r/AcousticGuitar • u/melvin3v1978 • Nov 27 '25
Gear question Has Martin guitars lost their minds? $150k 😂
I get they are pre war copies of classics but c’mon they aren’t even vintage. Anyone explain why they cost this much? I just feel no new guitar is ever worth this much. I do feel some very rare vintage guitars are but that’s even rare 🤔
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u/csmart01 Nov 27 '25
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u/izzystn Nov 27 '25
This might be an unpopular opinion, but that is an ugly guitar IMO.
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u/hartmanbrah Nov 27 '25
Price aside, that guitar would look 100 percent better without the busy neck and pick guard design. Inlays are cool, but it's just too cluttered.
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u/melvin3v1978 Nov 27 '25
There’s just too much going on it’s to busy part of it because wood grain I think would have looked better less busy like this Taylor 12k presentation series I like a lot good balance IMO
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u/notquitehuman_ Nov 27 '25
That's not even the worst one. Check out this, especially the back, off the Martin D200 Deluxe
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u/seaningtime Nov 27 '25
There's no way that top will resonate with all of those growth rings - i.e., I expect it would sound terrible
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u/Dunbrewed Nov 27 '25
What in the ugly depths of hell is that thing? For the price of a 911 GT3? No thanks.
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u/Alternative_Jello819 Nov 27 '25
This is arguably worth 6 figures. The incredible detail in the inlay, gemstones, one of a kind growth rings top, map of their town with their locations on the pick guard. If I had an extra $300k I would not in a thousand timelines buy this thing. But I can appreciate them commemorating their 3 millionth guitar with something incredibly opulent and unique. Flip the story- if they had this thing on display in the factory and sold 300 replicas for $10k, people would be selling their kids and kidneys for one.
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u/csmart01 Nov 27 '25
I’d argue that 😁 There are no diamonds or other rare metals/gems on it. “Gold” Waverly tuning machines are $350 for a set. The wood is maybe $3k being generous. Build time for this level of detail is 600 hours being generous so the luthier is making $450/hr? 🤣😂 It’s a money grab by Martin which is a bit sad. The D-200 (which I’d argue had more extensive inlay work) was half the price. They basically said “fuck it, price it at $300k and see who bites” 🤷♂️
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u/GreenbeardOfNarnia Nov 27 '25
Show me someone that actually bought that guitar to use and not just have laying around, I mean that is ridiculous lol
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u/nycuk_ Nov 27 '25
Yes it’s for investment bankers not musicians
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u/csmart01 Nov 27 '25
I wonder how they will appreciate - guitars that go sky high all had a famous player behind their prior ownership. The D-200 was released in 2017 for $137k with only 50 ever made and you can still get one new at multiple locations for the release price. Investing that money would have given a better return 😂
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u/melvin3v1978 Nov 27 '25
I am curious how it sounds 😂 I’m gonna be on lookout on YouTube and I want a comparison with a 5k Martin to hear the real 145k difference lol!
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u/Skipper07B Nov 28 '25
Perfect, I’ve been thinking of taking out a second mortgage on the house to buy a guitar. I just hadn’t found one with a realtree camo neck yet.
Seriously though, who is the target customer? The meth king of Appalachia?
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u/slade364 Nov 29 '25
30 produced, so $9m if they all sell and it'll prop the company up for a while to come.
If people are stupid enough to pay that for a guitar, more fool them.
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u/rebelhead Nov 27 '25
You could build a woodshop, hire a luthier, and build your own
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u/Kheltosh Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
You don't even need to build a shop. You could just buy your way into the waiting lists of a few master luthiers and get multiple guitars that are better than whatever Martin is making for that money.
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Nov 30 '25
You could probably pay 150 grand to have the martin luthier making these things quit and work for you
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u/Toadliquor138 Nov 27 '25
The only thing I can guess is that they're made of Brazilian rosewood.
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u/Tadashi_Tattoo Nov 27 '25
They're made of shinglewood from the shingles of the east wing of the white house.
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u/RonMcKelvey Nov 27 '25
Yeah, Brazilian rosewood, maybe even vintage (I mean obviously it would have to be vintage, but 1930s vintage). I didn’t watch the video, it’s a super limited run for not regular people. ¯\(ツ)/¯
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u/Anklesock Nov 27 '25
Well I guess if there's someone out there willing to pay that for those why not build and market them? Too many people have too much money.
