John Mayer’s Signature Acoustic Guitar - The Martin OMJM

A few years ago my wife and I were about to watch Letterman when I saw (through my trusty TiVo) that John Mayer would be one of the guests. I said to my wife, “A lot of people are into this John Mayer but I’m not sure I get it.” Then, John Mayer came on and tore into an electric blues number from his album Continuum that blew us both away. Once again, my wife looked at me like I’m some kind of fool. I get it now.

When I realized that John Mayer is also a fan of Martin acoustic guitars and even has not one but two of his own signature models, I was even further intrigued. I also liked the idea of writing about a signature guitar since Brian has been so critical of signature guitars. Personally, I like signature guitars. While I’m not crazy about the idea of having my guitar so closely associated with a single musician, I find the signature guitars to be an interesting reflection of what the artist likes in a guitar. The John Mayer OMJM Special Signature Editio n is a great example. More on this after the jump.

Photo Credit: toddwickersty via Creative Commons License

Martin Guitar released the John Mayer OMJM Special Signature Edition
after the success of of the Martin OM-28JM - which sold out its run of 404
guitars in 2003. The guitar was designed to be more affordable than
the OM-28JM but still be a high quality edition built to specs determined by a quality guitarist. The guitar features an Engelmann spruce top and
East Indian rosewood back and sides. It has scalloped “hybrid”
bracing. The guitar has stylish but understated appointments
including a Style 45 rosette and bold herringbone around the top. What
is most unique about the guitar is that it has a 1-11/16″ width at the
nut (narrow compared to the OM’s traditional 1 3/4″ nut) and a low
profile. The rest of the guitar’s specs are available from the Martin Guitar website.