Photo credit: Ray Larsen

See the video review of the Martin OMCRE

C. F. Martin and Co. has always had an eye for well-applied and—let’s be frank—revolutionary innovation. And when you’ve introduced ideas like X-bracing and the dreadnought body shape to the acoustic guitar’s design lexicon, it’s a fair bet the world will be waiting to see what you come up with next.

The design innovation behind the Martin OMCRE—an adjustable neck that enables action adjustments on the fly—wasn’t born behind the hallowed brick walls of the company’s Nazareth factory. It’s a technology created by Babicz Design, which builds its own excellent, if more radically styled, acoustic guitars and is responsible for a few creative guitar designs of its own. But Martin’s decision to adapt the technology for one of its legendary OM models could spur a minor revolution among traditionally minded players who constantly seek to improve the playability of their instruments. And it may well prompt classic brand-loyal purists to check out Babicz’s very worthwhile and practical adjustable-neck technology, making the OMCRE one of the more constructive and inventive collaborations in the annals of acoustic guitar design.

INNOVATION CONCEALED IN A CLASSIC FORM

Upon first glance there is little to suggest that the Martin OMCRE is anything other than a standard rosewood-and-spruce OM with a cutaway. The signature rosette and herringbone binding are all similar to the details found on an OM-28. The top, a beautiful vintage-toned honey-amber color, is crafted from tight-grained Carpathian spruce (whose sonic qualities are sometimes compared to Adirondack spruce), and the back and sides are made from East Indian rosewood.

But as you take in the rich chocolate-toned grain of the OMCRE’s rosewood back, the guitar’s unique design features become much more apparent. Instead of the slender carved heel common to Martin flattops, you’ll find a more substantial 2 -inch-wide heel in a shallow C-shape—covering about three times the area that a standard Martin heel occupies. On the body itself, a triangular metal plate mounted adjacent to the heel makes it clear that something other than a standard Martin dovetail joint is at work. And a peek inside reveals not only Martin’s typically spotless construction, but a most unusual and substantial neckblock that houses the Babicz neck assembly and extends almost all the way to the soundhole.

LITTLE ADJUSTMENTS YIELD BIG RESULTS

When you strum a first-position chord on the Martin OMCRE, you’ll hear the rich and resonant tone you’d expect from a Martin OM. The tonal palette is expansive and individual notes ring out with an even, crystalline precision and bell-like sustain.

But as superb as the OMCRE sounds right out of the box, it is designed to help players customize the action of their instruments.

The design of Babicz’s Continually Adjustable Neck is very elegant and user-friendly. Neck adjustments—which move the neck up and down in relation to the top, and are made at the plate on the back of the instrument—are as simple as a turn of the allen wrench that comes with the guitar and can be made while the guitar is tuned to pitch. It doesn’t change the neck angle, but it does yield a whole world of possibilities for players who likes to tailor their guitars to a given style.

My first exploration of the system was a simple quest to find the same sweet spot I’d experienced on Martin OMs I’d played in the past. And the search took relatively little effort. While I had to re-tune with each adjustment, I was able to find a string height that felt familiar quite quickly, and celebrated by flatpicking some leads over a favorite Flying Burrito Brothers record. Being something of a primitive blues devotee, however, I was keen to find out how readily I could crank the OMCRE and its Babicz-designed neck into bottleneck-ready mode. Here again, the process was simple, straightforward, and fun. A few turns of the allen key had the Martin’s strings sitting up high over the fretboard, looking like an exquisitely crafted, prewar Stella. I tuned to open-G and went to town—experiencing the rare treat of channeling slippery, country-blues slide runs through the dynamic, full-spectrum voice of a spruce and Indian rosewood Martin.

The OMCRE’s onboard Fishman Aura Pro electronics, which I tried out through an AER Alpha amplifier, were a wonderful complement in both styles, as well. I used the three-band EQ to dial in a slightly more husky tone for my slide work, and experimented with the four available Aura voices when I cranked the action back down into fingerstyle-friendly territory.

The flexibility of the Babicz neck system comes with a few trade-offs. While the guitar as a whole and the adjustable neck system felt solid and precision-built, when I applied back-bend pressure there was some play in the neck joint that caused very quiet creaking. And while the play in the neck did not seem to adversely affect tuning stability, it was a reminder that this is, for all its familiar appearances, a guitar unlike any previous Martin OM. Flatpickers who frequently venture up to the 12th fret and beyond may find the wide heel an unwelcome intrusion on their fingerwork. And while the guitar’s tone possesses the luxurious overtones and harmonic richness one expects from a Martin, it was slightly less warm and colorful than other Martin OMs that my fellow editors and I had played in the past.

THE WRAP

Why would you want a Martin OM that tries to improve on one of the most time-tested guitar designs of all time? Well for one thing, the OMCRE is a Martin through and through. Quality and craftsmanship are top-shelf, and the tone is nuanced and buttery smooth. But not everyone can afford three high-end guitars to suit their every creative or expressive whim, and in this context the OMCRE truly shines. With a single guitar, an adventurous player can explore the realms of lightning-fast-action fingerstyle and flatpicking as well as super-high-action bottleneck blues—all in the course of a single performance and without packing an extra ax. You can also tailor the action to compensate for fatigue and experiment more readily with the tonal possibilities afforded by greater string heights and gauges. The OMCRE might not be a purist’s Martin, but for guitarists seeking the ultimate in sweet-sounding utility, this may be the most revolutionary Martin yet.