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Martin Guitar D-13E Retro Walnut LH
Steel-String Acoustic Guitar with Pickup
- Left-handed model
- Body shape: Dreadnought
- Top: Solid spruce
- Back and sides: Solid walnut
- Fingerboard: Ebony
- Scale: 645 mm (25.4")
- Nut width: 44.5 mm (1.75")
- 20 frets
- Pickup: Martin E1
- Colour: Natural
- Finish: Gloss
- Includes Softlight case
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Available since June 2026
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Item number 629366
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Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
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Design Dreadnought
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Top Solid Spruce
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Back and Sides Walnut, massive
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Cutaway No
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Fretboard Ebony
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Nut width in mm 44,50 mm
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Frets 20
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Pickup System Yes
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Colour Natural
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Case No
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Incl. Gigbag Yes
Dreadnought power, walnut flair
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The D-13E Retro Walnut takes its visual cues from Martin's legendary dreadnought, the D-28: White binding, a rosette in the Style 28 design, and a tortoiseshell-effect pickguard echo its classic look – at a much more accessible price, thanks to the fully revamped Road Series. The back and sides are made of solid American walnut – tonally somewhere between mahogany and rosewood, and for that reason also known as Pennsylvania Rosewood. The result is an uncluttered low end and a complex, articulate tone with a direct response. This D-13E Retro Walnut LH is the left-handed version of the model – nearly the whole Road Series is also available for left-handed players, at no extra cost compared with the standard version. In keeping with the deliberately vintage-inspired look of the Retro models, period-style open-gear tuners sit on the headstock. For stage use, the guitar is also fitted with a Martin E1 pickup system.
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A classic body with a modern neck
As the quintessential rhythm guitar, the dreadnought shape delivers driving bass and sparkling highs, while the midrange is deliberately held back a little – leaving more room for vocals and the other instruments in a band. That said, these details shouldn't stop musicians from playing their entire repertoire on it! Like the whole Road Series, the D-13E Retro Walnut LH has scalloped X-bracing inside, which helps the solid spruce top achieve more volume and a more open sound. In the left-handed version too, the neck follows Martin’s Performing Artist profile with a high-performance taper – a flat, modern profile that enables fast playing across the whole ebony fingerboard, rather than the thicker, rounder shaping of older neck designs. A subtly rounded fingerboard edge makes for a comfortable playing feel.
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Ready for the stage
For live use, the D-13E Retro Walnut LH comes fitted with a Martin E1 pickup system. Two controls on the inside of the soundhole handle volume and tone, so the amplified sound can be adjusted directly to suit the room or the band. A phase button can be switched in, and that usually reins in any feedback that might start to build. The built-in tuner, meanwhile, mutes the output automatically while tuning, so the guitar can be retuned discreetly between songs. As a piezo pickup, the E1 picks up the vibrations of the bronze strings and the solid spruce top equally, passing their natural tonal character on, unaltered, into the amplified sound.
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About Martin Guitar
Martin Guitar was founded in 1833 and is thus one of the most long-established brands in the history of the acoustic guitar. Several of Martin's developments – including the dreadnought shape, robust X-bracing, the placement of the neck-to-body transition at the 14th fret (as opposed to the 12th fret as found on classical guitars), and the use of steel strings – have now become staples of modern guitar construction that countless other manufacturers have since adopted. To put it another way: Music today would sound very different had it not been for C.F. Martin & Co.
The sound is in your hands
Driven by the instrument's exceptional string separation, the sound of the D-13E Retro Walnut LH comes across as tight and expressive, especially in combination with the complex tone of the walnut – qualities that come to the fore in detailed playing styles, where musicians really shape the tone with their own hands. Compared with the identically specified 000-13E Retro Walnut, the dreadnought delivers more bass and punch, while the more compact 000 shape is correspondingly agile and balanced. Anyone who appreciates a powerful, versatile steel-string acoustic guitar with walnut’s distinctive tonal character will find an instrument with its own voice in the D-13E Retro Walnut LH.
In the spotlight
The new Road Series
The Road Series combines classic designs with modern reinterpretations of the Martin catalogue. The guitars are all built at the company's own facility in Mexico, which makes this level of quality possible at a more attractive price. The range covers several classic body shapes – from the compact 000 and the Grand Performance to the big-bodied dreadnought, with all Modern models featuring a cutaway. Martin also sorts the guitars into style levels: The 10 models combine a satin finish with sapele back and sides, the 12s offer the same woods in gloss, and the 13 models use walnut or koa – each inspired by the historic Martin Styles 15, 18, and 28, in that order. The electronics follow a similar logic: The Martin E1 pickup is standard across the whole series, with some models fitted with the LR Baggs Element system. Every guitar in the series ships with a softshell case, for safe transport between rehearsal rooms, concert halls, and home.
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