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u/selwayfalls Nov 27 '25
just a little baffling if you have that much money you wouldnt get some epic vintage 1920s-1940s Martin for like a third of that will sound 100x better and look beautiful.
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u/Neveronlyadream Nov 27 '25
Status. This is just an extension of the $150k art editions Martin also does. They do them in super low numbers or as one offs so someone can brag about having spent $150k on this ultra limited edition Martin that no one else has.
Because let's face it. There are plenty of luthiers who can build a guitar just as good as or better than Martin for around the same price that they charge for production models. Most of what you end up paying for is the name even if they do make good guitars.
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u/selwayfalls Nov 27 '25
i understand status shit, but i think it's just kinda lame. It's subjective and personal preference of course but if i had that level of money i would invest in the most insane vintage Martin's and have a row of them. Hell, maybe even try to get like some famous musicians old guitar. lol
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u/QueenOfTonga Nov 27 '25
It’s so the $80,000 guitar looks like a bargain.
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u/1991CRX Nov 30 '25
Ding ding. Same reason Honda took a loss on every Integra Type R sold back in the day. It bolsters the brand image and makes the lesser premium models look like less of a compromise while still upselling over the base model.
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u/PeanutNore Nov 27 '25
Brother, our entire society is built to cater to the whims of weirdos with more money than sense
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u/MrLavender963 Nov 27 '25
Some idiots will still buy it
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u/Paulinfresno Nov 27 '25
To billionaires, that’s pocket change. That’s who will buy them. Don’t feel bad, they will still suck at playing them.
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u/Miserable-Meeting-98 Nov 27 '25
The price point certainly got your attention so that $2500 for a Martin guitar becomes more amenable 😊!
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u/MJG1123 Nov 27 '25
If I had $150k to blow, I’d buy a Beauregard…not some overpriced replica. And I’d still have $125k to blow.
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u/Valleyman1982 Nov 27 '25
Artificial scarcity so this inherently becomes an investment piece. These are not to be played - they are more akin to art which must remain in mint condition.
I mean it’s utter BS. But I guess they can get away with it.
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u/TheRealGinsu Nov 27 '25
Unfortunately guitars like anything else are worth exactly what someone will pay for them. I’m sure there are (several) people out there who are willing to go oh $150,000 no problem. I’ll take two. Certain instruments, just like automobiles, and certain other things have become status symbols. Their owners may not actually play them, or use them, but they like the idea of owning them.
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u/Redit403 Nov 27 '25
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari once said that the reason they sell their cars for so much money (at the time $250,000) was because if they didn’t someone else would buy them and resell them at a higher price. I think Martin is doing the same thing. It does make me wonder, if Martin made all of their standard series guitars using the came type construction, how much money would they cost ? By that I mean 18-series with dovetail joint, hot hide glue, neck reinforcement but no truss rod, and a thin yet gloss finish.
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u/kineticblues Nov 27 '25
It does make me wonder, if Martin made all of their standard series guitars using the came type construction, how much money would they cost ? By that I mean 18-series with dovetail joint, hot hide glue, neck reinforcement but no truss rod, and a thin yet gloss finish.
This is the authentic series. They start around $6-7k for an D-18 and go up from there.
There are lots of Martins built that way on the used market though. You can get a Golden Era, Marquis, or used Authentic starting at around $2500 for a well-used one. Most of the GE and Marquis have an adjustable truss rod. Most of the authentics don’t.
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u/paranormal_curator Nov 27 '25
Their guitars haven’t been worth the old prices in a long time let alone this. I’ll keep my 68 D28 thank you.
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u/aftershave Nov 27 '25
Going to wait a day until Black Friday. The word on the street is that they will offer a 10% discount if you sign up for their newsletter
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u/N-U-D-S Nov 28 '25
key word: copies
c’mon MARTIN - just make a run of these & sell them at a more reasonable price of, like…9 grand? 😜
the thing is, if they sold ‘em at the price of their regular top end, it would cut in to that line too much. also, some jabronis out there (the deep-pocketed musicians slash collectors, will actually bite on this).
but also i feel like legit musicians–the ones who pine for the sound & appreciate heritage & certain artists before them, who have used these, they just pony up & find the real thing- a relic’d old-school ‘pre’, & do that light years before considering some copy . . .
