Martin Guitar SC-10E Modern Sapele
Acoustic Guitar with Pickup
- Style: S-10 with cutaway
- Top: Solid sapele
- Back and sides: Solid sapele
- Neck: Selected hardwood
- Fingerboard: Selected hardwood
- Scale length: 645 mm (25.4")
- Nut width: 44.5 mm (1.75")
- 20 frets
- Pickup system: Martin E1
- Colour: Dark Mahogany, satin
- Includes Softlight case
-
Available since January 2026
-
Item number 629317
-
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
-
Model S-13
-
Top Solid Sapele
-
Back And Sides Sapele
-
Cutaway Yes
-
Fretboard Ebony
-
Nut width in mm 44,50 mm
-
Pickup System Yes
-
Colour Walnut
-
Case No
-
Incl. Gigbag Yes
Warm sound, modern playability
)
With the fully reworked Road Series, Martin has split the range into two distinct directions: Retro models with a vintage-inspired look and a warm, balanced sound, and Modern models with a more progressive design and fast necks. The SC-10E Modern Sapele clearly belongs to the second camp, but with its body built entirely from solid sapele, it brings a warmer, more midrange-focused tonal character than the spruce-topped standard version. Sapele resembles mahogany tonally, but adds a slightly more nuanced treble character. For stage use, it's also fitted with a Martin E1 pickup system.
)
No heel, perfect feel
The SC-10E Modern Sapele's Sure Align system dispenses with the traditional neck-to-body transition entirely: With the direct dovetail neck connection, the neck angle, and with it the string action, can be adjusted later without the expense of a neck reset. Combined with the deep Venetian cutaway, this gives full access to all 20 frets. The neck itself follows Martin's Low Profile Velocity shape with a high-performance taper: It turns out even flatter than the Performing Artist profile found on many other Road Series instruments, yet thanks to a subtly rounded fingerboard edge it sits in the hand with similar comfort. Instead of the vintage-inspired open-gear tuners of the Retro line, the headstock carries plain, enclosed chrome tuners in a satin finish – unobtrusive and low-maintenance.
)
Ready for the stage
For live use, the SC-10E Modern Sapele 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 sapele top equally, passing their rounded tonal character on, unaltered, into the amplified sound.
)
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.
Plays like an electric guitar
Compared with the spruce-topped SC-10E Modern, the all-sapele SC-10E Modern Sapele has a warmer, more midrange-focused tone with somewhat less projection – the two share their body shape, hardware, and electronics. Thanks to the Sure Align system and cutaway, demanding techniques like soloing and tapping can be played comfortably all the way up into the highest positions, almost as if this was an electric guitar. Anyone looking for an electric-style playing feel in an acoustic instrument with a warm, bluesy tonal character will find a versatile working guitar in the SC-10E Modern Sapele, for stage, rehearsal room, and studio.
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.
)
