Martin Guitars Standard Series 0-18

Single-0. Endless Possibilities.

The Martin 0-18 is one of the most legendary guitars ever to come out of Nazareth, Pennsylvania for a simple reason: nothing else sounds quite like it! As a general rule, the clear, present, responsive voice of spruce is a perfect partner for the roundness and midrange warmth of mahogany, but these two kinds of wood do some really magnificent things together when formed into Martin’s single-0 shape. This combination of tonewood and body shape gives the 0-18 a singular voice that can sing in a way that few other acoustics can, so let’s take a closer look and see what exactly makes these guitars so special.

Tone that Will Leave Your Mind Blown

We’re not breaking any new ground in the world of guitar tone when we say that spruce and mahogany are a world-beating tonewood combination. It’s like grilled cheese and tomato soup: you just can’t go wrong. However, most guitars with such a configuration are dreadnoughts, and mahogany and spruce do different things in smaller packages. Whereas a D-18 will have lots of low-end boom and an open high-end, the 0-18 has detailed, dense frequency response in the midrange and a more transparent sound in the trebles. In fact, save for a little bit of cutting shimmer, the 0-18 is pretty much all midrange thanks to its non-scalloped X-bracing! It’s also supremely balanced, and the string-to-string clarity is unparalleled.

Good Luck Putting it Down

First, let’s toss aside practical concerns and focus on the most important thing: how inspiring is the 0-18 when you sit down with it in an empty house with an entire afternoon free to write music? I can only speak for myself, but in that scenario, I would probably put my phone on airplane mode and get lost. Chances are, I would sit down, start playing, look up, see that three hours have passed and realized I forgot to feed myself again.

Why? Frankly, it’s hard to put down an acoustic that plays this nice! The neck is a modified low oval with a high-performance taper and a 1 ¾” nut, which is a killer combination. It’s wide but fairly slim, and it seems to invite adventurous, fluid chording. It also has a 24.9” scale, so it has a slinky handfeel that begs for expressive, nuanced vibrato and varied dynamics. Personally, having a guitar with such a clear, balanced voice in my hands opens my ears up to new chord progressions and melodies, and it makes me pay more attention to accuracy and technique. Not everyone who picks a 0-18 will be inspired in the same way as me, but everyone will be inspired somehow by this stellar combination of tone and feel.

A Secret Weapon in the Studio

On the practical side of things, having a guitar like this in your arsenal means that you will have a new best friend in the recording studio. Guitars like the 0-18 are a godsend for recording engineers because of the way they sit in a mix. The spruce top gives it just enough brightness to cut through a mix, but it doesn’t produce a whole lot of overtones, which is good because it doesn’t overwhelm the ear with high-frequency information (too much sparkle can lead to ear fatigue). A lot of guitar players are scared of instruments without booming bass, but less low-end is a good thing when the tape starts rolling. Too much response in the 0-250 Hz range can really muddy up an acoustic guitar recording, and you have to do a lot of tricks with EQ in post-production to get it to sound right. This guitar is easy to record because it already sounds right, and you don’t have to twiddle a single knob or download a single plug-in to help it get there.

(Single-Ought) Eighteen and I Like It

The Martin 0-18 is just as inspiring on the porch or the couch as it is in the recording studio. It has a voice that embodies the signature characteristics of a Martin, but it doesn’t sound like any other Martin out there, either. This singular voice compels you to play for hours, and any guitar that inspires you to perspire the way the 0-18 does is a powerful tool, indeed. The Wildwood team is proud to showcase this Pennsylvanian legend for our outstanding customers, and we hope it provides you with joy and inspiration for years to come.