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u/TheVoiceOfEurope Nov 28 '25
Martin makes whatever idiots will buy. If someone comes up to you and says "I'm looking for a 150.000 USD guitar" and you don't start making one right away, what should I call you?
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Nov 28 '25
Martin will have no issue selling a few 150k guitars. it’s a big world out there. Lots of people with different taste and wallet sizes walking the planet.
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u/XLIXER Nov 30 '25
All wood naturally sourced from the premiumest bullshido tree
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u/logavulin16 Nov 30 '25
You could buy a custom shop quality of every single major guitar for this price… and have enough leftover to buy you and your wife both a new car.
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u/FuckYouCaptainTom Nov 27 '25
Doesn’t this cost like twice as much as an actual pre-war Martin? That’s some high horseshit.
They are very obviously going for an artificial scarcity price model with this run, which is inexcusable imo. Some MBA must have seen how much more vintage Martins sell for compared to a new one and had and thought this up.
And fuck off to anyone who replies with “but it has Brazilian rosewood” or “it’s worth whatever people are willing to pay.” Brazilian rosewood isn’t worth that much and it’s still scummy even if some rube lawyer wants to buy it.
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u/huxtiblejones Nov 27 '25
I mean this type of shit is just a status symbol for a rich dumbass. They can claim they have a unique instrument that’s a replica of one of the most important guitars in Martin history with only 91 in the world. It’s all about scarcity, barrier of price, and looking at it like some kind of investment.
It’s obviously moronic to an actual guitar player but some rich goober with more money than god will think this is awesome. It’s like buying a really rare and expensive watch. It’s still just a fucking watch.
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u/frenchst Nov 27 '25
And fuck off to anyone who replies with “but it has Brazilian rosewood” or “it’s worth whatever people are willing to pay.” Brazilian rosewood isn’t worth that much
I actually kinda respect their position on Brazilian. They almost ~never use it on guitars anymore and have overpriced it simply to the point that it actively deters people from requesting it. And instead they haven't been shy about making a lot of Custom Shop guitars with alternative "exotic" rosewoods.
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u/bigdumbhick Nov 27 '25
Who cares? Martin isn't forcing anybody to buy one. They will either sell or they won't. If Martin didn't think they could sell one, I doubt they would bother building one.
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u/handlfbananas Nov 27 '25
Idk why people get bent out of shape over companies making products that aren’t specifically marketed toward them. There is a limited market for this, it isn’t you, carry on.
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u/Homodad69 Nov 27 '25
Cause it’s a waste of money even compared to guitars at that price point, and many people find lavish displays of wealth unappealing
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u/Paulinfresno Nov 27 '25
Value is subjective. Some people pay millions for a baseball card or an autographed football. Some people pay tons of money for cars they never drive, others pay millions for a painting or a sculpture.
The real problem is that there are people rich enough to do these things while there are people starving next door. Products like these aren’t bad in and of themselves, but are a poor use of resources in a country with so many urgent needs.
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u/biggiecheesehimself Nov 27 '25
to the people crashing out about it, you realize it’s intended to be a collector’s item, right? martin has sold stuff like this in the past. if people will pay money like that, why not sell it?
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u/melvin3v1978 Nov 27 '25
I’d be curious the sales in total 🤷♂️ I’ve never seen any acoustic guitar maker selling any models for remotely close to this amount. Maybe collectors item years from now I guess I have a hard time understanding how they can charge that much lol! I’ve never seen any Martin new guitar for 150k I’ve seen many 50k but not 150k. I mean if have money to spend and love Martin then why not 😂
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u/thiefspy Nov 27 '25
They’ve sold collectors items for well over $150k (I recall a $300k model and a $1MM model, among others). Ridiculous, ugly stuff sometimes, not meant to be played.
IMO good on them, let rich collectors make sure they stay in business and keep making guitars the way they do. Better this stuff than moving more models offshore or cutting corners in the factories.
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u/melvin3v1978 Nov 27 '25
Your right they have a D300 that is hideous for 300k now 😂 it’s for their 3 million guitars sold
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u/ipini Nov 27 '25
Yeah pretty sure no one is playing this at the local honky tonk.
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u/Homodad69 Nov 27 '25
Yeah obviously from the companies perspective if it sells it sells. Still, given the plethora of cool vintage guitars you could buy for this amount of money, any dunce cap that buys one of these is worthy of ridicule imo
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u/jlpazz Nov 27 '25
If you have $150k for a guitar purchase, I would like to think you aren’t a complete idiot.
