Martin D Jr-10 6-String Acoustic Guitar

The D Jr-10 represents C.F. Martin & Co.’s successful foray into the mid-tier market, a “junior” size version of their popular dreadnought shape guitar. Being the company that developed the dreadnought, Martin is certainly the authority when it comes to its design, so it’s not surprising that their miniature version is well received.

Martin didn’t pull their punches with the D Jr-10, giving it an all solid wood body – solid sitka spruce for the top, and solid sapele for the back and sides. This is a big deal because Martin usually reserves all solid wood body construction for more expensive models. It even comes with scalloped X bracing. And since it is built to meet the quality standards of Martin, you can expect good quality playability and tone from it, albeit different from its regular sized dreadnought siblings.

What surprised me about the D Jr-10 is its detailed lows, not as deep as regular dreads, but low enough to make the guitar sound fuller. It has more bass than any junior or parlor size guitars that I have tried. It also retains the warmer woody signature sound of Martin, which I personally prefer over the brighter sound of other junior style acoustic guitars.

While having an all solid wood body helps improve volume, its small body size limits its projection, it won’t be as loud as regular sized acoustics.

Everything else about it is also scaled down, including the neck which has a shorter 24″ scale length and a narrower 1.75″ nutwidth. The neck follows Martin’s “High Performance Taper” profile, which is their own modified low oval shape. All these modifications make the D Jr easier and more comfortable to play. But it also means that it feels and plays very differently from regular sized acoustics.

Another unique feature of the D Jr-10 is it has a thinner body depth similar to 000 Martins, and it has beveled back edges to improve playing comfort.

Since Martin makes such high-spec’ed “Junior” guitars at a relatively reasonable price, I really hope they expand this line with a similarly spec’ed and priced parlor guitar, preferably with slotted headstock.

The Martin D Jr-10 is a great entry-way into the world of premium acoustics. Highly recommended for those who want an easy to play guitar while bearing the classic Martin tone.

The Martin D Jr-10’s smooth back edges

Specs

• Body Shape: Dreadnought Jr
• Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
• Back and Sides: Solid Sapele
• Finish: Satin
• Bridge: Walnut
• Neck: Richlite
• Neck Profile: High Performance Taper (Modified Low Oval)
• Fingerboard: Richlite
• Fingerboard Radius: 16″
• Number of Frets: 20
• Frets to Body: 14
• Scale Length: 24”
• Nut Width: 1.75″

Demo

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