Cart
You have no items in your shopping cart
Brand New w/ Warranty. We are an authorized Mario Martin Dealer!
Like what you see? All photos are of the exact instrument you will receive.
Mario Martin guitars are hand built in Murfreesboro, TN just 40 minutes down the road from us! Undertaking the entire build process from cutting the body blank to spraying the final touch of nitro, Mario Martin achieves a level of guitar making well beyond partscaster builders who may look alike on the surface. These guys maintain one of the best collections of tonewoods around, and every neck/body/pickup combination is chosen carefully to amplify the personality of the guitar as a whole. Whether you crave an S-style guitar straight out of 1958 or the unique Tele-Strat mashup that is the Honcho, we are confident you’ll find what you’re looking for in a Mario Martin.
What Do We Think?
There’s no doubt about it, a semi-hollow build adds a certain degree of sweetness to the tonal recipe. But what this Mario does so well is manage that sweetness without losing the punch and clarity of the Swamp Ash body. It also happens to sport an exceptional pickup combination, featuring the Lollar Novel Foil in the neck and Special T in the bridge.
The Novel Foil has that wonderful warmth of a traditional Gold Foil but with a little more “control” in the lower midrange; sweet but not swampy. In this guitar, it captures in equal parts the vibe of a single-coil from a Strat and a Filter’Tron from a Gretsch. Think the full dynamic range and snap of a good Strat neck position, but the pure bottom end and slight compression of the Filter’Tron.
The middle position has even more snap and is remarkably “clean” even when an amp is set at edge-of-breakup. The relationship between the neck and bridge pickups filters out a little midrange to give you the purest of pure when you want to make sure every note fundamental comes through, even amidst thick reverbs and delays. This position also harnesses the acoustic feel of the instrument marvelously.
The Special T has a fat and complex midrange by Tele standards, and again gets some special treatment thanks to the air moving in the body. It can do the chickin’ picking thing and stays nice and tight on the bottom, but sounds just as good with a little drive and some big sustained chords. The top end is present but a touch rolled-off, so you won’t find yourself reaching constantly for the tone knob.
How Does It Play?
This is another stellar player from Mario. The string action sits right at 4/64” on the low E at the 12th fret and 3/64” on the high E, without any buzz. We like to remind customers that Mario’s “Chunky C” neck profile isn’t so chunky. It’s a very nice accessible C measuring about .860” at the first fret and .930” at the 12th. It feels wonderful.
Weight: 6lb 3oz
The Mario Martin Deluxe padded gigbag is included.
Specifications
Model: ’69 T-Hollow
Body: Swamp Ash
Neck: Maple / Madagascar Rosewood
Nut Material: Bone
Nut Width: 1.65”
Fret Size: 6125
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5”-12”
Neck Shape: Chunky C
Top/Side Dots: Pearloid Dots
Strings: String Joy Balanced Light (10-48)
Tuners: Gotoh Staggered Vintage
Pickguard: 4-Ply Celluloid Tort
Pickups: Lollar Novel Foil (neck) / Lollar Special (bridge)
Finish: Nitrocellulose
Body Color: Lake Placid Blue / Closet Clean Relic
Neck Color: Gloss w/ Vintage Tint / Closet Clean Relic
Accessories Included: Deluxe Gig Bag and Certificate of Authenticity / Dated & hand-signed By Mario Martin
Total Weight of Guitar: 6lb 3oz
Serial Number: 422660
0 stars based on 0 reviews
Add your review