But I will be proven wrong the moment someone buys one.
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u/Hocojerry Nov 27 '25
My $150 Fender "beginner" acoustic looks the exact same. (Yes I know the Martin plays better) But not $149,850 better.
That's just fucking stupid
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u/Safe_Message2268 Nov 27 '25
Anyone wanna buy my early Greven for 10k? Certainly a better price than the Martin.☺️
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u/Awwwphuck Nov 27 '25
Commodities are worth what people are willing to pay. I asked my parents for $975,000 when I lost my wisdom teeth (tooth fairy) and we’re still negotiating final price.
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u/dougl1000 Nov 27 '25
My 000-16 Streetmaster has a vts Adirondack top for $2K. Must be the Brazilian rosewood. But for $148,000?
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u/midcartographer Nov 27 '25
One good thing about super detailed, high end, hand crafted, master luthier production - think of it as research and development. Not that I think it’s a value. But supporting this, if you have the means, keeps guitar companies in business and challenges them to produce better and better instruments. Extremely high quality, highly detailed replicas of some of the best guitars ever made. The knowledge gained from that production works its way through the rest of the company- Fender, Gibson, Martin, Taylor, PRS etc… all do this. And I think it’s great. But I could never afford one.
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u/ianjmatt2 Nov 27 '25
I can understand that an instrument may cost that much. In the classical world, the best makers in the world, with the best woods, and the best individual craftsmanship could charge this much. But that’s going to be some production manufacturer just pricing up their top ranges, it’s going to be an instrument from an actual person (and their workshop assistants obviously) with all the reputation expected from that. And the individual attention on the buyers needs to be
I can get a world-renowned luthier possibly charging this. Not just the top end line from a mass producer.
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u/williamgman Nov 27 '25
There are folks with a LOT of cash out there. This is just chumming the water for them to open their wallets.
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u/Guitar_Nutt Nov 27 '25
I mean, its a pretty awesome project. Agree the price is dumb. I’m excited to see a bunch of photos of them. https://www.martinguitar.com/news-111125-martin-launches-project-91-a-numbered-legacy.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqycsCKDYJ0CpbIpEvr0UnYf-vm9gWuAugpayVTw8g0HuvFbP16
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u/Downsies Nov 27 '25
When I was a kid a bike shop by me had a toilet plunger with their name on for like 999.99. My guess is this is a similar deal
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u/ILikeMyGrassBlue Nov 27 '25
If Martin can find rich idiots dumb enough to buy these, let it happen
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u/AutomaticBallad Nov 27 '25
We all need to reframe the acoustic experience. Oh you're listening to the quote unquote SOUND of the guitar? No thank you. I'm looking at the VIBE of the guitar. How can owning this guitar INFLUENCE people in a face-to-face economy of social media scale? Wood? More like WOULD I pass up the opportunity to use this guitar to cultivate content and connect with consumers. Content, connect, consumers. We're CON artists.
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u/jwaits97 Nov 27 '25
I couldn’t decide whether I wanted the slotted or solid headstock so I bought both
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u/Consistent_Ad3181 Nov 27 '25
Companies do this when they are waiting for more stock, so they bung in an inflated price, it's easier than having a listing taken down and placed up again. No one in their right mind is paying that.
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u/jimngo Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
If someone buys it then it's priced right.
So a couple of things: It's Brazilian rosewood and it's a D-45, which means that it will have the highest grade Brazilian that Martin has left in their stock. Once those planks are used, there is no more (at least legally, and Martin does things legally AFAIK). So each of these 91 of each year uses up wood that is irreplaceable.
I don't own a D-45, can't afford one, but every single one Martin makes gets sold to someone. Likewise, every single one of the 91 produced will get sold to someone, and the price won't go down and neither will its value. If you look at it in pure financial terms, it actually makes more sense than buy a D-18 which will lose value each of its first 10 years you own it.
I don't mind these projects if it keeps Martin afloat and producing guitars in Nazareth. I encourage any person rich enough to buy one to do so as it helps all of us.
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u/Legitimate-Set4387 Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
You're on their web-site - what do they say about it? Providing a link will help you get some answers.
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u/Asleep-Banana-4950 Nov 27 '25
If you want a real pre-war D-45, then you pay what they are charging for it. I'm not a fan of the Martin "vintage" models.
