Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe - Overview and Best Prices

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Review
Add to Compare
FIND IT ON:
Sweetwater logoAmazon logoMusician's Friend logo
  • 4 Prices - New from $4,399 >
  • From Martin's 2022 Modern Deluxe series
  • Made in United States
  • 6 strings
  • 24.9"'' scale
  • 16" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Spruce with VTS top
  • Solid East Indian Rosewood back
  • Solid East Indian Rosewood sides
  • Genuine Mahogany neck
  • Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: Fishman Gold Plus Natural I (Preamp/Active)
  • Ebony bridge
  • Acoustic Vintage Deluxe Set neck
  • 20 Medium Gold frets
  • Gold Open Gear tuners
  • Side-By-Side Comparison
Show Specs
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Specifications
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe
General
Brand: Martin
Year: 2022
Configuration: N/A
Strings: 6
Made in: United States
Series: Modern Deluxe
Colors: Natural
Left-Handed Version: No
Body
Type: Hollowbody
Body Material: Solid Spruce with VTS
Sides Material: Rosewood
Back Material: Rosewood
Bridge: Ebony
Neck
Neck Joint: Set
Tuners: Gold Open Gear
Fretboard: Ebony
Neck Material: Genuine Mahogany
Decoration: Abalone Diamonds and Squares Long Pattern
Scale Size: 24.9"
Shape: Acoustic Vintage Deluxe
Frets: 20 Medium Gold
Fretboard Radius: 16"
Nut: Bone
Nut Width: 44.5mm (1.75'')
Electronics
Pickups: Fishman Gold Plus Natural I (Preamp / Active)
Hardware
Strap Lock: No
Hardware Color: Gold

Our Scores and Tone Evaluation

Playability 77
Sound 86
Build quality 90
Value for money 69
Overall Score 84
Tone Evaluation
  • Heavy Metal
  • Hard Rock
  • Jazz
  • Blues
  • Funk
  • Country
Strengths & Weaknesses
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe
  • Gold Frets
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Electronics
  • Compensated Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Price Overview

Its average competitor's price is $3550, which means that the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe costs around 24% more than the competition. It might be due to it having additional features, but know that you can find cheaper similar alternatives. This takes into account all instruments of the same category in our database with 6 strings and Fixed bridge that are made in United States.

SET PRICE ALERT

These are affiliate links. We may earn a fee if you purchase after clicking. These prices are prone to error. Make sure you're buying the right product after clicking on a link from our site. We are not liable if you buy the wrong product after following these links. As an Amazon Associate site we earn from qualifying purchases.

User Reviews & Feedback

Not all instruments are created equally. That's why it's important to have different opinions. Here's what our users who have played this instrument say. If you've played it before, help others by voting below!

Weight

Vote

Tuning stability

Vote

Neck speed (thickness)

Vote

Neck access to high frets

Vote

Neck profile shape

Vote

Fret edges

Vote

Pickups noise

Vote

Pickups power

Vote
No Reviews Yet

Often Compared With

Explore All From Martin >

Hand Size Comfortability

After taking into account the neck profile, scale size, fretboard radius, and nut width, we can conclude that the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's construction favors people with relatively small hands.

Nevertheless, this comes down in the end to personal preference. Make sure you test this guitar—or another one with similar characteristics—before buying.

Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, which means that it's not bad for beginners, but it could be better. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players to get used to.

New Player Friendliness

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

Videos

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe - Modern Meets Vintage
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe | Huge Sound in a Small Guitar
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe - EMPIRE MUSIC
Martin 00 28 Modern Deluxe
Spoon Phillips demos the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe

Playability

Scale Length

Scale length is the distance the strings will span between the bridge and the nut. It can tell you a lot about the overall playability and tone of the instrument. A longer scale length means longer distance between frets, brighter tone and more string tension—which means lower action, but more difficult bending of the strings.

Here's the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's 24.9" scale length compared to other common sizes:

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Scale Length Comparison
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's scale length (at the top) compared to other popular sizes

This is the scale found in most triple-O acoustic guitars. It's still considered a long scale, but shorter than the standard 25.5" scale.

A shorter scale length guitar has a few advantages. One is that it is easier to play because the strings are under less tension. This can be helpful for beginners, or those with smaller hands.

Neck Profile

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Neck Profile
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's neck profile

The neck profile tells you the thickness (neck depth) and shape in cross section. Every difference will completely change the feeling and comfortability of the neck. This is a highly subjective thing, but most players indeed prefer certain types of necks (like Cs and Ds) because they feel nice in most hands.

It has a Asymmetrical type neck. The shape is Asymmetrical. Even though it looks like a poorly-made job, it's, in fact, the shape that most naturally adapts to the arc that your hand makes when grabbing a guitar neck. You'll notice that the lower part of your palm makes a more pronounced, deeper curve while the upper part makes a more subtle arch. This is the shape that adapts the best to that natural shape of your hand.

