugged the guitar into my Henriksen Blu Six combo amp. The amplified sign possessed spectacular transparency. It sounded identical to the guitar, solely with extra quantity—a testomony to each the guitar and its pickup system, in addition to the amp. Play-ing at a variety of apartment-acceptable quantity ranges, I discovered the sounds persistently good, and I rapidly found that dialing down the quantity of the guitar allowed me to show up the amp with out the bass overriding the treble. 

The Verdict

Total, the Martin GPCE Inception Maple is a daring new acoustic-electric that’s excellent for a gigging up to date singer-songwriter or instrumentalist—particularly one who’s ecologically aware and open to developments in steel-string acoustic design. The oldsters at Martin have made it clear: the Inception is the start of a shiny way forward for sustainably constructed guitars.

SPECS 

BODY Grand Efficiency 14-fret cutaway; FSC-certified European spruce high with skeletonized scalloped X-bracing; three-piece maple and black walnut again; maple sides; black walnut sloped fashionable stomach bridge with drop-in Tusq saddle; bone bridge pins; black walnut binding; tortoise sample pickguard; satin end with Amber Fade sunburst high

NECK Black walnut neck; modified low oval form with high-performance taper; dovetail joint; 25.4″ scale size; 1-3/4″ bone nut; black walnut fretboard; maple arrow hex design inlays; 20 frets; gold open gear tuners; satin end

OTHER L.R. Baggs Anthem electronics; Luxe by Martin Kovar strings (.012–.054); molded hardshell case; obtainable left-handed

MADE IN USA

PRICE $3,999 road

martinguitar.com

This text initially appeared within the Could/June 2024 problem of Acoustic Guitar journal.