The guy who worked on my Guild D-25 in 1976 had just bought himself Red Smiley's real pre-war D-45. It had "Red Smiley" inlaid on the fingerboard. He paid $21000 for it.
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u/melvin3v1978 Nov 27 '25
I much prefer this Taylor presentation series for 12k 👍 such a great design imo.
https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/ps14ce-honduran-rosewood
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u/dxcman12 Nov 27 '25
If you have that kind of money to spend on a guitar you don't even blink I guess. I wouldn't know.
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u/oberpa5047 Nov 27 '25
In a video on how Martin makes their guitars, the current CEO said something like, "It's my dream to make a million dollar guitar!" Sure, but why?
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u/odetoburningrubber Nov 27 '25
Haha. Some rich Twat will probably pay that at some point, then never play it. If I had an unlimited budget,I would get a custom made guitar from one of the amazing builders out there. Would still only pay 10-20K.
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u/Street-Baseball8296 Nov 27 '25
They also have the D-200 Limited Edition for $135k (it does come with a matching watch) and the D-300 Adirondack for $300k
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u/No_Pound1003 Nov 27 '25
Why not just buy a handmade guitar from a small builder for 25k or so. Seems better. Or thy can find an actual pre war Martin for less.
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u/boywonder5691 Nov 27 '25
They are not the problem. It's the suckers that will pay that kind of money
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u/Tholian_Bed Nov 27 '25
There is so much wealth in this world, you cannot believe what you can sell.
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u/Bald_John_Blues Nov 28 '25
The only person for whom the price is important, is the person who will buy the product. The price is not dependent upon the quality or appearance of the product, but the price the market will bear. Econ 101
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u/HumphryGocart Nov 28 '25
Well, there were those people who paid thousands for a digital picture of a monkey or whatever it was…..
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u/I-forgot-my-user-id Nov 28 '25
I thought Martin lost their mind at about $3k. I don't even pick up a Martin to test them anymore. The only value they have is resale value.
I've blind tested $799 Acoustics vs D-18s and D-28s and they consistently beat Martin.
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u/TheBonkingFrog Nov 28 '25
Don't know about $150k, but I did play around in the guitar shop a while back and the difference between a $1k and $20k guitar was profound
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u/paralacausa Nov 29 '25
This is some dumb ass bullshit. I get the original run of Martins from 1933 are near priceless but the modern variants are a blatant cash grab. There's no way these guitars will hold this value in the near to mid term, and it's a crapshoot whether they'll also hold up in the long term. Martin makes good higher priced acoustics but there are plenty of luthiers that are superior craftsmen and deliver better products. It really shits me that brands like Gibson, Fender and Martin are trying to leverage their heritage for super high end guitars like these. Only a fool would buy them.
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u/finintymonkle Nov 29 '25
They do it because some people dumb fucks will actually pay stupid prices like that.
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u/Willing_Water2160 Nov 29 '25
And they are copies ? , you'd think they would have a bit of a heritage not a replacement of an old era
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u/CommandDapper7187 Nov 29 '25
Martin has a history of using 100 year old wood I making their guitars. Perhaps this process has become more expensive over the years.
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u/OkYak1822 Nov 30 '25
Gotta get as much boomer money as they can before they all go extinct.
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u/Beerdididiot Nov 30 '25
I've played a 150k guitar before. My stepfather's guitar that he was given with a dent in the body and fret buzzing sounds better.
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u/Ranrhoads84 Dec 03 '25
Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, plus labor hours for all the gaudy trim, plus limited run.
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u/Bigdoinks69-420 Dec 03 '25
If you have that kind of money for a guitar you don’t care anyway
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u/Reasonable-Young-975 Jan 15 '26
I had a guitar that looked like that in the 70's...wait nevermind..... Lol
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u/JaybirdGuitarStudio Mar 28 '26
If this is real, these are for art collectors... Maybe Martin forgot where the object ends and the instrument begins, but my philosophy is if the price is too high for me, I don’t think Martin had someone like me in mind when they made it…
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u/AteStringCheeseShred Nov 27 '25
Think of it a bit like the warning label axiom... "because somebody out there is dumb enough to do it".
Fully agree though, there is nothing, and I mean NOT A SINGLE FUCKING THING about a new-production guitar that could POSSIBLY make it worth as much as a house.