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I picked up the Pro Martin W200 Custom from the post office today. It came in a SKB hardshell (thin variant) case that weighted next to nothing. Very Cool! Don't know how old it is but the latches are dulled so it's a couple of years.
The guitar in itself is very lightweight as well, I was really SURPRISED how light it is... again I don't have a scale so I can't give you the exact weight now :sad:
It's a quality build to me, looks really well built, maybe apart from the binding of the neck and headstock. That has a little cheap plastic look to it, but otherwise.
Being a few years old it has some wear, which I expected. But cool wear though, no need to relic this one to get mojo to it
hehe... The lacquer has yellowed really nice and the top has a beautiful golden colored tint to it with some wear patterns, scuffs and bare wood has been exposed by the soundhole . Backside is just a beautiful piece of wood and is in good shape with some small scuffs and minor belt buckle wear. It says MOJO! to me 
Neck was straight and it was in tune even though it has had a little trip from our neighbor country, Sweden. Frets are in good shape with some wear, but nothing to talk about really. Some wear marks around the three first frets from lots of open chording, it seems. The nut slot for the B string is a little messed up but it's mostly on the sides of the slot so it doesn't really affect anything but looks.
It plays easily, but I expect better performance with new strings and some upgrades. So I won't really comment on the tone of it yet, to me it has a nice quite balanced tone though... something along the lines of the "core sound" that I expected it to have.
Tuners are hexagonal shaped, and according to danglybangers who read the Japanese Pro Martin catalog for me are they generic no-brand tuners. Looks a little funny to me, may upgrade them to real Grover Rotomatics (Like a late 60's Martin D-28) in the future.
I have no idea what material the nut, saddle and bridge pins are made of but I assume they are plastic, that has been yellowed with age. All these, saddle, bridge pins and nut will be upgraded with TUSQ parts all around.
I've been studing various pictures, sites and discussions on the history of Martin guitars, mainly the D-28, to determine which model this is a replica of. So far I've noted that it mostly looks like a 1969 D-28, with some exceptions.
- Biggest "miss": binding on the neck and headstock (not on any D-28 at all)
- missing the inlay dot on the 17th fret (D-28 has a inlay dot there)
- funny generic tuners compared to Grover Rotomatics on a '69 D-28
- Nato wood neck compared to something else?? on a real Martin.
Things that fit to a '69 D-28 Martin:
- Rosewood sides and maybe/probably back as well.
- Black pickguard
- Bridge and saddle shape
- The pattern of the backstrip
- Top looks "correct" (not sure about woodtype though)
...
I will try to record something with it soon so I'll post back here in this thread and in the T&C section as well.
Now I'll let the pics speak for themselves even though they aren't the best quality.
I've polished it and applied FretDoctor to the fretboard since I took these shots. So it's a tad more shine in the finish than the pictures show. I also polished the back of the neck so it glossy like the rest of the guitar (it was matte when I got it) and I'm going to polish the headstock to gloss as well when I change strings and get a chance to remove the tuners.
The guitar in itself is very lightweight as well, I was really SURPRISED how light it is... again I don't have a scale so I can't give you the exact weight now :sad:
It's a quality build to me, looks really well built, maybe apart from the binding of the neck and headstock. That has a little cheap plastic look to it, but otherwise.
Being a few years old it has some wear, which I expected. But cool wear though, no need to relic this one to get mojo to it
hehe... The lacquer has yellowed really nice and the top has a beautiful golden colored tint to it with some wear patterns, scuffs and bare wood has been exposed by the soundhole . Backside is just a beautiful piece of wood and is in good shape with some small scuffs and minor belt buckle wear. It says MOJO! to me Neck was straight and it was in tune even though it has had a little trip from our neighbor country, Sweden. Frets are in good shape with some wear, but nothing to talk about really. Some wear marks around the three first frets from lots of open chording, it seems. The nut slot for the B string is a little messed up but it's mostly on the sides of the slot so it doesn't really affect anything but looks.
It plays easily, but I expect better performance with new strings and some upgrades. So I won't really comment on the tone of it yet, to me it has a nice quite balanced tone though... something along the lines of the "core sound" that I expected it to have.
Tuners are hexagonal shaped, and according to danglybangers who read the Japanese Pro Martin catalog for me are they generic no-brand tuners. Looks a little funny to me, may upgrade them to real Grover Rotomatics (Like a late 60's Martin D-28) in the future.
I have no idea what material the nut, saddle and bridge pins are made of but I assume they are plastic, that has been yellowed with age. All these, saddle, bridge pins and nut will be upgraded with TUSQ parts all around.
I've been studing various pictures, sites and discussions on the history of Martin guitars, mainly the D-28, to determine which model this is a replica of. So far I've noted that it mostly looks like a 1969 D-28, with some exceptions.
- Biggest "miss": binding on the neck and headstock (not on any D-28 at all)
- missing the inlay dot on the 17th fret (D-28 has a inlay dot there)
- funny generic tuners compared to Grover Rotomatics on a '69 D-28
- Nato wood neck compared to something else?? on a real Martin.
Things that fit to a '69 D-28 Martin:
- Rosewood sides and maybe/probably back as well.
- Black pickguard
- Bridge and saddle shape
- The pattern of the backstrip
- Top looks "correct" (not sure about woodtype though)
...
I will try to record something with it soon so I'll post back here in this thread and in the T&C section as well.
Now I'll let the pics speak for themselves even though they aren't the best quality.
I've polished it and applied FretDoctor to the fretboard since I took these shots. So it's a tad more shine in the finish than the pictures show. I also polished the back of the neck so it glossy like the rest of the guitar (it was matte when I got it) and I'm going to polish the headstock to gloss as well when I change strings and get a chance to remove the tuners.
