Martinez MDC ECO7 BB

It's great to see guitar manufacturers adapting to these environmentally-conscious times, reducing the impact of sourcing traditional woods and looking for alternatives that still produce pleasing results. Martinez guitars have done this with their 'Eco series' range, and I was very interested in trying out a solid-top dreadnaught guitar made of bamboo. The Martinez MDC-ECO-7-BB immediately caught my eye and struck me as a very original instrument, with its bamboo back and sides, solid spruce top, nato neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, and ACUS 2TN preamp.

For me, this was the first time I'd tried out a guitar made of bamboo or even nato, so first up, I had to find out what the hell nato even was. According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, nato is an eastern tropical hardwood that's a substitute for mahogany and is abundant in large quantities and sizes. Other manufacturers like BC Rich and Eastwood Guitars are currently using this wood in their Chinese and Korean factories as well. 

Out of the box this guitar looks fantastic. It has a soft, light, minimalist appearance that would be right at home amongst rice paddies, coconut trees and palm huts. The bamboo grain looks awesome, filled with many joins and knots, as does the grain on the neck, which has a lot of depth and character. A very bare cross inlay looks as though it has been burned in and sits nicely with the multiple body bindings, abalone-style dot markers and sleek black satin headstock. The Eco 7 also has a very solid construction with quality hardware, holding its tuning perfectly, even at this astonishingly low price. The neck and action are great also and allow for fatigue-free playing, while notes ring out strong and clear with both pick and fingerstyle playing.

Unplugged she sounds fantastic, providing a much stronger projection and midrange than one would anticipate at first glance. The tone is both deep and bright, with an original sound that lacks the glassy zing of most traditional dreadnaughts, but instead has a harder high midrange that's perfect for solos with a pick, or more grunt when strumming chords. The ACUS 2TN pickup, preamp and tuner all work beautifully and it sounds amazing, except that a 12th fret harmonic works better than an open note when tuning (which is something to note). Plugged in, the initial 'zing' that was absent has now been re-introduced thanks to a bright under-saddle piezo, and every note of each chord is immediate and identifiable when strummed out. Although you only get a bass and treble knob to work with, the Eco-7 sounded perfect with a flat EQ. I'm sure this guitar would sound fantastic as a solo guitar and probably even better in a full mix with electric guitars, bass and drums due to the big midrange and projection it possesses.

At a recommended retail price of only $399, this guitar is much more than an instrument for novice musicians or as a 'standby' guitar for professionals, but rather a unique alternative to the traditional dreadnaught that has been around forever, both in terms of looks, tone and features.