Martin XC1T Ellipse Acoustic-Electric User Reviews at zZounds

"Charming little soundbox with a great fingerboard. Just addicting to play." submitted December 28, 2007

By a customer from optonline.net

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Rock, bluegrass, country, blues. ragtime

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Sound: This guitar is awesome frankly. It has a microphone inside and also a saddle pickup with a blender gizmo. Unplugged, it is more than adequate and it's small frame makes it easy to hang your head over the sound hole a bit (or tilt it comfortably toward your ear when sitting) so you get the acoustic ring (I find my Breedlove dread not as easy to hear unplugged unless I play into a corner of the room where the sound can echo back.) When you look at it you might think it a chinsey guitar--very light wood, laminates on back and sides, no binding or inlay, no pickguard, satin finish on top, back, sides and NECK. But the money is in the striped ebony fingerboard, bridge and sound. There are some videos on Youtube showing guys finger picking this model. I just love it and can't put it down. Sincerely, I play it for hours whereas before I wasn't realy playing my Breedlove Atlas AD25SR Plus or 90's Taylor 414K with such comfort and enthusiasm. I can do the tings with my thumb on this that i can't with the taylor--it's a little tighter at the nut which helps me reach what i need to without straining. Feature: The product came with a "Zero Grav" case which was a somewhat hard case covered with canvas. Martin recalled the guitar and case because the case was made in China and a mold problem was reported. Martin sent me a new guitar which was even better than the one I bought, a good Martin hard shell case and believe it or not, 19 sets of strings covering all of Martin's string line (worth more than $100) for my "inconvenience". Since they paid for all the shipping and took care of everything in good time, the experience deserve praise. I'll run out of strings some time in 2010. Ease of Use: The electronic controls are a little inconvenient to get at. they are inside the sound hole and you have to feel for them as you can't see. The mice has a bending cable so you can position it inside in different spots for different textures, but my Planet Waves humidifier packs always seem to push the mic to the back. Other than that the guitar is very playable, light, comfortable and versatile. Quality: I don't find any flaws. As I said, I did have mine recalled and I was a little put off by the presence of wood shavings in the case like the guitar was not finished for shipping. The replacement was flawless. The mounting of the electronics is a bit problematic. I played one at Guitar Center before ordering it on line and the one at GC had the electronics module broken off and loose inside. But even with that I just kept coming back to that guitar for its instant comfort and projection. It had "something" I just had to have. I've read reviews elsewhere where guys complained that the electronics module had come loose. I'm just very careful with it and don't mess with it. I control the volume etc with my guitar effects processor. The top is very soft and will dent easy so I always take off my watch and am careful handling the instrument. Value: I think it's a tad overpriced. It's more than double a Big Baby Taylor but is reminiscent although indeed considerably better. I swallowed what I thought to be about $200 too much in favor of the instant connection I had with this guitar. It's only money, I guess. Manufacturer Support: So far so good. As I said above, they recalled the instrument because of a case mold problem and sent me a better case and over $100 worth of strings as well as a new guitar. You wouldn't get that with an Asian made guitar. Shipping labels and boxes were sent to me promptly and UPS pickked it up. I din't have to "fret" at all. The Wow Factor: It's a "nice" little package. Check the YouTube videos by typing in the Martin model name. Sexy is hard to qualify for everyone--I ug the sound and how easy it felt to play. Looks were an afterthought. Overall: Unless the neck warps and the action or intonation get problematic like what happened with the Big Baby Taylor i had some years ago, I don't expect that I would look to get rid of this guitar in the forseeable future. It's got a lot going for it--it's light as a feather but sounds big.

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"Better than a taylor" submitted January 11, 2008

By a customer from yahoo.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active musicain

Music Style: alternitive whatver i make up

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Sound: it is a great sounding guitar not to bright not to warm it falls in that perferct section. i play all kinds of music its great for rock its great for finger picking. i have a nice amp and it sound just as great and with the fisherman pick up you know its quality Feature: the mic in side is great all the features are inside the sound hole and you can move the mic around to geta differtn sound. Ease of Use: i think it is great i play with my freind its easy to get them sounding the same and just as easy playing with a band Quality: made great In the U S of A! i dont think it will break it seams made with care. i would use this guitar on the road with no worries i think it wiill last for 10 years the only thing im afriad of is the pegs you put in to hold the strings down tthere alittle poped up and i dont want to break them cause there so unique and i would cry. Value: i would kill to get this guitar if i ever lost it or it got smashed Manufacturer Support: dont need it The Wow Factor: it is a very appealing guitar the trim around the sound hole is unique and very disierable the cutaway is nice and the small body makes it eayer to play it on stage Overall: great

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"you'll absolutely LOVE this guitar, the XC1T Ellipse delivers!" submitted January 4, 2011

By a customer from gmail.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: Folk, Folk/Rock

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VERIFIED BUYER

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Sound: I had a catastrophic strap failure with my DXK2 and fell in love with the XC1T. The XC1T is noticeably lighter and and smaller than a fullsize dreadnaught. As most reviews state, the sound is much more balanced across all 6 strings...it's a very full, sweet sounding guitar unplugged...and when you plug it in, wow! The electronics are where this guitar shines. The fishman ellipse blend is truly a wonderful piece of gear to build a guitar around. Feature: Product shipped with a Martin branded (TKL) hardcase, and not the 000 Zero Gravity as advertised.. Ease of Use: When i unboxed it, the mic was lost pointed straight down in the body, I just pulled it up and adjusted it so it's parallel to the soundhole, pointed towards the neck (right in the middle) , I'll probably play with it some more but it sounds great here, with the mic/undersaddle pickup blend at dead center running through my KUSTOM Sienna 30 Watt Acoustic Amp, it sounds incredible. Much brighter more dynamic sound than the DXK2 with a Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker. Quality: The fit and finish of everything is truly superb, there were a few small imperfections in the tawny satinwood laminate, near the cutaway that you can feel if you run your hand along the body, other than that everything is absolutely flawless. Action was perfect from the factory, the neck feels slightly thinner than the one on my DXK2, but the dimensions are supposed to be identical, perhaps it's the weight difference and smaller body that makes it feel "thinner". Value: For the feature set (hardcase/fishman ellipse), the build quality and the beauty of this guitar, I think the price point is accurate, and a great value at that. Manufacturer Support: haven't needed to... The Wow Factor: this guitar is a gorgeous piece, the rosette is flawless, and the satin finish on the neck and the sitka spruce top are very attractive, it's really a unique guitar. I particularly liked the black tuners and black nut/saddle/bridge pins, also the abalone inlaid fret markers on the side of the fretboard. It's very "droolworthy" and if you like the looks in the photos, the real deal with make your heart skip a beat. Overall: I plan to play this guitar for many many years to come...

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Martin XC1T Ellipse Customer Review submitted March 15, 2010

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Sound

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Overall: Great sound, rich tone. The only disadvantage is it would be difficult to adjust the tone while playing.

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Martin XC1T Ellipse Acoustic-Electric Guitar

User Ratings

"Charming little soundbox with a great fingerboard. Just addicting to play." submitted December 28, 2007

"Better than a taylor" submitted January 11, 2008

"you'll absolutely LOVE this guitar, the XC1T Ellipse delivers!" submitted January 4, 2011

Martin XC1T Ellipse Customer Review submitted March 15, 2010