Martin 000-16 StreetMaster

[Vapour]

It's very hard for me to tell much difference in sounds between a 1K and 20K guitar from my Macbook even with my AirPods in. The guitar looks fine but when I pick up either of my Eastmans they sounds even better than what I've heard but then playing mine is a live sound. I keep an itch to want more but I'm perfectly more than satisfied with what I got for an anti-social couch player. Maybe one day I can actually get to a nice stocked acoustic shop and actually play and see what differences I hear and feel.

Totally feeling this.  I spent 2 hours at Elderly a couple of weeks ago with my wife saying something along the lines of, "pick out something nice so I don't need to worry about Christmas".  This included the Waterloo WL-14 they had in stock briefly along with much of their high-end room.  I may simply be a hack, but in my hands pretty much every guitar sounds similar or worse than my played-in Eastmans.  The E20OM I bought back in 2017 from Ted has saved me so much money in high-end guitars.

The possible exceptions were the Iris CH and DE models they had.  The DE especially sounded great, but I couldn't figure out what in the world was going on with the fretboard (evidently a custom capo system.)  I might need to run down and Iris DF or OG if I can find one in the wild.

[pszy22]

The brown paper bag sanding is a creative solution!  

Do you know what kind of strings came on the guitar?  Maybe the brashness is a result of the type of string, or just the strings being new.

Enjoy your new toy!

Rod

I've done alot of woodcarving and often use brown paper bag to burnish/polish wood.  Never used it on a guitar, but the light spots almost looked to be close to bare wood.  They looked and felt sanded, after the brown paper bag, they feel and look more worn.

The stings are starting to settle in and mellow out a bit, but the guitar is very loud with alot of sustain.


Very nice rosewood on the back



p.s. Sounding better every day

[Pura Vida]

Congrats and good innovation on the paper bag sanding out the bare spot.  Hope it continues to settle in, and as mentioned above, experiment with strings to see if it helps too.

[pszy22]

Interesting discussion on value priced, somewhat experimental, Nazareth built Martin guitars (and the torrification process)  --

[AlanSam]

I read half of it and will read the rest later. As you say, an interesting discussion.

[pszy22]

The sound of the guitar has been steadily improving.  Don't know if it's me or the instrument, since we are both torrified.   Maybe it's the strings but the high end has smoothed out and generally become more melodious.

I originally thought I might not like the finish, but it has grown on me.  Feels good when playing and it not as bad looking as some of the early pictures appeared.

Overall, it has met or exceeded my expectations in an Eastman sort of way - great value for a well built, high quality all solid tone wood, good sounding guitar with the added bonus of being made in Nazareth,

[pszy22]

A well done review --

[nobodeuno]

Congrats on your new guitar....I have a Streetmaster 000-15M that is very dark, I chose it over the 16 because of the tone character. The 15's have this sweet chime like dynamic I just can't get from spruce. The 15M's have only one tonebar and very thin tops due to mahogany's stiffer properties, which makes them very loud for small guitars.  I also prefer the longer scale for less jangle when strummed or flatpicked, but wished for the 1 3/4 " nut.  The 16 examples at my local shop were visually stark with the light sitka showing very garishly, but sounded great.  However there are so many one offs which is what I like about the Streetmasters, all very different looks, kind of like the Eastman Varnish series models. ...I learned from Martin that all the Streemasters have a different and very thin satin finish than any of Martin's other guitars due to the Streetmaster process. Making them extremely resonant with huge dynamics and timbre.

[sagebrush tom]

I played a 16 series Streetmaster a couple of months ago for over an hour to see and feel if it had the potential to replace my E20 OM. It basically has all the same specs as the E20, short scale, same string spacing and EIR back & sides. Differences are rosewood fretboard & bridge, VTS (torrefied) Adi top, neck shape, Eastman dovetail neck joint vs Martin simple dovetail neck joint  and streetmaster finish vs. a nitro finish. I liked the 000-16 very much as it reminded me a lot of my E20 and the streetmaster was much lighter. 

It's been a tough decision not to get the 000-16 as it's price is very friendly considering the tone woods used. Also pricing for the Eastman and the Martin are within a couple of hundred dollars of each other. 

If anybody has both models on hand let me know what you think about the differences. I'm sure not that many people have both.

[pszy22]

I have been nothing but happy with my 000-16SM.  I also have a 000-18, and they certainly don't sound alike, which is good from my perspective.  They do play equally as well and enjoy playing both.

I will say that the tone of 000-16 has changed significantly.  I'm not good at describing sound,  but it is just more melodic if that makes sense.