2015 Martin CEO-7 00-Size Guitar

Martin CEO models are just that -- designs inspired by the CEO of the company and his or her whims. This one is a guitar that's clearly a take on a Gibson L-00 but with Martin flavoring. It has a good, woody, punchy sound to it that's a lot like an L-00 but with a bit of that more-velvet, Martin-style mids-scoop.

It came into the shop originally for fix and return, and then fix and sell, and then finally fix and return. It needed a neck reset, new saddle, and setup work. It's got a solid spruce top over mahogany back and sides, an ebony board and bridge, and a slick sunburst finish.

Here's a shot of the not-well-cut dovetailed neck joint that needed a too-early neck reset -- the shallow angle of the dovetail and almost tenon cut of the neck's dovetail means that there's too much slip in the joint (much like a '70s Guild joint). To reset this, I used shims to tighten-up the bottom but also added a bolt hidden at the neckblock...