Why Martin’s 16 Series is its most interesting new range in years
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The iconic shape and look of a natural-finished square-shouldered Martin Dreadnought is so familiar, so legendary, that it’s not just defined the last 100-plus years of Martin, it’s become the thing people who have absolutely no idea about guitars picture when someone tells them to imagine a guitar.
For generations of players, the classic Martin body shapes – be that a Dreadnought, Auditorium or Concert – have become familiar friends, trusted confidants and companions through a lifetime’s musical journey. But Martin didn’t become the most iconic American acoustic guitar brand by resting on its laurels and playing the hits for a century or more – the Pennsylvanian company has forever been pushing the boundaries and trying new things.
That spirit has continued apace over the last few years, whether that’s been through exploring new body shapes like the GPC and the SC, trialling alternative tonewoods in the Inception range, or expanding the visual palette with new finishes like Mezcal Burst, Paisley Ember Burst and Amber Fade Sunburst.
Even by this standard, however, the brand new and reimagined 16 Series is taking Martin’s already big tent, and expanding it for a lot of new guitar players with bold, and unconventional ideas about what a Martin guitar is. In fact, the new 16 Series might be the most interesting new range of guitars the brand has created in a long time – and this is why.
The Martin DSS-16E guitars. Image: Press
Any Colour You Like
There’s a fun anecdote that Martin’s Mike Dickinson told Guitar.com in our film Perfect Harmony. Back in the 1970s, Johnny Cash asked Martin to build him a guitar, and being The Man In Black, he wanted it to be… well… black. The legend goes that Martin CEO Chris Martin III really wasn’t a fan of painting over the beautiful spruce top of a Martin guitar, and so the Martin team effectively made this guitar in secret, with the company owner not realising it had ever happened until he saw Cash on TV with the guitar, and was delighted.
It’s safe to say that things have changed at Martin in the decades since then, and has expanded the visual palette of its guitars a great deal.
But while signature artists like Cash and Eric Clapton (with his limited run collabs with Hiroshi Fujiwara) have added solid colours to their guitars in the past few decades, it’s safe to say that we’ve seen nothing before like the new 16 Series.
The Martin DSS-16E in Cherry Cola. Image: Press
Whether its Cherry Cola, Blue Denim, Black Smoke or Cream, the eye-popping new colours that adorn the spruce tops of the 16 Series are as striking as they are appealing – you have to admit, you might never have thought about a bright red Martin guitar before, but now you’ve seen it, it works, right?
These new finish options aren’t just marketing gimmicks either – you don’t have to spend much time looking at stages across the musical spectrum in 2026 to see that plenty of young singer-songwriters are looking to painted-top guitars as a way to stand out on stage – and these new options certainly do that.
Of course, if you’re not a primary colour kind of guitarist, the stunning 1935 Burst gives a modern twist to the shade top look, and there are some natural-finish versions in there, too. What’s more, closer inspection will reveal that while these guitars are bright and colourful, the finish is semi-transparent, allowing you to still see the grain of that beautiful spruce underneath – we’re sure Chris Martin III would appreciate that.
The Martin 00L-16E in Blue Denim. Image: Press
Shape Sorter
If the finishes were the only departure for the 16 Series, that would still be a big deal, but you’ve probably noticed that this isn’t the biggest change for 2026. While the previous 16 Series guitars were designed to straddle the worlds of traditional and modern acoustic guitars, the new ones do something much more unexpected.
Because in addition to a refreshed take on the modernist GPC platform, the range now comprises three very rarely seen body shapes in the Martin canon – a slope-shouldered Dreadnought, a slope-shouldered 00, and the Jumbo.
Quite aside from the visual point of difference these guitars offer, they also offer a different experience in terms of both playability and sound than the more conventional Martin guitars you might be familiar with.
The DSS-16E Slope-Shouldered Dreadnought offers a punchy midrange, strong treble response, and a focused low end. With a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, it offers a woody, more intimate tone that pairs perfectly with a shorter-than-normal 24.9″ scale length. This gives a more relaxed and comfortable playing feel that complements the DSS’s natural warmth, while forward-shifted scalloped X-bracing enhances both the bass response and resonance.
The Jumbo sized J-16E is another eye-catching entry – this 14-fret spruce/rosewood beast is designed to command a room with a body size that delivers thunderous volume with sparkling top-end response – it’s the perfect Martin guitar for strummers, rhythm players, and anyone who wants to command the stage.
Finally, the smallest guitar in the range, the 00L-16E brings the slope-shouldered style to the classic Martin 00 body style. Compact and intimate, the 00L still has surprising projection for a guitar of its size, with a woody and responsive tonality that’s the perfect pairing for fingerstyle, songwriting, or rhythm work.
The Martin Grand J-16E 12-string. Image: Press
Martin Magic
These unconventional shapes pair with the striking new finish options to produce some of the most non-traditional Martin guitars ever, while still maintaining that touchstone of heritage and familiarity that players love about the brand.
What’s more, while they may look different to the norm, they remain every bit the Martin guitars that we know and love – just with a slightly different accent.
It goes without saying that these 16 Series guitars aren’t replacing anything – you’ll still be able to buy all the D-18s and 000-28s you want, and these guitars don’t change that at all. What they do instead is create new colours in the crayon box, and new paths for more guitarists than ever to discover the magic of Martin guitars. And that’s something we can all get behind.
Find out more about the Martin 16 Series at martinguitar.com
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
