MARTINLXK2 Little Martin Koa Pattern HPL Top with Padded Gigbag

I was surprised by the sound of this instrument. Really nice! The spacing of the strings is somewhat close, but still good for people with average sized hands.

I have been playing the banjo and uke for a couple of years now and I've never really been comfortable holding a full size (acoustic) guitar. I wanted to find a smaller guitar I could play on the couch or porch and bring with me camping, I love to play outside. I researched and asked musician friends of mine and narrowed it down to this Martin, the Baby Taylor and the Ibanez GA2. I was able to play the Taylor and Martin side by side at a local shop and tried the Ibanez model at a Guitar Center a couple of towns over. The taylor was bright and beautiful but I didn't like the action. The Ibanez sounded good but the action was awful and the tuners were very cheap. The martin was just right. While it's not as brassy and clear as the Taylor, the action and overall feel for me is incredible. The tone is beautiful, very rich for a 3/4 scale, especially the lower notes. The volume is more than enough to keep up with my friends when we jam outside and while I haven't been to a large group jam with it yet (it's only been about a week since I bought it) I have no doubt it will do just fine later this summer when I have a sit down with the blue grass boys. If you're thinking about a 3/4 scale but not sure if this will keep up, you're going to be surprised. I'm heading up the river this weekend and the fact that I can carry my deering good times and this for a combined weight of 7 lbs makes it a no brainer. Overall, extremely pleased.

I own several "real" Martins, but this is a great instrument to leave lying around for when I want to just pick it up and fool around. I think too much of the others to let them out of their cases unless I want to hear what I sound like on a really fine guitar (and I'm usually disappointed, not in the guitar but in me). This is cosmetically pretty nondescript, but it has a surprising good sound for its size and construction and the action is very good. I replaced the tuners with Grover Roto-grips from StewMac, so it's dead easy to replace the strings, and also replaced the gig bag with an SKB hardshell case for when I travel. It's not something I'd recommend unless you have more money than brains (I don't have that much money, but this would suggest I don't have much brains, either. Between the tuners and the case I probably paid 2/3 the cost of a new Little Martin.). Don't buy this if you're looking for a performance guitar. It sounds awfully good, but not that good. It requires medium gauge strings, but with the short scale, they're as easy to play as light gauge on a full-sized instrument.A note of warning: This guitar requires medium gauge strings, and Grover Roto-grips can't handle the medium gauge low E string (.056 gauge). I had a set of Grover Rotomatics that I'd taken off another guitar (to install Roto-grips), so I put one on the low E. Cosmetically it looks like the rest, and I can stand to tie one string off when I change them. Apparently Schaller and other locking tuners have the same problem.

Know what you're getting before you buy and you'll be happy. This is the kind of guitar Ed Sheeran built his career on as a busker. This is not the guitar he is currently using on tour, nor is it a good choice for recording. The version with electronics might be good for gigging, but the LXK2 does not have electronics so I can't comment further than that.This is a 3/4 size guitar. The scale is about 3" shorter than a regular guitar, which means you can tune up two notes (F#BEAC#F#) with regular strings without risk of snapping them. I've done this, and it was fun. I've also tuned down a couple notes (DGCFAD) and it didn't buzz or feel weird. For some reason, though, I have more issues when using a capo than I do on other guitars--retuning with the capo on is a must.The tuners are not too good. The ratio feels low, which isn't a probably for most of the strings but makes it hard to get the low E string dialed in. I'll probably swap them out for 18:1 Grovers.Projection is minimal, but that shouldn't be a surprise. This is a tiny guitar built to survive kids and/or road trips. For what it is, it sounds good and the volume across each string sounds even. The Martin strings it came with sounded awful and I immediately swapped them out for a set of D'Addario phosphor-bronze.Tone is balanced, but focused in the midrange. Fretboard feels perfect. Action was perfect out of the box. Finish looks nice--I'd describe it as semi-gloss (shinier than a matte finish, but not a glossy mirror). The materials are all laminated, and the "koa" is a photo finish but it looks nice and I don't see a seam or repeat in the pattern. Build quality is ROBUST and the finish will be hard to scratch. I've brought this a couple places and while the tuners aren't superb, it didn't seem to react to temperature changes like other guitars I've owned.This is a guitar I bought for the purpose of bringing to church for youth, and on youth group trips. I am totally comfortable letting the youth borrow it and carry it around without me sweating about it. So far, it's been well received, and it's worked well in our smallish worship circles. Very pleased with this, even with its flaws.