Fretboard Radius

When it comes to fingerboard radius, personal preference will dictate which one is better for you. However, most people seem to agree that a more curved (lower) radius will make it easier to play chords while a less curved (higher) radius is better for soloing and bending.

The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe has a 16" fingerboard radius.

Here's an image comparing this fretboard radius to other popular choices:

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Fretboard Radius Comparison with Fender Stratocaster and Gibson Les Paul
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's fretboard radius compared to others

This fretboard radius is really different than Stratocasters, but it's also a lot flatter than Les Paul fingerboards. It'll heavily favor soloing over playing chords. This doesn't mean you can't use it for chords, but it will be more comfortable to play chords without muting strings in a more curved fretboard. Bending and sliding without losing sustain will also be more likely in a flat fretboard like this one.

Compound radius fingerboards give the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe has the same radius across the board.

More with the same fretboard radius:

Playability compared to main competitors

24.9'' Scale Length
Asymmetrical Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
24.9'' Scale Length
V Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
24.9'' Scale Length
V Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
16'' Fretboard Radius
24.9'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
15'' Fretboard Radius
24.9'' Scale Length
C Neck Profile
1.75'' Nut Width
15'' Fretboard Radius

Nut Width

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Nut Width
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Nut Width

The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe has a nut width of 44.5mm (1.75''). This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.

Frets

Finally, this guitar has EVO gold frets. These sit right between nickel silver and stainless steel in terms of durability. They have the plus of looking absolutely stunning thanks to the golden finish.

Fret Size

Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe Fret Size Comparison
Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's fret size (in orange) compared to other popular sizes

Finally, let's talk about fret size. Some people prefer tall frets because it's easier to press the strings and perform bends since there's less friction against the fretboard. On the other hand, some people like shorter frets because they like to touch the fretboard when playing, or because they got heavy hands and tend to press too much on the string and alter the of the note pitch accidently.

The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe's frets are Medium size. With medium frets, you can feel the fretboard more than with jumbo frets, but it's still easier to press the strings cleanly than with small frets; notes might change their pitch just slightly if you press hard on the fret. Also, if you need to do some fret leveling after years of playing, you'll have some room to sand them down without having to replace them.

Playability Score

Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 80
Solo Playability 70
Playability 77

Tone

The type of wood and even the shape of the body will have a lot of influence in the final tone of an acoustic guitar. Here's we'll talk about what kind of tone you can expect from its specs.

Wood

Spruce wood pattern used for guitar building
Spruce Top
Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood Back, Sides
Mahogany wood pattern used for guitar building
Mahogany Neck
Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony Fretboard

Spruce Top: This wood has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range.

Rosewood Back and Sides: Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.

Mahogany Neck: This is the type of wood found in many top-of-the-line guitars, so that's a positive point for the build quality. This red-looking wood Mahogany is found in Africa and Central America and has great sustain and a warm tone due to its high density. The downside about this type of wood is that it's relatively heavy.

Ebony Fretboard: This is one of the most expensive woods there is, which is why it's mostly used for fretboards. It is dense, heavy, highly resistant and comes in a really dark color that gives any guitar a classy touch. Tone wise, it helps the high side of the spectrum and provides good sustain.

Pickups

This guitar comes with pickups from one of the top brands: Fishman. So you can expect well built pickups with great sound that shouldn't need an upgrade anytime soon.

Sound Score

Sustain 90
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 86

Build Quality

Country of Origin

Knowing where the instrument is produced is a good way to know how well it's built. Some manufacturing countries are known for having higher quality standards. For example, most expensive instruments are made in the US or Japan, but there are some exceptionally great countries—like South Korea—that are building a good reputation.

The Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe is made in United States. Guitars made in the USA have the reputation of being the best instruments you can get. This statement isn't as accurate as a few years ago, but you should still expect top-quality from a guitar made in this country.

Bridge

Ebony: The advantage of fixed bridges is that they don't require any kind of set-up. This makes it extremely easy when changing strings because you don't need to adjust anything besides tuning the guitar. Also, the fact that the bridge is directly attached to the body will help to increase sustain. The disadvantage is the lack of versatility since you can't create the same vibrato effects as with tremolo bridges.

Nut Material

Another important thing to analyze is the nut material, as it's one of the most important aspects that can affect the sound and playability of your guitar. A well-cut nut will make sure it stays in tune and will make it more comfortable to play.

In this case, the Martin 00-28 Modern Deluxe has a Bone nut. This material is one of the highest quality you can get. It provides excellent sustain and tune stability if cut well. The only disadvantage is that it's an organic material, so it's not consistent. Two different bone nuts, even if made from the same bone, will probably sound slightly different. However, bear in mind that this is only relevant when playing open strings.

Build Quality Score

Quality of materials 86
Features 85
Quality Control 100
Build Quality 90