played for 30+ years. Songwriter, pro, own many guitars.

Rock, Indy Folk-Rock, Acoustic Rock, Folk.

30 years jam at home

Metal, Blues.

Play in a Gospel Group. My husband is the guitarist.

Gospel, Country, Classic Rock

I have, now, had this instrument for about 6 weeks and it is just beginning to "break-in". I have been playing fir more years than I care to admit to, and in that time I have developed my own "break-in method" knowing full well that a quality acoustic acoustic/electric requires some time resonating to develop its' voice. In this 6th week I am starting to hear the true "Martin Sound". I have, while closely monitoring humidity, string tension, and intonation, been playing my Brand new GPC12PA4 from zZounds as often and as loudly asI dare before the nieghbors start complaining. Then when I need to take a break I set it beside my stereo sytems speakers and set the volume for comfortable room level listening. I have been amply rewarded with the ever increasing response in both the hi and low end. In this early stage of "break-in" this Martin is taking on a rich, deep, textured tone that is setting it apart from the rest of our groups guitars. The 12 string jingle is clean and readily handles any form of attack I can subject it to. The bass has transformed into a deeply resonant and sustainable pitch. The sum of the articulation, when listened to as a whole, is proving to be one where each note is individually clear and crisp and yet richly endowed with complex overtones. This is the 4th 12 string I have owned and is already the best by far in terms of sound, playability, intonation, and resistance to de-tuning ( my priors were Fender, Taylor, Framus, and Breedlove). This is also the 6th guitar in my current group for performance and recording which I use in various genres of blues, folk, old time, light rock, bluegrass, and many original works. The Martin can take them all on and it does them all well, I am even experimenting with some jazz.

The tone woods are superb choises and the build quality is without eveb the slightest blemiish. I am confident that the tonal qualities will only get better as the wood is further settled in. If I were to have any slight negative thing to say it would be with the electrification system to which I in hindsight and in all honesty can say that I have not fully explored. To me the sound produced from good mike'ing has been, so far, better than the Fishman system. Here again I have not really worked with the pickup enough to call it a true negative, and if I had spent enough effort it would probably not even fall into the negtive column. Other than that, I would highly recommend every aspect of the GPC12PA4 in looks, quality, sound, playability, intonation, and resilliance.

It is getting ever easier to produce great sound from this guitar. This Martin reacts well to any attck from gentle finger picking to full on hard strumming bluegrass and once the strings are initially tuned and streached, it does so without any major re-tuning needed. The number of available and playable frets is right up the fretboard and for a 12 string the bending playability is, in my mind, unbelievable ! -not to be compared to a Strat but I can hold my own against an acoustic 6 string.This is also my second guitar with a pheonol type fretboard. If I didn't know it I would assume I was playing a well sanded and finished rosewoord fingerboard. The only caveat For this manmade material is "do not oil" it as you would rosewood or oak. It does not require that kind of wood preservation/treatment as it does not tend to have the same shrinking/expanding issues if you do apply oil the manmade material tends to shrug it off and you wind up with a very oily maintenance bench -no harm done to the fretboard just extra work for you. I know there are the detractors but I personally find no issues with the material and expect that it will, in time, last longer before it needs to be remilled or replaced.

The construction and finish work is flawless and I expect this is going to be a VERY long relationship.

This is a fantastic guitar from a fantastic producer through a fantastic re-seller which I would, without hesitation, recommend to any prospective buyer, and as always if you see it for less zZounds does price matching (and I have 1st hand knowledge they also honor their price protection clause). No I don't work for them or for Martin, I am just a very satisfied and enthusiastic customer.

I have yet to interact with Martin per say but I will assume the excellenc customer care that Martin is renowned for. I can, however, comment on zZounds. In EVERY single interaction I have ever had and EVERY purchase (over 20, of which 3 were new guitars and 1 for and amp the rest for pedals and accessories) and in EVERY return (1) Zounds has gone beyond perfect and pleasurable. zZounds has far exceeded my evey expectation for friendly, caring, knowledgeable, and truthefull customer service representatives. They have become my goto company for almost all of my needs. The only time I will/have gone elsewhere is when (for some freakish reason) zZounds does not offer a specific item from their huge cataaloge, otherwise, I have them bookmarked.

The WOW factor comes with the first note played !!!!

I have been playing guitar for 44 years also Mandolin, Harmonica, and Fiddle, Semi-pro live and studio, jam, and home

Rock, blues, folk, olde tyme, original, bluegrass, African, jazz

I play guitar and some mandolin. I have playing for 30+ years. I have recently started playing out at local taverns.

I play easy listening, fingerpick style, with some bluegrass thrown in to acknowledge my roots. Mostly soft rock,folk, and count

Played guitar for 35 years.

Rock, blues