The Martin GPC-16E Rosewood acoustic-electric guitar is a wonderful option for the performing guitarist who loves the warm, full tone and robust projection of rosewood topped with spruce. The guitar's quality construction — which includes scalloped, forward-shifted spruce X bracing — elicits a sound that is powerful and balanced, with excellent note definition. It complements the human voice beautifully, yet is perfectly at home as a solo instrument or layered into a track. And the onboard Fishman Matrix VT Enhance NT2 pickup system amplifies that gorgeous tone flawlessly when plugged in onstage. You'll also find the comfortable Grand Auditorium body and 25.4-inch scale length great for fingerpicking. But whether fingerpicked or flatpicked, live or unplugged, the Martin GPC-16E Rosewood is a sheer delight to play.

Optimized playability

The GPC-16E Rosewood's neck is carved to Martin's Modified Low Oval profile with Performing Artist taper that was designed specifically with performing guitarists in mind. For your playing pleasure, the ebony fingerboard is buffed to silky smoothness and the frets are dressed to perfection using a Plek Pro machine for optimized playability. Typically reserved for top-dollar custom guitars, this process levels the frets with pinpoint precision, providing you with the most playable fretboard you're likely to own.

Proprietary electronics

Martin and Fishman have been working together for over 30 years in an effort to build the best acoustic-electric guitars on the market. And they recently teamed up again to create the Matrix VT Enhance NT2 pickup system that you'll find in the GPC-16E Rosewood. This system consists of Fishman's popular Matrix under-saddle pickup and an advanced Enhance element that can be blended into the signal separately via the soundhole-mounted controls. The Enhance function lets the natural sounds of the guitar come through, which is ideal for players using techniques such as body tapping.

Comfortable Grand Auditorium body style

The forward, balanced tone of the GPC-16E Rosewood comes from its Grand Auditorium body style. This body style provides excellent projection and focus with a warmth that is never booming and detail that is never harsh. This sound is popular for both fingerstyle nuance and full-chord strumming. The Grand Auditorium size gives you more low end and projection than the 000 models but is still supremely comfortable to sling over your shoulder for marathon gigs. That's why Martin Grand Auditoriums are staples in the arsenals of the performing acoustic guitarists.

The same body shape at a new depth

When you play the GPC-16E for the first time, you may notice that the body feels different from other Martin Grand Performance guitars. It retains the same cutaway shape but is slightly thinner than normal. Instead of the traditional body depth of 4-1/2-inches, Martin opted to give this guitar the depth of a 000 — 4-1/8-inches. This change affects the guitar in two notable ways. First, the thinner body reigns in the boomy bass response for cleaner recording. Second, it helps the guitar to create a more mid-forward response. Don't fret, even with its new body depth, the GPC-16E retains the same room-filling power that you expect from a Martin guitar.

The CF Martin legacy

What hasn't been said about the CF Martin company? Martin — a name virtually synonymous with the acoustic guitar — took root in the United States in 1833 with a small shop in lower Manhattan. Five years later, Christian Frederick Martin moved his business and family to the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, where Martin has been located ever since. From the dreadnought body shape to the 14-fret neck, Martin innovations paralleled (and indeed, drove) the development of the acoustic guitar itself. When you play any Martin guitar, you're holding a piece of music history.

Martin GPC-16E Rosewood Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:

• Spruce top, East Indian rosewood back and sides; satin finish
• Scalloped, forward-shifted spruce X bracing
• Bold Herringbone with Multi-Stripe rosette
• Antique white binding, faux Tortoise pickguard
• Select hardwood neck, Modified Low Oval with High Performance Taper profile; satin finish
• Ebony fingerboard, 16-inch radius, MOP Style 28 inlays
• 25.4-inch scale length, 20 frets
• Plek'd frets for optimized playability
• Fishman Matrix VT Enhance NT2 electronics
• Ebony bridge, 2-5/32-inch string spacing
• Compensated White Tusq saddle with Black Tusq pins
• 1.75-inch bone nut
• Nickel open-gear tuners
• Dual-action truss rod, soundhole access