Martin 00028EC 6-string Eric Clapton Acoustic Guitar with Case

First, I don't own this guitar. I simply played one. But there were no reviews so I thought I would add a basic one.

The body is slightly smaller than many guitars, both in terms of the size of the soundboard (face), and the thickiness of the guitar. This does make it quite comfortable to play. The sound was typical of martins, but more delicate or gentle than say, a dreadnought, due to the slightly smaller body. It played like a dream and I'd love to have one but for the $3200 price, its a bit oversold. You're paying for Eric's endorsement, and a couple inlays and minor features that are not on the basic 00028.

If money is no object, its an interesting piece and a nice guitar. But you might do better to pay a grand less and get the basic 00028. Unless you like guitars with other people's names on them. But hey what do I know. I have a Reverend Horton Heat Gretsch 6120, so....ya know...its about the feature set and what you really like. I didn't buy that...Read more

Martin 00028EC 6-string Eric Clapton Acoustic Guitar with Case

I've owned my Martin 00028EC for about 6 months now and it's getting a lot of playing time. Once I pick it up, forget about it. Three hours are gonna fly by and I'm gonna be in flow mode, switching between fingerstyle and flatpicking while using alternative tunings and sometimes two capos at a time. Yep, I said two capos--I like to use one of those scary looking Spider capos with a traditional capo attached a couple of frets behind it for some nonconventional chord colors. Even with the shorter scale length (24.9"), it holds dropped D and DADGAD just fine with no floppy sounding tones. Tuning stability is exceptional; the tone is focused, balanced, and the dynamic range is impressive. If you like to palm mute or tap out percussive rhythm parts on the guitar's top...Read more

I owned an 000-28EC for a few months, purchased largely on impulse. It was a fine sounding guitar with a short 24.9" scale and 1.75" nut with. The guitar was purchased at GC, new with warranty for $2000. It was NOS and for that reason I was offered the guitar at a price I could not pass up!

All good.

What did not like about the guitar, and the primary reason I gave it up, was the design of the modified-V neck shape. I found this to be less than ergonomic for playing up the neck and, actually, the guitar caused some discomfort in my fretting hand.

Not so good.

I applaud Martin for the items listed in my first paragraph and for the simple fact that this model is among the best sounding new guitars of any make. If the guitar had a standard neck, or even a low profile shape, I would have kept it.

For reference: I am a semi-professional musician who has been playing the acoustic guitar for over 30 years.