Martin Super D-18 review: it’s hard to fully explain how much fun this guitar is
$3,399 / £3,399, martinguitar.com
In the guitar world we’re pretty used to seeing brands throw around all sorts of impressive-sounding adjectives to give their products added kudos – ultra, professional, max, deluxe and perhaps most commonly of all, ‘super’.
READ MORE: Taylor Next Generation 324ce review: “this could easily be your forever acoustic”
Typically, those words are mainly there to catch our attention and signal that the thing in question is likely to cost a fair bit more than the original version, but now and then these modifiers are well-earned.
Take for example, the new for 2026 addition to Martin’s USA-made Standard series, the Super Dreadnought. This isn’t some sort of way of upselling you on some fancy new technology or a bunch of extra pearl – it’s a way of telling you that this is, quite literally, the biggest single-necked guitar Martin currently makes.
The Super D has been around for a few years now as part of the Custom Shop line-up, and has found a few famous fans along the way – notably Jason Isbell. But is bigger necessarily better? Well, there’s only one way to find out…
Image: Press
Martin Super D-18 – what is it?
Well, as the name suggests, it’s a dreadnought, but bigger! The dreadnought, famously, is about as big as most of us are used to seeing an acoustic guitar – but the Super doesn’t make it a little bit bigger.
The whole thing is roughly 13 per cent bigger overall, and has a monster 20 per cent more internal air volume (the ‘lungs’ of an acoustic instrument) than a regular Martin dread’. It does this by being around an inch wider than one (16.375 inches instead of 15.625 inches) and having a deeper body to boot.
The nut width, interestingly, is also a little bit wider than on a traditional acoustic too – it’s around 1.75 inches compared to the 1.68 inches you’d usually find on a Martin dreadnought. Otherwise, it’s every inch the classic Nazareth-made Martin guitar – spruce top, mahogany back, sides and neck, and an ebony bridge and fingerboard.
The idea that you’d ever need to plug this beast in seems rather fanciful, and so perhaps it’s unsurprising that Martin would spec this without any onboard electronics – just dig in and let this thing shout!
Image: Press
Martin Super D-18 – build quality and playability
You expect a certain level of fit and finish with Martin’s Standard series, and upon removing this guitar from its oversized hard case, it looks every bit the classic Nazareth 14-fret dread, just a bit bigger.
In truth, the extra body width serves to make the guitar look more balanced in the flesh. When you hear the specs, you half wonder if you’re going to end up playing something that’s more like a Mexican guitarrón than a traditional flat-top, but from a distance on a stand, it’s only the neck and headstock that hint that this is a bigger guitar than you might be used to.
Up close, there is an element of the minivan to it – this is a large guitar even by dreadnought standards, and that certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste. Happily, when you play it you don’t notice the difference too much – it’s there of course, but not so much that you feel like a little kid playing his dad’s guitar.
Combined with that wider nut-width, the neck is a little bigger than I’m used to feeling with modern Martins – it feels more like the pre-1960s necks the company used to make, and probably confirms my suspicions that it intends this primarily as a big, booming strummer first and foremost.
Despite the extra size, it’s comfortable playing for long periods both seated and standing, and I didn’t notice anything digging into me more than usual after a long playing session.
Image: Press
Martin Super D-18 – sounds
I’ve played an awful lot of acoustic guitars in my time – and a lot of Martin dreadnoughts with it – but even so, strumming the Super D-18 for the first time was an experience. Such is the power and projection on tap, it almost overwhelms you with how much bass response is available – and this isn’t boomy or baritone-like, it has all the same low-end frequencies you’d expect from a regular dreadnought, but much louder and fuller than I’m used to.
It also gives chords better definition than I was expecting – and I really noticed that the high B and E strings cut through much louder. There is a bit of a trade-off to this, as when you’re really strumming and digging in the D and G strings can get a little lost, but if you back off a touch it’s all much more balanced, but with that same definition.
I realised that while the temptation is to play this thing as loud as you can, part of the reason for this extra power is to enable you to play a little softer and more evenly, and still get all the volume, punch and power you’d expect.
It’s also a guitar that responds very well to fingerstyle picking, and plucking the bass notes with your thumb truly makes this guitar sing. I can honestly say that I’ve never heard or played another acoustic guitar that sounds like this, offering such force and power without dominating every frequency.
That being said, good gracious it’s loud – it might look like something a soccer mom would use to ferry the kids around, but inside roars the motor of a big block Corvette. If you take the Super D-18 to a party, jam session or open-mic night, make sure you bring a soundhole plug or you might be asked to leave – that’s how strident and domineering this thing can be if you’re not careful.
Martin Super D-18 – should I buy one?
There are plenty of people who will take one look at the Super D-18 and wonder why Martin even bothered – after all, the Martin dreadnought is about as close to sonic perfection as it gets for an acoustic guitar.
And you’re not wrong, but what’s the harm in adding another fun club into the bag? If you’re a player who gravitates toward bigger, fuller, unique and alternative stringed instruments, like me, then this is a wonderfully interesting and enjoyable experience.
Purists might not appreciate this model as it is taking a proven historical shape guitar and altering the size, bracing and neck size, but if we’re going to keep moving the acoustic guitar forward, we have to try these things!
It’s hard to fully explain how much fun this guitar is, the physical experience of this thing rattling your ribs and bouncing off the walls is something that you really have to be in the room to experience. And once you have, you might never want to go back to that teeny ol’ dreadnought again.
Martin Super D-18 – alternatives
Martin’s D-18 Standard ($2,999 / £3,149) is plenty of power and projection for most people. If you want an alternative big body that isn’t quite as big, the Gibson SJ-200 Standard ($5,699 / £5,499) is a whole lot of spruce and maple, while Taylor’s Gold Label 517e ($2,799 / £2,549) is a bigger than average flat-top from the brand’s more retro-focused range.
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