The Lost J-40

Note: A lighter post today. From time to time I do want to talk about guitars and baseball. Today is about my guitar. My guitar playing friends should appreciate it. The rest of you may like hearing the story about it.

Chris Martin's primary invention at the Martin Guitar Company was the J-40. It is the guitar for which he says he will be noted. He once boasted that it would become "the dreadnought of the nineties."

Well, it simply didn't happen. By the late nineties, dreadnought sales dwarfed that of the jumbo series. Though I understand that Martin owners can be a bit traditional, the relative failure of the jumbo to capture the market's attention surprises me for no other reason than this: The J-40 is an outstanding guitar!

Structurally, the J-40 is an OM guitar (sometimes called a 0000, which is just a bigger 000) with dreadnought depth. This results in very even tone from the lowest bass to the highest treble. Though it is not as bass-heavy as a D-28, it has plenty of bass response since it is made of rosewood.

Additionally, it is LOUD! The large size combined with scalloped bracing make this a boomer. Another guitarist borrowed mine for a gig we were doing (I was playing mandolin that day) and was blown away by its volume. He simply could not tell if the guitar had been added to the monitor mix or if he was just hearing it naturally.

I think that Martin may have confused the guitar-buying public by the style and price changes over the J-40's history. The original 1985 model added gold tuners, white binding on the fretboard, hexagon abalone fretboard inlays, and a pearl soundhole ring. By the early nineties, the pearl soundhole ring disappeared (see picture of my 1994 model, above). Its price was about the same as an HD-28. In the late nineties, Martin made a J-28 with all the extras stripped off and upgraded the J-40 with the 45-style Martin headstock inlay along with pearl inlay in the soundhole and top binding. The J-28 was priced like a D-28 and the J-40 was getting up into the D-41 range. The J-28 was eventually discontinued and the current J-40 seems to have the same appointments as the late nineties model (see picture at right). As a result its list price is $1000 more than an HD-28 and almost $1500 than a D-28.

In other words, I think Martin messed up their best invention of the last 20 years. The only jumbo model in their catalog has so many added cosmetic features that the resulting price drives away the average guitar buyer. If guitarists are unaware of the marvelous sound of the J-40, the extra price will keep them from seeking it out.

If you are in the market for a great guitar, can afford something in a dreadnought range, and don't mind buying used, it would be worth looking around for an older J-40. If you play one, I think you will find that, like mine, it is the finest guitar you have ever played.