Martin GPE Inception Maple

Progressive, powerful lutherie with piano-like clarity

- BY JAMIE DICKSON

TRADITION CAN BE a gilded cage for guitar companies with a long and famous history such as Martin. On the one hand, Martin's original D-28 is, to this day, most people's mental template for what an acoustic guitar should sound and look like. But historic brands like Martin can't just keep on selling the past to players who are already deeply invested in the heritage. They have to innovate, attract new players and persuade people that they are still a growing, evolving force in guitar-making.

To Martin's credit, the company has made careful but persistent efforts to do just that over the years — notably with the offset-bodied, exceptionally playable SC Series. But the more recent Inception series of guitars has a poise, polish and maturity that challenges high-end modern makers at their own game. This GPE model is the first non-cutaway guitar to appear in the Inception series, which debuted at NAMM in 2024, and the choice of maple as the main material for the guitar's body is central to the whole design mission behind the range.

With tropical hardwoods such as mahogany and rosewood in dwindling supply, Martin wanted to take a second look at maple - a sustainable northern species - but design a guitar from scratch to get around some of its traditional limitations as a tonewood.