No Limits

Martin’s big launch for 2020 is a very un-Martin-style ‘crossover’ guitar, strongly hinting at a desire to move forwards. A designer’s folly or the future?

- Dave Burrluck

If you’re a dyed in the wool Martin guitar fan, you might want to look away. By design, the new SC-13E isn’t for you. “It’s time to rethink what an acoustic-electric guitar can do,” states Martin. If you’re expecting a guitar loaded with digital images or perhaps the in-built acoustic effects of Yamaha’s TransAcoustic technology, you’d be some way off the mark. The electro SC-13E does feature the Fishman MX-T preamp, which includes a very neat onboard tuner, volume and tone controls, plus a phase switch intended to maximise bass response at lower volumes and conversely suppress feedback at higher levels. This is all placed in easy reach just inside the soundhole, which was developed at the request of Martin for its Road Series – but that’s it for any electronic trickery.

So, what exactly is the SC-13E? “It’s looks like a Taylor that’s been left on a radiator,” quipped an onlooker at the sizeable launch of the guitar earlier this year at the NAMM Show. And, yes, that’s the first most obvious difference: the new S-shape asymmetric body, a trendy offset if you like, that appears to take Martin’s interpretation of Taylor’s Grand Performer shape and drops its treble side, with it pulling the cutaway to a very un-Martin-like downward-pointing stance.

If that doesn’t have you spluttering, flip the guitar over and that curve of the cutaway is mirrored flowing into the heel, or rather the lack of heel. Says Martin: “With our patent-pending Sure Align neck system, we removed the heel, providing full access to all 20 frets. No more contorting your hand to reach the high notes. Now you can comfortably play the entire fretboard.”